Tomorrow Marty and I will be traveling to Wentzville, Mo. to meet with some local city government staff to discuss how we use social media to market the EDC. We’ve had our hands in the social media waters since April of last year, and since then, we’ve become quite well-known in the economic development world as an example of a “best practice.”

The EDC has:

• a main Web site (www.bnbiz.org)
• a blog (www.bnbizmore.com)
• a CEO blog (www.martyvanags.com)
• a YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/bnbizmore)
• a Facebook page (www.facebook.com/bnbiz)
• and a Twitter account (Marty’s – www.twitter.com/bnedguy)

Many organizations and businesses aren’t using this free, yet powerful, method of marketing themselves. Many have “fear of the unknown” – not understanding just what social media is or how they can use it. Others see it as just a passing fad that the younger generations use and don’t want to bother with it. To those people, I say yes, certain social media outlets may, in fact, be a passing fad. Outlets such as Facebook or Twitter may fade in popularity. But, they will give rise to the next evolution of social media networks. The general method of communication garnered by social media outlets (one-to-many or many-to-many) is here to stay.

Communication methods are ever-changing. How many businesses still use a fax machine? When we moved to our new office in 2007, we didn’t even purchase one. It’s just as easy to scan a document and email it (without the expense of an extra phone line!). How many businesses dismissed email as a passing fad or “not necessary for business”? Today, I challenge you to do business without an email address. Does your organization have a Web site? Nowadays, many people who are looking for information, service or a product do their initial search on the Web (I know I do). Those businesses who don’t have a Web site (which today, are few and far between) are missing out on potential new customers. Methods of doing business are constantly evolving, and if you don’t adapt with the changes, you will eventually fall behind.

If you’re not yet involved with social media but want to learn more, check out www.mashable.com. This Web site has TONS of information and tip sheets. If you’d like to know more about what the Economic Development Council is doing, give me a call at 309-452-8437, send me an email or look us up on Facebook! You can even leave a comment below – try it, test the waters and see how social media can help you and your business.

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