This article was written by Bill Radford.

When embracing social media, focus on that first word: social.

Many businesses that have added Facebook, Twitter and other social media to their marketing toolkit regard it  “as simply another corporate megaphone,” said Joe Hodas, senior vice president of brand communications for Colorado Springs-based advertising agency Vladimir Jones.

“With many, you’ll see that all of their Twitter feed is, ‘We just put out this press announcement, we just won this award.’ It’s just a one-way avenue to speak about their brand in very corporate terms. That’s a mistake.”

Businesses that use social media simply as a way to blast the online world with sales pitches will turn people off, said Kevin Knebl, owner of Colorado Springs-based Knebl Communications, which specializes in online and offline networking skills and social media training. It’s about building relationships with current and prospective customers, he said — and thus increasing your “like, know and trust factor.”

Here are some local businesses that are using social media to do just that…”

read the rest of this article from the Gazette.

This article was written for Media Verso.

“Micro-blogging through Twitter is a popular way to market your business. Since both small and large businesses can use it, it levels the marketing playing field. Here’s how you can increase your customer’s precense on Twitter.

Here are four tips to use your Twitter account effectively. Following other Twitter accounts that are in your target demographic will help you get an idea of what the conversation is. Then you need to post updates about your company, brand or product. As with any online medium, you want to be very careful to never spam any of your followers. Lastly, make sure that you follow successful online marketers, and look for other participants who are in your industry.”

Read the rest of this article from Media Verso.

Read this article from Website Marketing Pros.

“An increasing number of my SEO clients are now evangelizers of Twitter. However, many are still not big fans. A few days ago a client sent me a link to a recent Nielsen report which indicates that “more than 60 percent of U.S. Twitter users fail to return the following month.”

Well, she didn’t mention the report also says it might be jumping the gun because Twitter’s 40% retention rate is already quite decent compared with other start-ups. That explains why Twitter is all the rage amongst internet marketers; the only question is how to make the micro-blogging site beneficial to your businesses?

Registration can be done in seconds and inviting friends is semi-automated. So what’s next? Here are 8 ways to use twitter to promote your business…”

Read the rest of this article from Website Marketing Pros.

This article was written by Karan Goel.

“More and more companies are using Twitter for business – to research market, do brand advocacy and reputation management and provide selected highlights from a conference or event. Twitter can extend their brand in order to generate new opportunities. But to make innovative use of Twitter in a business environment here are 5 tips.”

Read the rest of this article from Gizmoko.

This article was written by Sean at SONARconnects.

“I’ve talked about the tools we use with our clients in the past, segmenting them as social networking tools (sharing conversations) or social media (sharing content). The reality is that on social networks you can share content and with the social media tools you can have conversations. The one that splits the difference is Twitter. Its the one that many business people don’t get.”

Read the rest of this article from Social Media Sonar.

This article was written by Sharlyn Lauby.

“Over the past few months, we’ve talked about whether you should have a social media policy and what should be included in that policy. It only seems logical to discuss the next step in the process, which is what to consider when implementing a social media strategy in your workplace.

Just having a policy isn’t good enough — you need a plan to put it in place. Here are five areas to discuss when implementing a social media strategy.”

Read the rest of this article from Mashable.

The source for this report is “Engaging Small Businesses Through Social Media.”

“The latest research report from Business.com shows that small business owners are still trying to figure out Twitter … but those who have mastered it are seeing an advantage.

The expansive report covering 1,711 small business decision makers showed that of all the social media channels, Twitter was the least-used. Just 27 percent of the respondents were active on the micro-blogging site.

But even that figure may be deceptively high – the survey sample was of business leaders already using some form of the social web.  Translation: This is why you are still getting blank stares when you talk to most small business decision makers about Twitter.”

Read this article from Business Grow.

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This article is form Jason Ankeny.

“The buzzed-about social media platform presents a direct channel to customers, a launching pad for new projects and a sounding board for innovation.

Laura Fitton was a self-described “homebound mom with two kids under 2″ when she signed up for Twitter in 2007. Two years later, she’s at the vanguard of a new wave of Twitter-inspired entrepreneurs.

“There was no decision to make Twitter the focus of my career,” Fitton says. “Twitter decided for me. Somehow I became a Twitter-for-business consultant without ever calling myself that.”

Fitton’s enthusiasm for the possibilities of what she calls “enterprise microsharing” motivated her to revive her Pistachio Consulting business in September 2008 to connect clients to new ideas and innovation in social media. Since then, she has co-authored the book Twitter for Dummies and launched oneforty.com, an online storefront that aggregates the sprawling Twitter application ecosystem in a central, user-friendly repository. Her Twitter feed, which combines personal musings with insight on Twitter’s role in business collaboration, attracts about 40,000 followers.”

Read this article from Alibaba.

This article was written by Jeremy Victor.

“Recently in my travels I’ve had several conversations with people about Twitter for business. Most of the people that I have spoken with aren’t yet on Twitter. It’s been a mixture of curiosity and skepticism.  When we approach the topic of social media as part of their B2B marketing strategy, almost immediately the conversation turns to the “how-to” of tweeting and if there are benefits for their business. Here are seven points people have been most surprised to hear me say.”

Read this article from BtoB Bloggers.

This article was written by Jeff Bullas.

“This is quite an interesting study due to the fact it looks at the 500 fastest growing companies in the USA and how they are using Social Media.

The Center for Marketing Research at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth recently conducted a new in-depth and statistically significant study on the usage of social media in fast-growing corporations.

The new study compares adoption of social media over three years (2007, 2008 and 2009) by the Inc. 500, a list of the fastest-growing private U.S. companies compiled annually by Inc. Magazine. For details about the 2009 Inc. 500 and the complete directory of the included companies, please visit Inc. Magazine’s website at www.Inc.com.”

Read this article from Jeff Bullas.