Getting Started with Social Media

By now you know that using social media is an essential part of running any-sized business, but how do you take those first baby steps towards learning about various services such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and others? The mailing list provider Constant Contact has put together an excellent site called the Social Media Quickstarter here that is chock full of tutorials and step-by-step directions, along with blog entries on best practices, suggestions, a few podcasts, and other instructional materials.

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Sure, there are probably a dozen or more classes that you can take at your local library or community college, but if you prefer a self-paced format, the Quickstarter series is a great way to, well, get started quickly. Each lesson is delivered in smaller, more manageable pieces. And while some of the videos are a bit hokey, the information is solid and well thought-out.

Why would Constant Contact go through all this effort? Well, they do provide one of the better email list services and want to be known as a resource for small businesses. In his site announcement, Josh Mendelsohn, one of their staffers, stated: “Getting started is a huge leap of faith. We’ve designed the Social Media Quickstarter to help you surpass your goals, regardless of your starting point and experience level.”

I was surprised at the richness of the various offerings: there are sections devoted to YouTube, to setting up a WordPress blog, to understanding Foursquare and QR codes as well as the aforementioned other services. I actually learned a few new things, even though I have been using these tools for several years and teach classes on them as well.

The materials are all free and available without any need to sign up for their other services. If you want to make use of their email list services, monthly subscription fees start at $15 per month for lists under 500 names, but can jump quickly to higher amounts as your list grows.

Speaking of other free resources, LinkedIn has 100-minute-long weekly webinar that is designed for beginners. You go to their Learning Center and click on training resources to make a reservation to attend. You need to make 24 hour advance reservations and they are offered every Wednesday at 1pm Central Time.

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