A friend of mine would like to raise funds for a very serious cause. She has a heart of gold and has been using her Facebook profile to inform her friends (she has many… like MANY) to build an awareness. Many of her friends have said they may donate, or have not responded at all. The ones who have said they would donate have not all gotten back to her. She is also trying to reach out to companies to donate money or products and has not been very successful. She's ticked and I totally understand, but 100% of your friends… not even 50% are going to remember, be interested or be aware of what you are doing. We live in a society where sometimes donor fatigue sets in, or a perceived bigger cause is grabbing their attention. The squeaky wheel gets the grease. Where am I going with this you might ask?

This is an opportunity to get social with social media. Social media is an excellent way to network on a large scale with people, companies and communities quickly. However it also requires a commitment to maintain social media presence.

When you want to build awareness on a large scale, target a huge market, raise a lot of money - your personal Facebook Profile is not going to cut it. Spend your time where the majority of your community are most active. In the case of my friend, she and her community hang out on Facebook. So I advised her to start there. However, I also suggested a free website with 3-4 pages and Twitter.

She currently has a Facebook Page which I suggested some edits:

• Share more about the subject and let the audience feel emotional about it
• Provide actual dates of upcoming events and only on the page ( you want to funnel everyone to the page, like it and have a continued awareness)
• Post 2-3 times a day updates, images or articles of the same topic that will educate the audience
• Create a compelling cover and profile picture and be sure to use the same ones on Twitter
• Check out Facebook insights to find out when her audience is most active

Twitter

• Create a memorable hashtag and use it often
• Repost Facebook Page updates to Twitter
• Post at least 3 times per day
• Use the search tool to find other users with same interests and follow them
• Follow those who follow you (as long as they have similar interests)
• Share the love through retweets, engaging with replies and liking posts
• Follow the companies you may seek donations from and retweet and share their posts

So her twitter account is up and running and her memorable hashtag is #LoveofLance. What other starting points would you suggest?

So you have a new start-up and you want to get the word out about what you are all about. Which social media platform do you begin with? There are quite a few to choose from; However you are most likely interested in one that is easy and will enable you to get connections quickly.

That's where Twitter comes in.

What is Twitter?
It is a platform where users share (Tweet) their thoughts, news, information and jokes in 140 characters of text or less.

Want to find follow like minded people or companies? They are very easy to find on Twitter. Using the search tool you can seek those who specialize in your niche with their twitter handle (ie: @DeeboswellBuck). You can also search subjects using hashtags (ie; #smallbiz #femaleentrepreneur).

Not sure what to Tweet? Then go ahead and Retweet. Find content that interest you and Retweet it. The originator of the content may thank you for doing so or favourite the Retweet. They may even end up following you.

You can manage how much time you spend on Twitter by scheduling your Tweets ahead of time. I use Hootsuite which is free to use when posting for 4 or less social media platforms. There is also Tweetdeck, Co-Schedule and many more. One day a week I put aside 2 hours to schedule informative content relative to my brand.

Twitter is a social media platform that is free. You can market your brand, share your thoughts, create a list of companies you would like to follow or build a community.

After you get started, Twitter will suggest who to follow, based on the industries/fields associated with your interests.

Oh. If someone follows you, there is no obligation to follow them back. It is also fine to unfollow someone who is tweeting too much and clogging your feed.

Remember to have fun and enjoy the people you meet online. As you grow your following organically, you'll soon see the benefits.

Are you new to Twitter, but have questions? Please post them in the comments section.

So you are entering the world of social media, but you are stumped. What the heck is a hashtag?

The pound sign or hash turns any word or group of words that directly follow it into a searchable link within an online platform. You will be able to track discussion topics, images and posts based on those keywords.

Did you know there are sites available that can assist you in finding the most appropriate and popular hashtags to reach your audience? Google "Hashtag Finder" and test out your findings.

Let's talk about hashtagify.me. "It allows you to find the best hashtags to reach your audience". It's free to try too.

In the search box in the upper left key in a tag. Since I am interested in small business my example is #smallbiz. Hashtagify pulled up a top 10 list which includes words such as:
• entrepreneur
• startup
• socialmedia
• marketing

And there you go. Don't forget to use the pound sign # before using the examples given.

So what hashtag is your business focusing on and what popular examples came up?