Provide good unique content – start conversations, chat, ask questions, and always respond to any comment on your wall…positive or negative. This is the second in a series of three posts highlighting bits  from my International Social Media Association (ISMA) teleseminar: Strategies to Ensure an Engaged Social Presence. ISMA: You talked about ‘employing Best Practices’ techniques just now. Can you expand a little on what this may include – let’s start with Best Practices for Twitter? Twitter Best Practices for Brands. Make sure your bio is filled out and have a well-branded page. MORE >>

I couldn’t agree more with the comments made by Colart and Diane. What are the top five things beginners should know about social media? The question was asked in one of the social media groups that I belong to on LinkedIn: “I’m giving a speech for … and would like to know five hot topics you think. beginners would like to know.&#. This is a very good question which got a lot of response from many members (me included). Following are some of the more insightful responses: Top five tips for beginners for any social media environment: Response 1. Colart Miles. Response 2. MORE >>

Add your comments or remarks to the tweet when retweeting. If you’re using Twitter as a tool to promote your brand or products, it’s crucial that you write retweetable tweets. The shareability of your message makes it viral and extends the reach of your message beyond your own Twitter followers. The trick is to make sure that the content you are writing provides immediate payoff by entertaining, giving useful information, provoking or sharing experiences that help your followers. Once it’s passed on, your message gains momentum through a wider audience and increases your influence. MORE >>

Comments. One of the main objectives for all social media marketing initiatives for a brand is to “ navigate the narrative&#. In other words,  to ensure that your competitors or disgruntled customers don’t steer conversations in a way that put you on the defensive. In order to cultivate the conversations taking place in the social media arena, you need to know that they’re happening! The first step to monitoring your brand reputation is listening. Whoever said “eavesdroppers are never happy” could not have been more wrong. For example: Your brand name. Products. Trademarks. Forums. MORE >>

Please add your tried and tested techniques to this blog post through the comments section. The more that relevant websites link to your website, the better Google likes you. It is authority by association. Think of it this way: you have a LinkedIn profile and the more your colleagues/clients recommend you the better your professional standing. Similarly, when a website links to your website,  Google considers it a recommendation or a vote of confidence and increases your ranking. The best way to get back-links is to create valuable content; create it and they will link! MORE >>