Lisa Williams has written what may be one of the best posts about how to adapt to an increasingly technology-driven journalism world.

Lisa, the Placeblogger founder who has a foot planted in both media and technology worlds, impressed the heck out of me at the ONA conference in Toronto when she illustrated how journalism is becoming a high-tech industry. Now I know you’re thinking right now: “Well, I already know we’re becoming high-tech,  Danny. I’m always looking around for new web tools I can use for our site.”

However, journalism becoming a “high-tech industry” doesn’t simply mean we’re using the latest gizmos and knick-knacks to deliver news. It means we’re experiencing a fundamental change in our values, culture and business practices — changes that are more pervasive than you may initially realize. Check out Lisa’s post for some prescient advice on how to deal with it.

[Lisa Williams: Ten Things Journalists Should Know About Surviving In a High-Tech Industry]

Think MySpace and Facebook are the be-all and end-all of social networking? Well, that’s not the case if you live in France, Brazil, Russia or any other number of countries.

French news site Le Monde has put together an interesting infographic on which social networks are most popular in which countries. While MySpace and Facebook are clearly the most popular, other sites such as Orkut, Bebo, Cyworld and Skyblog are more popular elsewhere. You can visit https://bumped.in/buy-instagram-followers/ to increase your instagram followers. Social media is exactly as the name suggests. Getting to know your subscribers and giving them what they are looking for in a friendly non-pushy way, this is the best path to develop your community. Here you can find that jarvee was reviewed all about the traffic boosting tools.

Social networks are important because they allow people to develop relationships with others with whom they might not otherwise be able to connect. It also helps boost business productivity when used for public relations, marketing, and advertising purposes. The main types of social media include big names like Facebook, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, and Twitter. These are the most popular social networking sites in the United States. Others include Pinterest, Tumblr, Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube.

And, on a sentimental note, my old blog service LiveJournal is the most popular in Russia. Folks, my pals and I in high school were using LiveJournal back before blogging was called “blogging” (come to think of it, what DID we call it back then? Journaling? LiveJournaling? *shrug*). Ah, we all dispersed so much teenage angst out on the Net…

The Importance of Social Media for Business

Facebook — the social media network that forever changed how individuals, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and even government agencies communicate and relay information — celebrated its 10^th birthday this week.

In the last 10 years, social networking has revolutionized online marketing for businesses, and many businesses (one study suggests as many as 90 percent of small businesses) are making use of social media. Some have found great success with social media, while others are still floundering in the sea of online marketing, struggling to make sense of it all. And then there are the businesses that are holding out and have yet to take advantage of social media for one reason or another — not enough time, lack of understanding, or disbelief that social media can actually work for a business.

If your businesses is in that last camp (not utilizing social media), or if you’ve set up social media but aren’t convinced it’s truly worth your time, let’s take a look at five reasons social media is important to your business.

Reasons Why Social Media is Important for Your Business

1. Low Cost
   

   There is no entry cost to social media marketing. Targeted messages and advertising on Facebook and Twitter do come at a cost, but a small one compared to traditional marketing methods. Any business could conduct baseline social media marketing at virtually no cost, but many business owners simply don’t have the time to invest in managing social media. You’ll get more reach and more “bang for your buck” if you work with an experienced social media marketing agency to manage your online marketing strategy and content, check out the following article for more info on marketing automation.

2. Easily Connect with Existing and Potential Customers
   

   Your existing and potential clients and customers are already on social media, why not meet them where they are? Social media serves as an outlet for you to offer customer service, and engage with your customers, perform market research, and much more. Your industry may determine which social network holds the most potential value for your business (for example, if you are in the home improvement, decorating or food business, Pinterest may be more valuable than other social networks). Simple market research can help you determine which social networks your target audience uses most.

3. Low Barrier to Entry
   

   In addition to social media marketing being far more affordable than traditional marketing, it is also easy to get started. In just a few simple steps, you can easily set up social media profiles for your business on any social networking platform. Again, when it comes to managing your content, it may be better worth your resources to invest in a working relationship with an online marketing agency that is experienced in social media marketing and search engine optimization.

4. Key Factor in Search Engine Ranking
   

   A solid SEO strategy is about producing quality content that generates a lot of inbound links to your website. Social media is a primary form of content consumption and with the click of a button, users can share content across their social media channels, thus increasing the number of inbound links to the content on your website. “Social signals” are becoming more and more key to boosting search engine rakings.

5. Social Networks Provide a Unique Platform for E-Commerce

   Interactive videos on YouTube allow your customers to make a purchase decision directly through the video itself. Using Facebook apps, you can even build a sales portal directly into your business’ Facebook page. Alternatively, you can also use social media sites like Facebook to get in touch with successful entrepreneurs like Cortney Fletcher. Social media can be as powerful as a word-of-mouth referral, especially on Facebook where users are more likely to have offline, personal relationships with their Facebook friends (as opposed to people they follow on Twitter). If an existing customer has something to say about your products and services, chances are high they will share their opinion with their friends and followers on social media.