The big question right now is does getting booked on radio or TV shows, as the quoted expert in newspapers and magazines or on Internet sites really matter as compared to being active in social media.

It occurred to me as I look around and see what people are and aren’t doing with their social networking that this is actually a microcosm of your entire business. So how do you approach your social networking and what does it say about the rest of your business?

Earlier today I was helping a client develop a better strategy to generate more referrals from local businesses. While that particular client owns an orthodontic practice, the ideas I gave him will work equally well in your business.

Before I tell you the specifics, let’s first establish two premises:

If you are marketing for a small service business, article marketing is an excellent method of promoting them so that their prospects will be able to find them more easily online. Writing these articles does not have to take several hours. Instead, use a five paragraph article model that will take you less than an hour to write, edit, and submit to the article directory.

I’m sure there are more of these stories, but you get my point. Social networking can
give you credibility, visibility, leads and can help grow your business. It can also lose you jobs and customers.