Social Media |We are receiving more and more inquiries from readers about the effect of social media on small businesses and business start-ups.

The main question revolves around the need for engaging in social media if you’re just starting a business as a new entrepreneur. These are good and timely questions, and many answers are in our publication ‘How Social Media Can Help Small Business Owners’ which you can find in our Ebooks section.

Facebbok

Facebook certainly has a global audience that numbers billions and continues to grow. Notwithstanding there are some issues over security and confidentiality Facebook continues to be a trusted and recognized platform. Therefore, as a mechanism for promoting your start-up, it might represent a viable platform. However, as with all the things, there is a cost and you need to investigate the advertising and promotion cost to ensure that it is in line with your planned budget.

Likewise, with Twitter, there is a global audience that continues to expand. It is, however, perhaps more geared to consumers rather than entrepreneurs and small business owners. If you’re going to use Twitter as a promotional vehicle then you should be skillful at compressing your message into the maximum text available.

These are just two of the better-known social media opportunities that provide a platform for entrepreneurs to develop new ideas and new businesses. There are others that probably should be explored and again we would refer you to our e-book on this subject.

This should not just be a casual add-on to your business and marketing plans but a considered, researched, and possibly significant aspect of the plan. Is there a need to engage in social media as a small business owner – we believe that in this fast-paced electronic business world it is an appropriate tool for entrepreneurs?