There are copious amounts of social networks in existence. We all know the big two: Twitter and Facebook. There are also several popular niche networks like Classmates.com and LinkedIn. Millions of people worldwide are using these services to connect with new people, and reconnect with people they’ve lost touch with.

As these ways of interacting with one another started to take off, some people had a “sky is falling” reaction. “It’s the end of human interaction! People will never leave their computers,” they said. Of course this hasn’t actually happened. On the contrary, we are interacting with each other even more. These social networks help us stay connected when it would be difficult any other way.

My Twitter feed has become an endless supply of news and information that I wouldn’t know about otherwise. My dad has used Facebook to keep in touch with old friends from high school. Even my wife, who tends to be disinterested in technology, has become a social networking fan. How do you socially network? Has it improved your connections with people? I would guess that it has, and will continue to do so as these networks further embed themselves into our lives…and that’s not a bad thing.

You read a lot about being “authentic” and “transparent” when communicating online and how people will see right through you if you aren’t. Though we know what being authentic and transparent means it’s easier said than done. Let’s face it, it’s hard letting people see the real you and even harder sometimes to find your real voice. So what can you do to make sure you are communicating in a way that brings value to both you and those with whom you wish to engage online?

1. Be a giver. Give of yourself by providing good solid information about what you do or the products you represent. If you think it’s the same old information that everyone else is giving away then put your own spin to it with a good true story or analogy. Don’t be afraid of putting yourself and your company out there; sometimes it’s the only way to get the conversation going.

2. Be yourself. Everyone is unique and it’s that uniqueness that enables us to see something from our own point of view. Giving your take on something should always be conversational even if it is different or even confrontational. As long as you always remember that this is a conversation with one or more people who are all a part of the exchange, then civil discourse can take place.

3. Listen and refine. Listening to others is the key to mastering your own voice. Being able to handle challenges quickly and with grace as well as taking what others have to say and incorporating their thoughts and views when appropriate show others respect and acceptance.

There will always be the types online that feel if you don’t agree with them or buy their product or like what they like then they have nothing to say to you. It is unfortunate how many people get pushed away or turned off from being able to have a great exchange where everyone can participate and grow. Being able to reach as many people as possible with your voice in an open and positive way is the new (and certainly the best) way of marketing yourself, your company or your views.

Wow. The race went to the swift in this year’s BarCamp Nashville Sessions sign up. I am really excited to see how many people have something worthwhile to say, but DANG! I wish I could have been a little quicker on the draw, in order to be counted among them. Oh well, we’ll be involved, for sure, and from the looks of it, it’s going to be a good year.

Web guy. Print guy. Tech guy. These positions, while essential to your business and the productivity of your office, have become borderline buzzwords. If you can’t do it yourself, you need someone to develop your website, design your logo and/or print materials, and someone to provide administrative support when things go wrong (they will probably go wrong).

It’s vital to realize that among these helpful support systems, there must be a storyteller. Why a storyteller? Because someone needs to paint the picture of your business, your goals and your personality.

It’s difficult to objectively display your company. You know your company and your model better than anyone. Yet, consider the value of having an outside party recognize and extract the interesting nuggets that truly allow you to stand out from the crowd.

The right marketing storyteller can strategize for you. You may think you have a great selling point or product that makes you irresistible, and you may be right. Consult a marketing professional who can make a story out of your business and properly sell it to the masses time and time again.

It’s all in the details. Talented and qualified storytellers ache over every syllable, and torment over word usage, just as skilled marketing professionals understand the diamonds are in the details. Make sure you’re shedding light on every sparkling facet of your business.

It’s great to have a web developer who can tear through code without breaking into a sweat, or a graphic designer with the fastest turnaround time this side of the Mason Dixon line. These assets aren’t valuable if someone in your support team doesn’t take the time to understand your story is worth telling. More importantly, you need someone that knows how to tell your story, and who to tell it to.

