Area Development
More businesses each day are signing up for social media. But what should you know to make these online outlets most effective for your company? We've gathered some of our favorite articles about social media's business applications to guide you from Twitter to Facebook to LinkedIn and beyond.

Mashable reports on how social media is changing the business landscape, and offers dos and don'ts for sharing information online. Flowtown provides a series of charts showing the most socially active companies (Microsoft tops the list). And Chris Brogan lists 50 ways to maximize a company's Twitter presence.

Companies can use social media to gauge the environment of a community while in the site selection process, connect with other businesses in a relocation area of interest, recruit workers once relocated, and keep their finger on the new community's interests and wants. Economic developers are also getting in on the game. Many have found social media useful not only for attracting projects to their areas, but for sharing information with peers, connecting with local business, staying in tune with competing regions, and using social video to broadcast messages.

Whatever social media method you decide to use for your business, consider the advice of these articles and find a system that works best for you.



Join the social media conversation! Tweet your thoughts on social media's best uses for business and economic development with the #socialmedia4ed hashtag and engage with peers on best practice strategies, tips, and insights.