Social media includes elements that allow us to be social – to talk to one another.

Using your website, you can ‘talk’ to clients and potential clients 24/7.  Allowing them to talk back to you in a public way is both risky and rewarding. Are you ready to monitor the conversation and step in when needed? Do you like to hear from your customers, both positive and negative?

The great side of incorporating social media into your website is the ability for people to say great things about your business and let others know.  For example, if someone likes using your product or service, why not make it easy for them to tell others via a Facebook page?

The downside is that people are far more likely to go on a public tirade when they feel they have been unfairly treated.

So what to do?

Many business owners feel they want to engage in this new way with their market, but don’t have any more time in the day to make it happen. Perhaps a Twitter feed is the way to go for this person.  It allows short updates/blurts of information without the commitment of a blog or Facebook, where you might also need to deal with adding photos.

Whatever way you decided to engage in any type of social media should authentically reflect your brand and the message that you want to communicate with your customers. It is a new world of personal engagement and you have the opportunity to create your own path.