Social Media Savvy: A Week of Tips to Help Your Business

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Welcome to BusinessNewsDaily’s five-day series of social media stories. We’ve talked to dozens of experts and now it’s time to share what we’ve learned to help you and your co-workers advance your social media skills, no matter if you’re an expert or a novice.

Click on the headlines below to learn etiquette tips, insightful usage suggestions and important terminology for Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and location-based services.

“We will see a transformative change in both the quality and quantity of engagement by businesses in 2011,” said Eric Harr, CEO of marketing agency Resonate Social Media.  “More importantly, businesses will start to understand that social media isn't a media at all. It's a relationship. And like a relationship, it takes heart, authenticity and work.”

Let us lend a hand in making that workload less stressful.

Let's begin with a look ahead and a glimpse back . At the end, we’ll explore the limitations of social media and the tools that can manage your multiple accounts.

Day 1 (Jan. 10)

• 5 Ways Businesses Will Use Social Media in 2011
  There’s no denying more businesses than ever will employ social media tactics in the coming months. Success stories will continue to attract a rush of new users and inspire experienced ones, but innovative ways of employing the mediums will turn them into loyal contributors and arouse them to keep guessing what’s next. Here, a group of digital visionaries reveal their bold predictions.
• Top 100 Social Brands
  Find out which brands are getting the most buzz online across social networks, blogs, micro-blogs and photo- and video-sharing websites. Is it Disney, Sony, Coca-Cola, iPhone, Ford or MTV that tops The Virtue 100, an annual ranking of the most social brands?
• Q&A: At the Crossroads of Business and Social Media
  Learn the No. 1 mistake businesses make when using social networks from Sherrie Madia, a professor of social media, as she discusses what businesses need to do before launching a campaign and whether they should hire a specialist or have employees manage social media.

Day 2 (Jan. 11)

• How to (Appropriately) Use and Understand Twitter
  The invite to Twitter’s never-ending party has been hanging over your head since July 2006. If you now are ready to put on your party shoes, we’re here to help you polish them as well as your social media skills. As you enter the popular social gathering – whose attendees have tweeted from their businesses, homes, conferences and even outer space – you should follow certain guidelines to ensure you become a successful attendee on the micro-blogging website.
• Q&A: The Big Gay Ice Cream Truck's Crazy Ride
  Owners of the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck used Twitter to fuel its business, which started as a summer adventure in 2009 and soon turned into a national sensation. The New York City-based food truck's Twitter account surpassed 12,000 followers at the beginning of this year.
• 10 Twitter Accounts to Follow Right Now
  Ramp up your Twitter feed with the addition of these tweeps, who are influencing the business world in 140 characters or fewer every day.

Day 3 (Jan. 12)

• LinkedIn 101: A '24-Hour Cocktail Party for Business People People see LinkedIn as a living resume. To help you breathe life into your online resume – whether you’re new to LinkedIn or already have an existing page – absorb this advice to improve your individual profile or business account.
• Q&A: Author of LinkedIn Book Shares Her Unpublished Secrets Rumors continue to surface that LinkedIn may go public in 2011. If LinkedIn puts its shares in the public's hands, how will the move affect the website's 90 million users and businesses. LinkedIn expert Jan Wallen reveals the implications of such a move and predicts what else LinkedIn has up its sleeve.

Day 4 (Jan. 13)

• You Built a Facebook Business Page. Now What? Facebook goes beyond helping people keep in touch with friends – it can also grow business. Learn how building a business page on Facebook can help you connect with customers and promote products and services.
• Q&A: Can Businesses Benefit from Location-Based Services? Location-based tools help merchants build and retain foot traffic, potentially increasing sales through what amounts to free advertising. Read how one digital marketing agency intertwines geo-targeted data into its marketing scheme.

Day 5 (Jan. 14)

• 5 Things Social Media Can’t Do
  For all the value social media tools hold, some core business truisms cannot be replaced. Particularly in these five critical areas of business, you should think twice about handing the reins over to social media, and instead consider taking a more old-fashioned approach.
• How Businesses Save Time with Social Media Management Tools
  You're not alone in your quest to for success in the online social world. Discover how tools can help you manage multiple social accounts all in one place.

Past popular social media stories published on BusinessNewsDaily

• Infographic: How Businesses Use Social Media
• 5 Traits of Successful Business Accounts on Twitter
• Tweet, Tweet: 9 Steps to a Successful Twitter Strategy
• Are Technology Entrepreneurs The New Rock Stars?
• 5 Big Social Media Mistakes
• Business Organizations Rank Low on New 'Digital IQ Index'
• Social Media Moms Research Electronics Before They Buy
• How to Start a Social Media Consultant Firm
• Researcher to Facebook Resisters: Get With It!
• Twitter Popular Among Young Adults, Minorities, Urbanites
• Consumers' Online Behavior Changes Marketers’ Strategies
• The Benefits of Networking Offline in an Online World

Reach BusinessNewsDaily staff writer Brian Anthony Hernandez at Bhernandez@TechMediaNetwork.com. Follow him on Twitter: @BAHjournalist.