enThrall Promotions

I have a business idea I'd like to run by you. How much would you or your company pay to catch up with social networking? I'm talking a business case for why you should (or shouldn't) embrace social media, then setting you up with the best platforms for your needs: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, podcasting, Flickr, YouTube or even MySpace. I would post the first few and build up your audience a bit using standard networking techniques, then teach you how to use the tools. When you felt comfortable, you would take over - or pay me to keep it up.

The idea is that any company or individual with something to promote could benefit from adding social media communications to their mix. Most are intimidated by the learning curve, amount of effort, or dismiss the concept as a fad. I could simply take care of the startup headaches and hand over a functional network which could be grown or simply maintained. A blog, Twitter feed and Facebook presence would be the minimum, and could expand to search engine promotion, broadcasting yourself and several other techniques.

I am an accomplished communications planner and public/media/government relations practitioner, a professional writer and an avid blog reader. This has lead me to embrace social media to a degree beyond many people in their mid-thirties. My age helps give me the professional experience to be able to evaluate the business value of the tools.

I believe firmly in the strength of connections that are so easy to make online. The face to face has greater impact, of course, but an online meeting is so much easier to make with people it would be tough to run into. I chat with MLAs and television reporters, or discuss articles written by some of the most insightful contemporaries I can imagine. I represent an educated and (moderately) affluent demographic of potential customers online, and I know how to reach them.

I think that social media has a definite place in business communications and promotions. I have hired people that I met only online, through recommendations from people I trust. I believe that social networking represents a brand new sphere reminiscent of the Internet itself in 1994. It's wild, unexplored, and it will pay off big for the people who know how to use it. I know how to use it.

I'm going to try it with the Town of Beaumont and see how it goes. If you think that you or your company could benefit from a social media starter kit, email me. We could try this together.