A Toolbox to Manage Your Emerging Media Communications

So you’ve heard the buzz about emerging media and you’re ready to begin. But you are already juggling more than enough for your business. I’m sure you are wondering how you’re ever going to fit in the time to manage communications for all of the different platforms. 

It can be a lot for anyone so I’m going to give you a few tips for simplifying the process and managing your communications.

1. Seek out value.

+You can’t read everything. Learn to quickly scan for relevant information.

+Identify which platforms (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, blog, etc.) will provide the greatest return for your efforts and focus there first. You can link different platforms to minimize time.

2. Utilize management tools.

+There are a variety of tools like Ping that allow you to post one update and it will send it to a variety of sources. 

+Facebook Fan pages can bring in a YouTube feed, RSS feed, and Twitter feed if you determine that is best for you. (I don’t recommend this for everyone but it can be useful for some.) 

+Applications such as Tweetdeck allow you to view your Facebook, MySpace and Twitter feeds together. 

+Hootsuite and Tweetdeck allow you to categorize the people you follow to enable quick glances at particular categories rather than trying to read through everything.

+Set alerts for your business so you can respond in a timely fashion to any mentions of your company. 

3. Set boundaries.

+Determine how much time you are willing to invest and set a schedule. 

+Focus on your goals and continue to redirect yourself when you get sidetracked clicking on the latest trends on Twitter or watching funny YouTube videos.

4. Evaluate results.

+Once a month do a brief evaluation to measure your results.

+How much new traffic have your driven to your Web site through Twitter and Facebook?

+Are you building relationships and meeting new people?

+Are people engaging with the content you are sharing?

All of the emerging media tools are just that, TOOLS. You won’t get rich overnight or find that people are banging down your door moments after your first Tweet (unless you are Oprah!). It takes time to build relationships and see results. Make sure to set realistic goals and measurements for evaluating your progress along the way. If you do that, you will be able to determine the best use of your resources and enjoy the fruits of your labor when they occur.