Social What?  Social Who?
As a social media evangelist and ethical search engine marketer , have friends and family wonder "What is Social Media?" and "what is the big deal with blogging?"  To answer questions like these and others its important to have a guide in the world of social media.  
Life on the web can be kinda chaotic at times.  Its like climbing a mountain like Kilamajaro without a sherpa or attempting to surf the North Shore without experience or a teacher?  Which trail to take?  Which gear to take along?  Whats our emergency plan?  You're probably going to fall a lot and end up with a lot of scrapes.  
Making your way successfully online its incredibly helpful to have someone to see past the and to see the market trends for you.  You need a guide, a mentor, and an advocate. 
 
An Expert Comes in Handy Now and Then
When buying a house, we seek out a realtor.  When we get married, we often seek out a marital counselor.  When we get married we seek out a wedding planner.  So too with the web, to understand the ebb and flow of web trends its helpful to have a guiding light and a compatriot to help us through.  Someone we can ask to answer our questions and to make rational predictions based on solid experience.  Other wise, we're flying blind.

The Advantages of Enterprise 2.0: Social Media and Business
To that end, I've provided a little bit of guidance to get involved in social media.  You might be asking, "why social media?"

• Inexpensive and high return on investment
• The ability to communicate 24/7 with your customers on a global basis
• Creative expression and self-actualization
• Networking and learning
• The job of the CEO is to communicate.

What are the Best Social Media Tactics:
Now that you know why social media makes so much sense for businesses, you might be asking "How can you promote yourself online via blogging and social media?"

Well, if you ask any social media consultant they will tell you to listen first.  This is very wise first step.  When entering a new culture its wise to see the lay of the land to take it all in.  How do people communicate?  What are the social norms?  What types of content gets attention?  What are ethical social media principles and what are white hat search engine optimization tactics?  
Second, involved web design.  Its very inexpensive to get web design for a blog.  Blog design can run from $300 to $3,000, although I believe $1,500 is about the average.  Unless you are a multi-million dollar firm, you might consider experimenting with a less expensive alternative and then growing into a more expensive blog as you become more passionate and knowledgable about the dynamics of online communication.

Third, you want to strategize, what do you want to call your blog?  What kind of content do you want to have?  What kind of content will your audience like?  What do you want to talk about?  What is your audience searching for online?  What are you passionate about?  What method of communication will work best for you?  Do you know that categories you want to talk about?

Third, buy your URL and get to writing some unique content.  Unique content is the sine qua none of a successful online strategy.  Try to create a regular schedule of posting.  Some people post five times a week, while others only post once or twice.  Just remember that quality almost always trumps quantity.

Fourth, start creating relationships with bloggers who are passionate about the same things you are and preferably that you are writing about?

Fifth, you may want to see what other models of marketing you can use online:

• Blogger relations
• Search Engine Optimization
• Public relations
• Ethical link building
• Events
• Pay Per Click Advertising/Search Engine Marketing Management
• Social media optimization & marketing
• Podcasting
• Podcasting Relations
• Video blogging
• Webinars
• E-mail marketing
• Affiliate marketing
• Other forms of online advertising

Important Issues to Consider:
Whats right for you?  What best fits your strengths as a communicator?  Its very important to take these considerations into account.  With so many options its easy to go wrong.

I personally believe that ethical search engine optimization, blogger relations, and social media marketing make the most sense.  Ethical or white hat search engine optimization allows you to create inexpensive and long term value to your time investment.  Instead of paying out $1,000 per month in pay per click advertising and management, you create content that you can use to draw in customers and build your network.  This switches marketing from a push-strategy to a pull-strategy.

If you are looking to create an internet strategy or an internet business or just looking to increase your online sales, my powerpoint presentation about Ethical Search Engine Optimization Tips and Techniques is quite extensive and helpful as a guide and jumping off point into the wonderful world of ethical internet marketing and social media.

Enjoy!