I was reading an article from Problogger today about the problem many small business owners encounter when they try to blog.  The fact is some business owners don’t even write emails well, not to mention blogging. Our blog post here will examine 6 methods social media can benefit small business owners.  Remember, social media is only a tool.  Whether or not it’s effective depends on how you use it and what you use it for.  We will focus on the “How” and “What” aspects in this blog post.

1. Use social media for networking purposes

Networking enables small business owners to know more people, increasing the possibilities of finding clients or strategic partners.  Social media sites such as LinkedIn.com offer endless opportunities for business owners in a niche industry to mingle and network.  Correctly filling out your profile is crucial if you want to be identified by valuable contacts that you’d like to network with.  A great and impressive profile tends to make you popular within a group setting.  Let’s say you want to join a LinkedIn group with a focus on networking, you can join Manhattan Local Networkers Group on LinkedIn.

2. Use social media for relationship building purposes

The competition for small business owners is fierce, intense, and cruel.  Eventually, it boils down to relationships.  Your clients and partners are willing to do business with you because they trust you.  How do you gain their trust and build real relationships?  There are two separate posts I’ve written which discuss the key of relationships building:

15 Tips to Help You Build Relationships on Twitter

How to Become A Trust Agent in A Digital Market?

3. Use social media to get leads

It’s almost a cliche to emphasize the importance of leads.  Believe it or not, social media can help you get the job done more efficiently.  If you are on Twitter and happen to follow Mashable, you have probably seen, for numerous times, that Mashable offers a Kindle or whatever gadgets as incentives for their readers to join theMashable Facebook fan page. That said, incentives are effective when used to get leads.  Have you seen someone offering a free PDF book just to get their readers opt in their mailing list?  You can also build a list by putting an opt-in box or pop-up window on your blog.

4. Use social media to better understand your own industry

We are in an information age. Learning how to filter the correct information through while not getting overwhelmed is a skill to learn.  Microblogging site Twitter is the tool that I use to get my daily dose of information.  I am following Internet titans such as Leo Laporte, TechCrunch, Problogger, etc. So I can get firsthand information from them once it becomes available.  I have also learned so much about social media industry by following links on Twitter.

5. Use social media to do customer services

This is a no-brainer.  Companies such as Whole Foods Market and Media Temple are best known for the superior customer service they offer.  This is reflected by their speedy response to their Twitter customers.  I have had firsthand experiences with both companies and I am very satisfied with the results. In essence, small businesses should know how to treat customers kind and well with social media.

6. Use social media to expand your influence

While you can be social as a business owner, the real rare commodity is the ability to lead. There is almost a direct correlation between a company’s expansion and its influence in its industry.  Needless to say, correctly using social media to become more influential can help any small business succeed in the long run.  Social media tools help you foster communities and tribes where you can lead with influence!