What are the key platforms for a business owner or solo professional to consider using for establishing and developing a social media presence?

I’m the first person to say that companies and solo professional need to get their basic social media strategy right before jumping in and using various social media or social networking platforms and tools.

I acknowledge also that a lot of business people are looking for practical, business-savvy advice, sooner rather than later, on what social media tools and platforms to use.

From one point of view there are so many that it is a challenge knowing where to start. But I believe that a couple of useful principles for getting started and keeping going effectively are:

• to keep remembering the point is to do business better, not to become a tech expert
• to become familiar and practiced with the use of some key, accessible platforms, as a basis for building and growing a effective social web presence

Out of the many social media platforms and new variations appearing continuously, the following is the basic set or framework which I recommend for solopreneurs and other small business owners.

Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter | YouTube | Blog

I recommend however not trying to use them all at once, or things could get too confusing and frustrating. It could make sense to consider just using one to get started and then adding others progressively.

Just taking on those five, or even two or three of them, will require a serious commitment of time but the potential rewards can make that more than worthwhile. And there is not much future in the “do nothing” option.

I intend to post about each of the five in coming weeks, basically some thoughts, from my experience, of how these platforms can be used effectively by home based professionals especially.

And in September (only a week away!) I’m launching a new coaching program for people looking for some guidance and coaching with using social media for their business. I’ll be starting with a free teleseminar on Social Media Business Strategy on Wed Sept 8 and repeated on Thurs Sept 9: more details here.

Cartoon credit: Hugh MacLeod at Gaping Void – Creative Commons license

Does Your Blog Need Video?

More and more people are incorporating video in their blogs. Many others have no doubt thought about it but are not sure how to go about it or what is involved, technically, financially or in time commitment.

Video Marketing Expert Gideon Shalwick has done the hard yards and has now shared some valuable information on the subject.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I have spent the past hour reading through Gideon’s  free Rapid Video Blogging book.

I am impressed by the quality of the information that Gideon has shared. I know having done other video marketing courses that the Video Coaching program Gideon is offering is excellent value.

Not only will you learn how to set up your YouTube channel, you will learn how to use the excellent Thesis WordPress theme and understand how search engine optimization (SEO) works for both your channel and your blog.

I also liked the interview that Gideon did with Fran Kerr who has been very successful with her video blog on health. When you get the download link for the PDF you can get access also to this live case study of someone who makes a fulltime income from YouTube and her blog.

To download your copy of the report all you have to do is click on the image below and  provide your email address and name:

Brandie Kajino’s Soho Solutionist site provides resources for everyone working from home

Soho Solutionist is the second site to be highlighted from my Top Sites for home business owners.

To explain the site’s purpose and focus I doubt I could improve on the words of site author, Brandie Kajino:

This site, and my business, are about making technology and small business tools accessible and understandable to real people. As a Professional Organizer, I also have a unique approach with my clients. I hope to transfer skills you can use in your business. My mission is to be helpful to you, so you can grow your business and change your corner of the world.

Soho Solutionist is definitely not one of those sites, sadly multitudinous, which have no evidence of intelligent human involvement and have some recycled articles on setting up a home office, surrounded by lots of advertisements for various products.

The Soho Solutionist site, like its owner Brandie, is practical and shows respect for the realities professionals face in working from home.

You can get a sense of Brandie’s practicality and intelligent approach to the challenges of working from home from the discussion I had with her earlier this year on my Des Walsh & Friends show on BlogTalkRadio – you can listen to/download the podcast here.

Home based entrepreneurs can use the Soho Solutionist site with the confidence that comes from knowing that Brandie has tons of experience in empowering busy professionals with information, technology, tools and simple organizing solutions.

On the  site you will find lists of resources, articles on home office organization, and of course details about how you can explore possibilities for working with Brandie to help your business.

There is also a blog and there are podcasts.

I’m open to adding more sites about professionals working from home, preferably authored by home based professionals themselves, to my Top Sites page. If you know of such a site, please let me know via the Contact page.

A personal klutz moment prompts some thoughts about risk management for home based businesses

I had an unpleasant encounter with a Danger sign recently, on a local beach where we go walking most mornings. Once I had recovered from the initial shock, the experience made me think about risk management.

