Social Media

Over 700 million users on Facebook have faced this dilemma … confirm or ignore a friend request. We’ve all been there, weighing the options of allowing yet another friend into our lives. Some may be nonchalant about adding friends, “the more the merrier.” Other users may be more selective, only allowing “specific” friends into their lives. One thing they all have in common… there aren’t many rules when it comes to Facebook.

Social media is a red hot topic these days. But people worry about the ROI of all that chatter. How can you ensure that social networking actually increases sales? Mark Elliott of Venture Accelerator Partners Inc is one person who's successfully incorporated social media into his sales funnel. In a Communitech seminar, he shared that social media has allowed him to recently:

Up until fairly recently, when you wanted to keep in touch with customers and prospects, you used email to send periodic messages to people who opted-in to receive your mailings. For example, since 2005 I've been emailing my Contagious Marketing Ezine on a monthly basis (more recently bi-monthly). Over the past few years, blogging has generated a lot of excitement as the best, coolest way to market your products and services online and the word is that "email is history. "

According to eMarketer, Facebook users have reached 350 million worldwide. Together they are creating a community of savvy consumers, connecting with friends, family, co-workers and acquaintances to share advice, information and yes, recommendations. I wonder then why so many publishers and authors are still not on Facebook?

Imagine this: You’re at a networking event where you don’t know anyone. You feel a little out of place—most of the people are making witty remarks and laughing together. There’s the awkward crowd, of course; a couple of men in bad suits shouting...