So you’ve heard about the social media craze and are ready to focus some of your business resources on a new social media campaign before deciding to make the full-move online huh? Well, you may want to think twice if you plan on making social media the primary vehicle to bring your business online.

But why? Isn’t social media “the thing” nowadays? Well, in many ways, YES, but there still are some things you need to be aware of…

With social media sites such as Ning suddenly switching to a paid service, Utterz going out of business, and Facebook constantly having privacy issues, you can easily begin to see that social media should by no means be the backbone in which your online campaign is supported.

That’s not to say you shouldn’t take advantage of social media, because you should, but you need something besides social media channels if you want to successfully bring your business online.

Having One Central Location on the Web

There are dozens of social media channels you can use to promote your business online, and the number is growing, so which one do you focus on? The answer: whichever you want, as long as you point them all to one central location: your website.

As dreadful as that may sound, especially since a growing number of businesses are using social media as an excuse to NOT have a website, the first place you need to be is YOUR online home. Not Facebook’s, not Twitter’s… but yours, no exceptions. You need a home before you start renting office space. And that’s essentially what your website vs. your social media channels are. Your website is your business’ online home, and social media channels are merely rented space (albeit free rental space).

So the bottom line is, create a website before going the social media route, because that’s what people are going to be looking for once you make a positive impression/connection with them on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, or any other social media website.

What to Include on Your Website

If your social media efforts are there to create connections, build trust, and show your potential client base WHO you are and what your business is about, then your website needs to provide straight-forward information on what your business can do for them.

As a bare minimum, your website needs to include the following items:

• Professional design to give your visitors a good impression.
• Friendly, informative introduction on your homepage.
• Description of your services, and the BENEFITS of your services.
• Contact information; as much as you can provide.

Of course, depending on the nature of your business, you may need more or less than that, but the above list should give you some general guidelines to follow.

Maximizing Your Social Media Efforts

First and foremost, explore the different social media options you have out there (the options are vast; Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, LinkedIn, the list goes on) and choose ONE. You need to get the hang of using social media to benefit your business before you expand into multiple channels.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a business homepage that has icons for Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and a plethora of other services only to visit them and see that they aren’t even mildly active on a single one!

Don’t spread yourself too thin by signing up for every social media channel you can find. That’s not going to do you any good. What WILL benefit you is if you get the hang of ONE, build up your presence, your network, connections, and establish a good following of people who know and trust you. Then and ONLY then should you consider expanding to other social media channels.

This may seem counterintuitive, especially when you see everyone else putting themselves on every known social media site, but I guarantee your results will be much better than theirs. It’s MUCH better to have one strong machine working for you than to have a handful of smaller ones doing absolutely nothing but sitting there.

The days where you can merely sign up and be discovered on social media sites are long gone; you must be regularly active or your social media efforts will be wasted.

Funnel Into Your Website

Once you’ve found a social media channel you want to pursue, you need to set your profile up to funnel your interested prospects to your website. Your social profile should not be the end of their journey; your goal is to drive as many people as you can to your website FROM your profile pages.

The best way to do this is to make sure your main description encourages people to visit your website. You can even add a subscribe form to your profile’s sidebar (depending on what service you use) along with an incentive to generate email leads (which in-turn will drive even more people to your website).

Then, you just need to focus on being a genuine, helpful member of the community and naturally people who visit your profile and want to know more about what you have to offer will end up on your website. However, if you do NOT have a website, there are lots of other distractions that will keep people away from your business… even if they were interested in finding out more.

Social Moods and Mindsets

When people are browsing around Facebook (for example), they aren’t in the mood to pick up the phone and call about your service, because they aren’t on Facebook to FIND your business.

However, you CAN peak their interest by properly networking with them and funneling them to your website. And as a side benefit, your website also has the opportunity to be linked to from other websites, and even getting picked up by search engines which will result in even more traffic and potential clients for your business.

The bottom line is, if you want to take your business online, make your website it’s first stop above any social media channel and you won’t have to worry about what social network is going out of business next.