Social media … you can use it to grow your business, get a job, establish a web presence, or just have fun with friends. Aside from the invention of the Internet itself, it may be the greatest thing since sliced bread.

What is all the brouhaha about social media, especially for small-medium businesses? What makes it so compelling that more than 250 million people log on to Facebook every day?

Well the answer lies in the word “social.” People like to share, to be social, to have community, to feel part of something. This technology deeply touches and exposes how humans interact. It has been able to tap into how social relations work.

What social media brilliantly displays is how trust can be built online. It goes like this…

The more helpful relationships are, the more information is shared.
The more information is shared, the more people feel connected.
The more people feel connected, the more they trust the relationship.
The more trust people feel, the faster they will engage with you.

This is a very compelling message for business. If you are perceived as helpful, your clients will share information with you (and vice versa). This will make your potential and current clients feel more connected with you. When they feel that connection, trust grows. Social media like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, are vehicles for you to share information that your clients need or want and this keeps you connected. So when you ask them to sign up for a new webinar, to refer a friend, to buy your new product, they will hear what you have to say.