Social media has exploded and social media platforms are everywhere.  It’s sometimes hard to know what social media avenues are the best to use.  I’ve used social media to build my consulting business with churches, and now I’ve expanded to do Social Media Marketing in the business sector.  My social media approach starts with thinking of social media like a solar system.  The sun is the hub of the system, and it is where you should spend most of your social media effort.  Then you divide your energy among the planets in your systems, giving the closer planets more energy and the further planets less.

THE SUN: The Sun is my blog.  This may seem old-school, but it really makes sense.  After all, your blog is where people can get to know you, it’s where you can express yourself the best, and it’s where you can call people to action.  Whether you want people to buy your book, attend your church, or hire you to fix their broken toilet, a blog is the place where your expertise is truly showcased.  As such, all other forms of social media you use should revolve around your blog and point people to it.  Don’t just point people to your home page or your product, point them to your expertise (your blog)!  This will build credibility with people and they will be more likely to buy your product, attend your church, hire your services, etc.  That’s why my blog is the center of my social media solar system.

THE FIRST PLANET: In my own solar system, Twitter is the first planet.  I use Twitter to give people snapshots of myself and my business.  I believe strongly in authenticity so I let people see my family, my interests, and my quirkiness.  Some “experts” say not to do this.  They say that you should have two Twitter accounts:  one personal and one business.  I say, “Balogna!!”  People will be more likely to buy from you, or to drink your Kool Aid, when they feel like they know you and believe you’re a “real” person.  Thus, I send out links to my blog links via Twitter in betweenother personal “tweets”.

THE SECOND PLANET: Facebook is the second planet in my social media solar system.  I believe that Twitter is a great place to start conversations but Facebook is the best place to have them.  I link Twitter to Facebook so all my tweets become status updates.  Then I go check into Facebook and converse with people who have commented.  I’m also sure to comment on other people’s status updates so that I’m contributing to the community, rather than just taking from the community.

THE THIRD PLANET: LinkedIn is third in my solar system.  This is where I go to meet business people and generate leads.  Because it is unapologetically business-oriented, I don’t spend as much time “being me” on LinkedIn.  I go there for business, not for “hanging out”.

Your Social Media Solar System might look a little different than mine and that’s great, but I think it should always start with your blog.  The planets can be whatever you want them to be.  For you it might be Blog, LinkedIn, Posterous, Flikr, and YouTube.  It could be Blog, Tumblr, Twitter, and Digg.  Regardless of the platforms making up your solor system, my suggestion is to keep it simple. Don’t get caught up trying to use every social media platform out there, there are just too many to be effective.  Pick the three or four that you can do well, and do those.

What does your Social Media Soar System look like?