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1. The old rules of PR and marketing are gone. Accept that social media means that you can no longer control the message… you can influence it though.

2. Your customers are likely having conversations about you in public on social media. Find out where, and then engage with them.

3. Tweet in convoy. Amplify your voice by helping all your staff get onto social media and encouraging them to do a little bit whenever they can.

4. Your Twitter bio is your elevator pitch. Refine it until you get it right.

5. People like to talk to people. Get a good photo of you. One you like. Use it everywhere.

6. Be sensible with your personal details. Don’t share your birth date, mother’s maiden name, kids or pets names if they give clues to your passwords or could be used by identity thieves.

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7. Find out where your contacts hang out online to determine which platforms to invest in – speak where your clients and prospects want to listen. http://bit.ly/nFfISM

8. Be aware of the “dress code” – consider how others will view your profiles. If your ideal client was looking for your product/service, would your profiles encourage them to approach you?

9. Don’t delegate social media to junior members of staff – if you wouldn’t send them to a corporate drinks reception in real life don’t send them to the virtual equivalent.

10. Look at what your competitors are doing. Take the best of their ideas. Then improve on them.

11. Each social media platform has its own etiquette. Listen and observe before jumping in.

12. Be careful if you outsource your social media activity. Set clear guidelines and goals, and check they are being attained. http://bit.ly/rtAX28

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13. Remember that whoever is behind the social media account represents your brand. If they do a poor job, your entire company looks bad

14. Use social media to research clients and prospects. Save time and make conversations more relevant by researching areas of interest and mutual connections before meetings.

15. Fully complete your LinkedIn profile. Ensure that it contains all your relevant career history and interests.

16. Make the most of LinkedIn by adding links to your website, blog, Twitter username, etc. Make it easy for people to find you.

17. Claim your LinkedIn public profile as your own by customising the URL to http://linkedin.com/in/yourfullname

18. Make your LinkedIn profile publicly available. If you block information it will be unavailable to search engines. Your goal should be to rank well in Google for your name and your company.

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19. Don’t use social media as a broadcast mechanism. You need to earn the right to promote yourself. About 50% of your activity should be conversational, and around 30% promoting content useful to your audience. The final 20% can be self-promotion.

20. Don’t answer the question “What are you doing now?” No-one cares. Instead ask yourself “What’s important to me right now?”

21. Your brand is not what you decided at the company offsite last month. It’s the experience people have when they Google it or interact with your company online.

22. You probably don’t need a social media policy. You likely have an employee handbook that has all the rules and regulations you could possibly need to define what is, and is not, appropriate behaviour. You can violate those regulations in person, on the phone, and yes, in social media.

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23. If you really must have a social media policy… if your boss is insisting… then keep it short and simple. Remember you want to encourage staff to participate, not put them off. http://bit.ly/oh6sgW

24. The marketplace convenes where it’s convenient. Where are those “convenient” places in your market? Facebook is convenient for a lot of people… but not the people you probably think of when you think of Facebook. Not kids and younger teenagers (although they’re definitely there). Think about the people with easy, convenient access to the internet; at work, at home, at university… and on their smartphones.

25. Accept that mistakes happen. If you post something in error, apologise quickly and sincerely. Never try to cover-up – you’ll just end up looking shifty.

26. Find the influencers in your industry. Connect with them and build relationships before you need them.

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27. Journalists love social media. It’s a great source for stories and quotes. Be quick to react to breaking news stories in your industry. Don’t be afraid to target specific journalists with your perspective. Make it easy for them to write their story.

28. Focus on building relationships. Just as you would in the real world, show a genuine interest in other people and their concerns and you are already half-way there.

29. Make others look good. Share information you have found that will be interesting to your contacts, fans or followers. If you are a local lawyer for example, perhaps you could Tweet local business news. If you do this well and keep it on topic, it helps you stand out as an authority and helps you build relationships with those you promote.

30. Use social media to connect with prospects and influencers before conferences and trade shows. Make events more productive by arranging to meet-up at the event. http://bit.ly/qfkIm3

31. Expand the reach of your own events to people outside the room. Encourage attendees to keep their phones on and share their thoughts in real-time. http://bit.ly/nzrvkF

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32. In Twitter @replies are not private. They will appear in the timeline of anyone following the sender and the recipient, and could appear in any number of public searches. http://bit.ly/q3GIBR

33. Read your own Twitter page. What would you think if you were a prospect reading your tweets?

34. Look at your prospect’s Twitter timeline. What are they talking about? If it’s their cats, ask how they are; if it’s a business trip, recommend your favourite restaurant. Tweet things of interest to the people you want to engage.

35. Think about every tweet you send and ask yourself: ‘If I read that tweet as a stranger, how would I respond to it?’ Would you retweet it because it was funny, discuss its relevance, or start a debate? If you’re struggling to think of a response, well, you should be able to see the problem…

36. Stand out from the crowd. Have a point of view and back it up.

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37. Silence is not golden on Twitter, but do be mindful that tweets are public and it’s difficult to delete your digital footprint. Think “old rules, new tools” – while you wouldn’t go to a physical cocktail party and not utter a single word the whole evening, you equally wouldn’t take centre-stage, grab a microphone, and start broadcasting your dirty laundry to everyone!

38. It’s called social media. Social. That requires interaction. Acknowledge another party. Don’t broadcast. Engage!

39. When starting on Twitter, connect with people you already have a relationship with – those in your email address book for example. See how and what they Tweet about until you feel comfortable that you understand the medium.

40. Be generous. Give LinkedIn recommendations to your contacts. It will surprise and delight them when they get a glowing recommendation out of the blue.

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41. Find excuses to get back in touch. Keep an eye on status updates on LinkedIn, especially if people have changed jobs. Even small status changes can give you something to start a conversation.

42. Proactively link people together. Don’t wait for others to ask for an introduction. Review your contact list and look for ways to add value to them.

43. Register your company profile on LinkedIn. Add details of what you do or make.

44. Encourage all your staff to create their own LinkedIn profiles and set their current employer as your company.

45. Optimise your LinkedIn headline. By default this is your job title. If your job title is “Account Manager” that’s probably not very helpful for people trying to find you. However if you changed that to “IT and Telecoms Account Manager”… well you get the idea.

46. Add your social media profiles to your email sign-off and your website. Make it easy for people to find you.

47. Social media isn’t for everything. Don’t use it for anything sensitive, confidential or complex. Pick up the phone, or have a face to face meeting.

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48. Show your personality. Give small insights into your life outside work. It can be scary at first, but showing the human face behind the corporate brand breeds trust and real personal connections.

49. Use Twitter hashtags to join existing conversations and promote your brand in communities using that tag. Be careful not to spam or shout at people though. http://bit.ly/mWMChD

50. Re-read this list. Create an action plan. Act. Re-visit the list in 30 days. Continue. Have fun.

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