With spring comes renewed enthusiasm for all things social! I've got lots of social events to look forward to in the next several months, including a family trip to Florida and my older son's graduation from high school.

As the weather warms up, connecting with others seems to be more on our calendar than during the winter months. Whether it's a vacation trip, a barbecue, a boat ride, or a mountain hike, it feels like it's time to get outside and reunite with people you care about. So this issue is about how to connect with people who care about your business. It's all about social media and social networking. Just as you make an effort to connect with your family and friends, you need to connect with your customers and prospective customers. Social media is great for both your personal and your professional connections.

In this issue, my good friend Bonnie McPherson, who handles the PR for Okemo in Vermont, shares her story about how she Tweeted her way through New York City. Thanks, Bonnie! You are so impressive with your social media creativity.

Also, my thanks to NMC Account Executive Anna McDermott for writing about Flickr. In the coming weeks, we'll hear from other members of the NMC staff on how to use social networks such as YouTube, Facebook and blogging.  

Happy Spring,


www.marshallpr.com


P.S. We hope you like this edition of The NMC Report and as always, we look forward to hearing your feedback. We are offering a special Market Trends report on Social Media to the readers of this newsletter. If you are interested in receiving it, send me an email at nmarshall@marshallpr.com and I'll send you the PDF.

By Nancy Marshall
 
Social media is a really good way to promote your business, but you need to approach it as a networking opportunity, not as a promotional opportunity. It's really similar to the difference between public relations and advertising. Public relations is more about providing information to allow a client to make an informed decision, and advertising is more blatantly about selling a product or service.

Now businesses can create communities of people who are interested in what they're doing, and get to know like-minded people through social networks.

Take Saddleback, for example. If you go to Facebook and search Saddleback Maine, you can become a fan. You can see the faces of the 2,600 other fans. You can friend any of them, or all of them for that matter, so you have friends through this online community who also love going to the same place you love. The good folks at Saddleback, along with their PR agency (which happens to be NMC), can engage in a dialogue with their fans almost as if they were all in a room together having a chat. They talk about the weather, snow conditions, upcoming events, as well as other interests like boating and music.

Another company that does a great job with social media on all levels is Whole Foods. They are not our client, but my employees and I love this store. They have a great brand. I feel that their social media gives this brand a "heart and soul" which is an amazing asset to any business. Go to Facebook and sign up to be a fan of Whole Foods, then sign up for their e-news and look at their blog if you want an example of well executed social media.

Having a social community that is all under the Saddleback or Whole Foods umbrella is powerful marketing. If people become friends with one another around the shared interest of your business brand, then it creates a mutual implied endorsement of your brand. There is nothing more powerful you can do for your business than to encourage this type of networking. It's like the ultimate Chamber of Commerce meeting, but the reach goes far beyond the geographic reach of any one Chamber.

In the next article, Anna provides some tips on using Flickr. This is a way to build community using photos and is a great way to complement a blog.

Ultimately, social media is all about making connections when it comes to using social media. It's about making friends, staying connected, and starting and maintaining a dialogue. It's about focusing on the people in your network as much as you focus on your business. What it is not is a place to engage in blatant self-promotion, or a one-way dialogue. So if that's your thing, then you are better off sticking with paid advertising where you can control the message. I personally have always felt that engaging in public relations to communicate through the media on a large scale, and now using social networking to connect with people on a one-to-one level is the most credible and authentic way to build your brand personality, and ultimately to promote your business.