All the great stories have lasted throughout the ages. Will yours?

(This post was contributed by Nicole Branigan, a freelance writer who regularly gets involved in helping to tell our clients’ brand stories. We’re thrilled to have her voice here, and to link to her very deserving freelance site.

Mobile phones have definitely changed the way we communicate. Beyond the actual voice calls, we text, email and interact online from our phones. With smart phones now the norm (even my wife has one), people have access to information at all times. How does this affect your business?

Now business owners have to contend with customers being able to spread the word instantly. Naturally, this is a double-edged sword. If you give a customer a great service, the world will find out in a second. The same applies if the customer has the opposite experience. It’s an important thing to think about when marketing your business, because  you want to take advantage of the customer’s ability the spread the good news quickly. Even if you get a bad review, often times you can turn that into a positive by directly addressing the situation.

Mobile phone applications like Foursquare, Yelp and even Facebook offer check-in functions. People can check-in once they’ve arrived at your business and make comments. It not only informs their friends of their location, but it’s also free advertising for your business. Many businesses offer specials to “regulars” who check-in.

Check-in’s and other types of location based apps are prevalent on mobile platforms. If you want to grow your business, you must learn to harness this technology. Because, like it or not, people will continue to rely on their mobile phones to guide them through the world around them.

One of the questions I get asked a lot is; “Why isn’t my website getting traffic?” When I tell them that I have no idea it takes them back a little because I am supposed to be an expert in the online traffic world. But just like real traffic, there are numerous things that can happen out there on the road that can slow, stall or bring traffic to a stand still and it’s the same with a website.

That’s why having someone conduct an audit when you have no idea what is happening is extremely important. It’s also much better for a real “live” person to do it so they can “see” what’s happening on the page; navigation, content, etc. I say this because there are companies that charge a fee to do an audit and all they do is run your website through a program to find keywords, density, links, etc. While all this is good stuff to know, I have yet to find a program that can help you with navigation, content, structure and strategy. That’s not to say that it won’t happen someday; but it has not happened yet.

Just last week I sat with a client that had no idea that the bots sent to the website couldn’t get past the front page. Everything past the home page was not being seen by the search engines. All of the page rank and page strength (a.k.a. juice) was coming from links that were going to the individual pages, which was good. However, they were not indexing the entire website because they couldn’t get in through the home page even though by looking at the home page one would “think” they were getting in because the visitor could.

This is just one of the things that could really impact a website and if you don’t have people looking at it that can connect the dots then you could spend a lot of unnecessary money to find the answer and correct the problem. Getting a website audit is well worth the cost to get your site working for you and your business.

Recently I was with a group of business owners who were talking about different “marketing tools” they were using for their businesses.  There seemed to be a rabid desire among them to learn about some “Holy Grail” new tactic or technique they could use. But as I started asking them how they would use one particular tool or another, their answers started sounding more like the feature lists these tools use to market themselves.

• “It lets me add all my contacts and manage discussions in one place.”
• “I can see results from my email campaign in real time!”
• “I can post to Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, all from the same program.”

Not to belabor the point, but these stated reasons for using a tool aren’t reasons at all. They don’t identify the one crucial element every marketing activity must possess: The Goal.

So what is the goal of any marketing effort, digital or otherwise? It’s simple: To increase revenue and profit.

Any tool, tactic or strategy must be able to demonstrate how it will help you hit this goal, or it’s nothing but a waste of time, money and resources.

Lately, it seems like many respected tools and tactics cannot seem to quantify any bottom line objective.  I guess that’s what makes us different from other creative digital agencies. We genuinely think that if a service can’t justify it’s price, then neither can we.

Are you asking the tough question about your marketing efforts? Or are you wasting precious resources without a strategy that moves you closer to your revenue or profit goal? Either way, you should know and be able to quantify how each new tool or tactic moves you closer or farther away from revenue and profit. To riff on an old axiom, “Experiment, but verify.”