This book will help small business owners and marketers feel comfortable using social media to promote their businesses, regardless of their past experiences or level of expertise.Social networking plus small business is a slam dunk! Small Business Smarts: Building Buzz with Social Media explains why that's so and helps small business owners decide whether social media tools are right for them. Assuming the answer is yes, the book offers concrete advice and implementation suggestions that make using tools to start building word-of-mouth quick and easy.Built around actual success stories from small businesses, such as the Roger Smith Hotel, Dutch Bros. Coffee, Cafe Yumm, and the Tattered Cover Bookstore, the book illustrates how different social media can help achieve different business goals, how the Internet can be used to "listen" to customers, how networks and relationships are built online for both B2C and B2B, and how effective messages can generate awareness and attract customers. Measurement strategies and techniques for a social media audit are included. For the complete novice, step-by-step instructions on getting started with popular social media applications are provided as well.

AcknowledgmentsIntroduction1An Introduction to Strategic Social Media2Online Listening: Monitoring Customer Conversations Wherever They Happen?Getting Started with Blogging3Building Relationships: How to Build Social Networks and Engage Customers Using Social Media?Getting Started with Facebook4Social Messaging: Best Practices for Social Communication?Getting Started with Twitter5Say Goodbye to the Yellow Pages: Strategies to Optimize Search?Getting Started with Google Places6Better than the Rotary: Using Social Media to Create a Business Network?Getting Started with LinkedIn7Media Metrics: Measuring the Effects of Social Media8Social Media Audits: A Tool to Create Your StrategyAppendixReferencesIndex