Social Media --- The New Grapevine

Word of mouth has traditionally been one of the best ways to garner new business. Now those “mouths” are working for you on the Internet. On social media sites such as Facebook, members can make valuable endorsements of products, books, services and companies to their hundreds of friends.

Likewise, other social media networks – from Twitter to LinkedIn ‑- provide a free and effective way to reach customers and potential customers as never before. Fortune 500 companies’ usage of social media has experienced explosive growth in 2010, with 83 percent of the companies using at least one of the social media sites.

According to a recent survey, business owners were more likely to participate in social media (more than 90 percent) than employees working for a business. Although this landscape is changing daily, there is no going back to a time without social media as an option for marketing.  And it is incumbent for savvy business people to use it to complement --- although not replace ---- their print marketing efforts.

How can you tap into the social media movement? Create a Facebook page for your business or start or join a group related to your business interest. Create a profile on LinkedIn, still one of the best ways to connect people for business and networking purposes.

Also, participating in social media sites boosts your “search engine optimization,” the buzzword in business today. The more sites that include your name and link back to your web site, the higher your profile rises in search engines such as Google.

Think of social media as a way to communicate with millions of people with just the click of a mouse.  If you need help getting started, give us a call at (716) 634-5966 or send an e-mail to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it