I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Dave Graveline of Into Tomorrow, the consumer electronics radio show.  “Into Tomorrow with Dave Graveline” – on the air since 1996 – is a 3-hour radio program (as well as many ITTV Video Reports) covering the Latest in Consumer Electronics & Technology available today and … into tomorrow. The show airs on over 190 AM & FM radio stations around the U.S. and a plethora of other sources!  Before the show, I was asked to fill out a guest registration form.

Here are the topics we covered:

Social Media Sites

Facebook

Google+

Klout

Web Design Color

Question 1 : 
How did you get involved with Social Media and Website Design?

Question 2:
What has been the latest buzz in Social Media that you have found important?

Question 3: 
Do you blog?  What is one of your favorite blog posts?

Question 4:
How do you track your online influence?

Listen to my radio segment here, I am toward the end of the program or download at Into Tomorrow, they also have a podcast on iTunes, Into Tomorrow with Dave Graveline and my segment is 
IT 5-31-2103 hr1 - Into Tomorrow with Dave Graveline.  

1.  Facebook is a great way to list your business by creating a Fan Page.  When businesses create their fan page, they begin connecting with their customers.  A great place to find other connections for businesses is facebook.com/smbusinessroom. 

2.  Twitter is a quick newsfeed that connects 140 characters or less of information about your company or yourself.  #HASHTAGs are important and many companies use them to tag their topic of interest.  I just recently created a new tag for the our affiliated magazine #heartbeatmag.  There are some really great hashtags out there and you can search for them at the top of twitter to find relevant customers.  One example is a company called #foodiechats and they use their hashtag every Monday for live tweet meetups. 

3.  Pinterest is becoming a very important tool to business owners using social media.  It's a place you can pin the pictures of interest to your virtual board.  We have a board for Businesses we Love and companies websites get pinned to that board.

4.  LinkedIn is a favorite for business owners that want to provide a professional appearance.  It also provides a perfect resource for connecting with other business owners.

5.  Instagram is a useful tool for those who want to join a world of photographers, some are professional but most are amateur.  Instagram is a way for businesses to share visually what their company is all about.  You can use #hashtags to categorize your picture, like #pottery, #art, #heartbeatmag, #media, etc.

6.  Youtube sets the bar for sharing a message virtually.  Once your company is live on camera, it allows your customer to begin to trust in you.  Quick videos can be made with animoto or other apps on iPhones and edited during the upload process to Youtube.

7.  Google+ is a resource for newsfeeds and connecting all areas of Google together with their circle of friends.  They offer Google hangouts where you can have an online video chat session with clients or business owners on a topic of interest.

8.  Etsy, I believe is a great resource for business owners that have handmade items.  You can create circles of people that you want to follow and add favorites to connect further with new clients.  

All in all, Social Media is here to stay and a big part of the life of your business.  

by Nicole Flothe