Just like everyone loves a puppy – everyone loves new functionality on applications they are already using (and you are already using LinkedIn aren’t you?).

I actively use Twitter, I reluctantly use Facebook and I’m constantly trying out a lot of the other social media and social network platforms, but I will admit I’ve got a strong bias for LinkedIn as the best place to start (and spend a lot of your valuable time) when it comes to using Social Media for your business.  It’s a great extension of the real world networking you already do (you are networking aren’t you?).

Beyond being professional, easy to use with lots of powerful features, LinkedIn has done a great job of consistently adding new functions and features.  Here’s 3 of the latest additions I thought were interesting.

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   photo by renaissancechambara

Remember the days of the good ol’ rolodex?

Only 7 years ago Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter didn’t exist (LinkedIn started in May of 2003, Facebook in February of 2004 and Twitter in March of 2006).  Now there are more than 400 Million people on Facebook, 105 Million registered users on Twitter and 65 million on LinkedIn with more joining every single day.

It’s safe to say that Social Media and Social Networks have become mainstream…yet there are still a lot of people asking what the point is.  Just in the last week, I’ve had 2 business owners ask me what the point of LinkedIn really is – they both have profiles and they’ve been using it for awhile, but nothing’s happening.

I don’t have any hard data to back this up, but it’s a valid question for a lot of business owners – “I know I’m supposed to be on Social Media sites like LinkedIn, but now that I’ve set up my profile nothing happens – does this stuff really work?”

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    photo by Monica’s Dad

It’s probably time to start thinking about alternatives – not power alternatives (although that’s a worthwhile discussion as well), I’m talking about alternative Social Media platforms other than Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Facebook is now over 400 Million users and over 80 Million of them are playing Farmville (which may be a sign of the apocalypse…I’m not sure) and – Twitter is generating 50 Million tweets per day.  It’s pretty clear that the big platforms are well into the mainstream and potentially too crowded to be useful to anyone trying to connect with more of a niche market than the entire world.

On top of that, history tells us that the world will keep changing and even if you missed the initial jump into these platforms a couple of years ago – you’ll have a chance to get in on the cutting edge of whatever’s next.

So what are some of the other choices of Social Media platforms out there?

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  photo by randysonofrobert 

If you want to use social media for your business, you’ve got to be consistent.  Your social media presence is a garden and if you want your garden to look good and grow, you’ve got to routinely maintain it. 

You need to water your garden, trim and prune the plants, create new beds, add more plants – there’s lots of work to do.  But to keep that garden healthy and growing, you can’t do a burst of work, then wait a month before you do something else and expect to have much staying alive.

The first thing you have to do is have a social media plan that you can live with – don’t sign up for more than you’re going to be able to live up to on a regular basis.  The other thing you need are some tools that can help you stay on top of things.  The good news is there are a lot of tools that can help you maintain that consistent presence.

Here are a couple that I use:

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I do a lot of workshops on using Social Media for business owners and my number one tip / place to start for anyone that’s a business owner or professional is to have a quality LinkedIn Profile (find me at http://www.linkedin.com/in/shawnkinkade).

There are other great Social Media sites and depending on the type of business you have, they may be great strategies as well.  However, LinkedIn is the place to start, the foundation for business focus for several reasons – here are the top 3:

1. It’s designed to support business networking online…period.
2. There are over 45 million users, heavily skewed towards professional decision makers and business owners.  These are people you want to connect with.
3. The tools and capabilities give you a huge boost when it comes to finding people, prospects, strategic partners, vendors, prospective employees.

Unfortunately even though the platform continues to grow quickly there are lots and lots of profiles out there that are totally camouflaged and don’t stand out at all.

Here are some quick ideas to help pimp your profile!

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