Are you concerned that your social media reach is lacking due to not working it properly?

What are some of the key things to remember when using social media for business? Your business can reach more people and have better sales when it utilizes social media, but only if you aren’t making critical mistakes.

Here are simple things to remember when your business is working social media.

Not Having Two Accounts; Personal and Business

Especially true for the small business, you simply must distinguish yourself as being separate from your company.

You don’t want political or religious views spreading into your business account, leave those for the personal. Be strictly business on that company page.

Leave your personal page set to private to keep out wandering eyes. Some people view it as unprofessional to see casual posts or personal blogs on the company’s page, so keep that in mind at all times.

Keeping Track of Only One Metric

Many small business only look to increase followers, or having X number of comments on posts.

No matter what you are working on, have many metrics that you keep track of on a regular basis. Doing this weekly gives you more information than monthly, but it is important to note your trends on a consistent basis. This can help highlight when online promotions would do the best and what type.

Being a One Trick Pony

Whatever you do, don’t just do one thing.

Many will post only company updates, while others go out of their way not to mention the company. Both are bad.

You’re going to want to post a variety of things; inspirational memes, Uplifting quotes, how-to’s or service guides to help inform customers, as well as company promotions and sales. Keep the 70/30 rule in mind when you go to do this, with 70 percent of the posts and status updates being helpful information for the customer, and only 30 percent being promotional sales copy.

Not Fully Updating Your Profile

While it is indeed quicker to put in just the bare minimum on your social media profile, you should take the time to fill in everything you can.

Have a great profile picture of a product, your storefront, your front door, whatever and then have a cover image (if its Facebook) of a larger image of the store itself. This helps the customer realize you’re a real business.

Filling out the profile should give you ample space for store hours, location, a map to the store, and all about what you do and how you do it. This keeps the customer familiar with your work, and can help them double-check your hours and location.

Social media can be tricky, but it is a worthwhile endeavor when done right.

You can get your sales and promotions out to a wider audience and you can work advertising to a “Free” market.

Keep your eye firmly on your social media accounts and make sure that you remember these key points. If you don’t have a social media strategy (written, not in your head), get one here.

About the Author: Tina Samuels writes for a variety of business sites including Intelius.com.

With the vast majority of consumers using some form of social networking every day, your business may become more and more invisible if you don’t have some form of social media presence.

But with so many networks to choose from (and only a limited number of hours in the day), it can be difficult to decide where and how to focus your efforts.

Why You Need a Social Media Presence

Social networking is becoming more and more crucial to businesses. As of December 2012, 67% of adults who use the internet were on one or more of these sites. And many of those people use social media to get product recommendations, referrals for services, and information on businesses from which they’re considering buying.

Usage of these networking sites grows every year. If you’re not taking advantage of that fact, you may be missing out on a lot of money.

Types of Social Media

There are a few different types of social media you should know about.

Which ones you use will depend on what type of business you have, and what sort of information and media you want to share:

• Social networks are what most of us think of when we picture social media. These sites, which include Facebook and LinkedIn, allow people to keep up with their friends and families with short posts and comment-based conversations. They also let people “follow” or “like” a business or brand — making them one of the first types of social networking you should consider.

• Microblogging sites, the most famous of which is Twitter, give users a platform to share very short messages. Common uses for this platform are commenting on news or entertainment and making short, pithy observations about daily life. As a business owner, you can also use these sites to chat with your customers and provide discount codes and other useful information.

• Media sharing sites, like YouTube and Flickr, let you create rich visual or audio content to share with your audience. Media you share on these sites can be embedded or linked from your website and shared on your other social networking accounts, giving you a more integrated online presence. Flickr and other photo sharing sites are more appropriate for showing off products or visually appealing aspects of your business. YouTube is only limited by your creativity, and video content is a great way to boost your business’s online profile.

• Blogs deliver informative or entertaining information to their audiences, with a social function provided in the form of the comments section. Blogging can be a powerful tool for businesses, because it lets you establish your brand’s voice, deliver important information and product guides, and interact with your customers. If you don’t have a blog for your company website, consider making this your first move toward social networking.

Best Social Networking Practices

Once you’ve decided which types of social media will work best for your business, you’ll need to use them the right way to be successful.

A few helpful rules of thumb include:

• Join the conversation…but don’t be obnoxious. Find opportunities to connect with people in your social networks. Don’t just blast your Twitter or Facebook feed with endless links to your products or content — find ways to engage with your followers. Quizzes, contests, and sharing useful information from other places on the web are all great ways to use your social networking profiles.

• Respond to questions and comments. One of the biggest mistakes companies make on social media is ignoring direct queries from customers or followers. Remember, a lot of people use social media to “vet” a company they’re considering doing business with. If they get the cold shoulder from your online profile, they’ll figure that’s how you’ll treat them in the offline world too.

• Use more than one type of social networking for best results. Facebook and Twitter are great places to start. As previously mentioned, a blog is also highly recommended. And adding entertaining video content is another great way to get your company’s name out there.

Keeping up with social media doesn’t have to be an overwhelming task.

An hour or two each day, checking on your profiles, adding new content, and responding to inquiries will go a long way toward boosting your business reputation online. If you’re in need of a roadmap to help you get started, a social media marketing plan may be right up your ally.

About the Author: Freelance writer Angie Mansfield covers topics that help small businesses grow, including social media and intelius removal. You can find her on her favorite social network, Google+.