Staying current is one of the hardest things when running your own business. In fact, the internet, with its ability to present you to a limitless number of new clients all over the world, also has the capacity of drowning you out in a sea of overwhelming competition.

So how can you and your business stand out? You're going to need a support network.

If you have a small business, social media marketing is the first step in creating that network. Three of the most popular social networking sites are

1. LinkedIn
2. Facebook
3. Twitter

All of these are relationship building – and maintaining- sites. If you want to make you and your business known, add friends, share your knowledge and keep up the conversation. Google Blog search is another excellent tool – find people who are like minded and comment on their posts.

Social media is the new word of mouth. The goal is to meet new people and get them talking about you. Creating a presence online brings positive traffic to your website. If you have a great service or product people will talk about it and that information could appear on other people's blogs, forums, and message boards – anywhere people talk – driving new clients to your site. (Remember the same goes if you have a bad product...)

TIPS:

• Don't be afraid to ask people to be your friend just because they are either
  1. A friend of a friend
  2. You found them outside of Facebook/ Linkedin – ie you read their blog, like a comment they made – you have similar interests
• Tweet – a lot
• Comment – a lot
• Always leave a link back to your own site when you comment on someone else's
• Always remember these are your potential CUSTOMERS

The key is to broaden your concept of 'friends'. These new friends become the foundation of your support network. If you have a new product to push these friends will do it. On the internet networking is easy, and with a bit of effort you have the potential of not only increasing your client base, but maintaining it.

Talk in forums, comment, contribute, get yourself out there – network, network, and network – the best part of social media marketing is you can do virtually anywhere and meet people everywhere.

If you are new to social media marketing check out some of these links:
http://www.socialmediatoday.com/
http://www.seomoz.org/article/social-media-marketing-tactics