Well, summer’s ALMOST a “wrap!” Being stuck inside for the “smoke-storm” here in the Seattle area this past month (“cough, cough….”), I got to spend a lot of time online gathering the best articles for you all. You will note they don’t focus on a particular platform or service, but more so on social media overall, content, and how small businesses best grow engagement online.

The fact that you probably don’t have full-time staff to manage your social and digital media marketing doesn’t need to hamstring your effectiveness. Right-sized resources (especially time..) and the right kind of assistance can really help you get your efforts to pay off. This article hands you so top level tips to implement, and you don’t even have to stay up all night!

One of the key tricks to getting social media marketing right is to be where your audience is. It doesn’t pay to spend a ton of time Tweeting if your audience is on Facebook, or to post all those great photos to Yelp if the bulk of your audience is on Instagram, right? Here’s how to figure that out…..

Don’t post just any old random thing…..learn what kinds of media and content your audience loves! In the online world of information overload, missing this trait of your followers can be catastrophic!

So, some 84% of consumers say that they trust online reviews as much as they do personal recommendations, while up to 94% of people say that negative reviews have stopped them from doing business with a brand. You don’t need to be afraid of negative reviews (see my “Working with “Honest Feedback”” article here….), but you should learn more about working through them….

It’s true: there is science (and a bit of art, too!) behind sharing on social media. This article will present you with some great information on that and help you structure your strategy for what you can do to make sure you NAIL IT!

Who do you wish to reach, meet, learn from, teach, mentor and observe? Put the right offer in front of the right people and now you’re getting somewhere. Working harder doesn’t help when you’re focusing on the wrong things.

I was recently interviewed by the great folks at the Seattle Shrimp Tank podcast about social and digital media marketing, and the importance of these efforts to business. We covered a LOT of area and had great fun, to boot! Be sure to check their other editions, too….a LOT of terrific business and entrepreneurial insights.