Recently in the Social Media Category

What can you put on Twitter (Facebook, LinkedIn, etc) that will benefit both you and WIPP? It would be easy to find something at least once a week, and probably more often.  You can start by RT (re-tweeting) whatever @WIPPWeDecide or @BarbaraKasoff tweets.

You can also just go through the e-newsletter and correspondence you get from WIPP.
From the December e-newsletter below you can Tweet:

• The Instant Impact Team meeting on Feb. 11. You can tweet something on that every week--the agenda, who is speaking, etc. Make sure you put a link where people can sign up.
• You can highlight any or all of the WIPP events and teleconferences
• Everything and anything from WIPP Notable News at the very bottom. These are great articles to get out there--for WIPP and for your branding, to show that you are up on this type of news.
• One of the most important things about Tweets is that they aren't just about you. So you can give kudos to other WIPP members, with information from below, such as:
• Rose Wang, WIPP National Partner, Featured in CNN article "Why Main Street Isn't Hiring". (then put the URL to the article)
• Nikki Stewart, WIPP Board Member and National Partner, Participates in Senate Small Business Roundtable on Critical Tax Issues (then put the URL to the article)
• Jennifer Bisceglie, WIPP National Founding Partner and Instant Impact National Chair, Recognized by Washington Business Journal as one of the region's most influential women. (then put the URL to the article)
• Denise Farris, WIPP National Partner, Testifies to the MO State Office of Administration Funding. (then put the URL to the article)

There are clearly enough items here to get a TWEET for every day!

Social Media is being used by a lot of businesses to build relationships, strengthen their brands, increase prospects and even provide better customer service!

As a member of WIPP, using information you get from WIPP can help you solidify your branding. A lot of social media users do not understand the importance of creating a conversation in social media. It is important to RT (re-tweet) posts from other people to show that you are paying attention and are part of the discussion.

Because WIPP is bi-partisan, its tweets are the perfect opportunity to RT without getting involved in partisan bickering or political discussions which might be a turn-off to clients, potential clients and colleagues. (It is a personal decision for each business owner to decide how much of their personal opinions are public in the business arena).

As an example, what would you think of someone who RTs the following messages?

1. WIPP Releases Statement on Accelerating Job Growth
2. President and First Lady Obama Announce White House Fellows Program
3. Women, Business and Opportunity: A Seminar for Women Business Owners - 1/29/10. REGISTER NOW:
4. White House Forum on Jobs and Economic Growth briefing on Dec. 10:
5. Be sure to watch my new #PBS feature "Reinvent URself Now". 12-3 http://bit.ly/4vSF7S Hope U will consider pledging too. #smallbiz
6. We received the award for Best New Building Construction from the Queens Chamber of Commerce! http://tinyurl.com/yjgskjr
7. Grow Your Business through Government Contracting. http://bit.ly/8aS9Ad

Do you think that person is:
• a leading woman business owner?
• an advocate for small business and women business owners?
• someone who keeps up on current events?
• a business owner who cares about others?
• a good colleague to work with?

I found the tweets above in less than 10 minutes. Besides RTing from WIPPWeDecide, look for other WIPP members to RT, as well as corporate sponsors.

The first four Tweets are by @WIPPWeDecide. #5 is from @susansolovic, a WIPP board member and owner of SBTV.com. #6 is by @nancygoshow, the co-chair of WIPP's Energy Committee and owner of Goshow Architects in New York City, and #7 is from @OPENForum, a corporate sponsor of WIPP. Plus the article cited in that Tweet mentions WIPP.

Commenting on other people's tweets, blogs and activities helps build our own awareness, and brand. The more valuable your comments are to others, the more it reflects on your abilities and your character.

Social media allows us to brand through story telling. Sharing what we know and what we've learned from others is a big part of that. As a WIPP member, WIPP offers invaluable information to use to let people know who you are -- and what you value.

We would like to invite you to join us on Thursday, January 21, 2010 at 4pm EST for the webinar:  Benefits of WIPP Membership:  Use Social media to amplify Your Voice and Brand.  Learn how WIPP's state Instant Impact Teams and individuals can use Social Media for Advocacy:
• Organize around policy issues to gather support for a particular issue
• Deliver a consistent message to a larger audience
• Get the word out to existing members about what's going on at WIPP
• Spread the word to others about the great things WIPP is doing

You can register by going to:  http://www.wipp.org/events/event_details.asp?id=85986