To get this in context I must explain, more than somewhat to my own embarrassment, that this sign is, as far as I can tell, on a stretch of a couple of adjoining beaches where we walk most mornings, the only object where I could conceivably bump my head.

So you would be perfectly justified in thinking that would not be an easy thing for me to do.

Well, on the morning in question I did.

How could I have been so dumb?

What happened was,  I was climbing over some rocks at the time, heading for the pathway connecting the two beaches, all the while looking down, watching intently where I was placing my feet so I didn’t stumble.

Which is how, straightening up, I got to bang my head on the only item conceivably available for the purpose in about half a mile or more of beach area.

I had in fact given myself a nasty bump, even drawing some blood (the sign is made of good old-fashioned sheet metal). Fortunately, my cap protected my scalp to some degree. The external scar has gone, embarrassment lingers.

Anyhow, after getting over the initial shock, and on the principle of turning lemons into lemonade, I wondered how I could put the experience to good use.

Need to consider all the risks

The lightbulb moment was that intelligent risk management takes account of all known risks, not just one most obvious at the time. And this has a special relevance for those of us who choose to work from home.

Iowa based business risk management expert Thomas M. Bragg has a thoughtful post on risk management and home based business, making the following very pertinent observation:

Home-based businesses don’t have a free pass that exempts them from the need for risk management. In fact, I would argue that they have a more urgent need because each risk that becomes reality has a much larger relative impact on a sole proprietorship than it does on a larger business. (100% of a sole proprietor’s employees will be involved in dealing with a crisis, while only a portion of a larger business’ employees will probably be affected by a similar crisis.)

Being entrepreneurial doesn’t mean ignoring risk

Making a broad generalization which I am quite unable to substantiate empirically, it’s my belief that professional people who make a decision to work from home rather than be employed elsewhere are in a real sense entrepreneurs.

One of the words I associate with being entrepreneurial is “courageous”. And that’s because another word that goes with “entrepreneur” is risk.

A lot of things can go wrong when you work from home, for example getting seriously ill and not having adequate health cover or income maintenance insurance to get you through that time. Then there are the clients who turn out to be more trouble than they are worth, or just don’t pay or at least don’t pay in a timely fashion.

Managing risk is part of our job description. And we will manage it better if we don’t wait till we’ve banged our heads on it, so to speak.

Need a risk management plan

And while I believe most home based professionals I know are well aware of the risks, I wonder how many of us actually have a risk management plan in place?

A plan that takes account of all the risks we need to consider. More than just a SWOT analysis, although that would be a start.

What plans do you have in place for risk management?

This week’s top site is Solo Business Marketing, subtitled “Where Entrepreneurs and Success Connect”,  and is the work of my good friend and colleague and one of my favorite home based business owners, the ever enthusiastic  Shirley George Frazier.

Since 1990, Shirley has been amazingly successful at starting and growing her business, gaining print and televised media attention along the way, and speaking at business and trade shows throughout the USA.

She also wrote the book Marketing Strategies for the Home-Based Business: Solutions You Can Use Today

The Solo Business Marketing blog makes great reading, not just for solo professionals working from home, but for anyone in business who is looking for practical, experience-based advice on marketing.

Shirley has a lovely, easy style of writing, which is actually a perfect reflection of what you would experience if you were to have the benefit, as I have, of a direct conversation with her.  The warm, friendly and down-to-earth style of her blog posts can be experienced readily in such posts as:

Five Ways to Get Your Marketing Plan Back on Track

Yesterday evening I escorted a relative to the hospital. He had not eaten for two days and was feeling poorly.

Tell me you don’t want to read on.

Why Falling in the Street is a Great Marketing Lesson

This week, during one of my fitness walks through town, I found myself tumbling onto the concrete. My right foot turned slightly inward, and that’s when my body met the pavement.

“I cannot believe this is happening!” I shouted in my head, wondering if I’d get up and keep going or call on my cell phone for medical attention.

More (don’t know about you but I had to know where all that was going!)

I interviewed Shirley on my Des Walsh & Friends show on BlogTalkRadio back in February this year. You can hear/download the recording of that here.

Solo Business Marketing – Top Site. Check it out.

It is my intention to feature a new Top Site every week. If you have a favorite site on home based business or which would be of direct benefit to professionals working from home, please let me know so I can consider it for inclusion in the TopSites section of this site: please note, only sites with original, quality content and authored by a home based business person will be considered.