This blog post is short and sweet and outlines some of my quick tips for updating your social network status to your businesses benefit:

1. Your should be posting a mix of both business and personal so that your customers get to know you. Don’t make the mistake of being all business or you’re extended network (I.e. People you know only online) will start dropping like flies. On the same token, don’t get too personal either!

2. Consistency is key. Being consistent let’s your network decide if your updates are useful to them. If you’re relevant, they will hopefully start inviting friends.

3. Add value. The key to attracting customers and readers to your status feeds is to add value. Read my blog post on marketing to women using social networks.

4. Avoid trying to hard sell through status updates. The only people who see your status updates are those who have chosen to so they are on some level already interested. Plus, everyone has enough spam as it is.

Whether asked by clients or approached by friends regarding developing a new website, I consistently hear, “I want all the bells and whistles, I want movement, flash, with cool fade-ins, blinking stars, flashing headlights…oh and did I mention I want to be ranked on the first page of search engine results.” It amazes me that this day in age, Search Engine placement is still an after thought for most business owners. I mean, what good is a cool looking, full flash website if no one can find you on the internet?” While there are a number of reasons people think they want a website built entirely in flash, if your main purpose for your website is business or generating traffic of any kind the cons far outweigh the pros.

Search engines “spider” or “crawl” the web on a fairly freqent basis scanning, reading and indexing millions upon millions of web pages. Without getting into too much detail on how search engines generally work, search engines cannot index full flash websites. The content is compressed into one .swf (flash) file where as HTML or text is not.

Although flash animation has its role on the Web, it still has a long way to go in regards to search engine optimization.  It should be used sparingly to enhance a site, not to distract from it. Make sure your users are able to get to the content they want and don’t make them jump through hoops by having to sit through lengthy flash intro’s and by not being able to use their browsers navigation buttons.

No, I’m not talking about looking fly and cool, I’m talking about your Website content. Fresh content can make or break a website. Keeping your website fresh and updated on a regular basis should be at the top of your list of things to do.

Putting up new articles or blog posts helps drive traffic and increase interest in your website. If you don’t like to write, or don’t have the time to spend writing or blogging original content, getting fresh content will mean thinking smarter. Here are a few tips to add valuable fresh content to your website.

Start a relevant blog. A well written blog that is relevant to a specific topic, adds value to your site that gives web surfers reasons to come back and choose you over your competition.

Post “good” news. By good news I mean the kind that highlights the good things you or company has done for the community, non-profit organization, charity or environment. Most websites already have a News section where they post press releases, but by posting your “good” news lets readers know you’re more than just a business.

Everyday millions of women flood social networks and frequent blogs and if you’re a good business owner or internet marketer you have noticed this and hopefully take full advantage of this knowledge when it comes to creating online marketing campaigns. I just finished reading an article that provided research that may be causing marketers to rethink those efforts, which prompted me to write this blog entry.

According to the “Women’s Survey,” despite more than one-half of women active in social media visiting social networking sites at least daily, 74.8% reported not being influenced by social networks when it came to purchase decisions. Those female internet users polled said their purchasing decisions were affected by coupons, product ratings and review Websites.

So what does this mean to you, trying to reach a demographic that is responsible for a high percentage of purchases? Do you throw in your Facebook page and delete your MySpace account? Absolutely not! In short this information (which like anything should be taken at face value), means two things to me, 1) There are a lot of women using social networks and 2) They respond to coupons, discounts and reviews. If you have been depending on social networks and blogs to try to connect with these decision makers, your marketing efforts through these tools should include discount offers, coupons, testimonials by way of positive comments on your profile pages and blog comments. This does take some time and effort, and will need reciprocation to get the positive comments flowing but I do not think you should by any means throw in the social networking towel!

Think this doesn’t apply to you because your target market isn’t women? Think again. Women are what’s under the hood of the economy, driving close to 80% of consumer spending in the United States alone. Even in industries thought to be traditionally male markets, such as the automotive industry, women buy more than half of all new vehicles and influence 80% of all automotive purchases.

So next time you’re on your Facebook or Tweeting that you just finished breakfast, don’t forget to take advantage of these status feeds by including promotional messages about your product or service that help establish you and your products in your customers minds. Status updates are front and center on Twitter, Facebook and MySpace and highlighting a discount or deal can generate a decent amount of interest. Oh, and make sure to include direct links to your website while you’re at it. The main purpose of Social Networking for your business should be to drive traffic and potential leads back to the meat & potatoes – your website. Posting to your immediate network usually has the pass-it-on effect also know as “viral marketing” and we know how women love to spread the word on a great deal or discount. Do this on a frequent basis and you’re bound to get a good response from the ladies.

Unless you have been been living on a deserted island for the last few years, it should be no surprise to you that Video sharing websites such as YouTube & Vimeo and social networking sites such as Facebook & Linked-In have the biggest benefit for companies using various Web 2.0 tools. New web technologies seem to come and go so fast these days. Some of them generate a good amount of buzz and seem attractive at first, but as a business owner or marketing director, don’t forget the all important ROI before investing time and money in these new technologies.

As far as direct customer-related benefits, blogs are probably the most useful tool followed very closely by social networks, video sharing and even RSS (Real Simple Syndication) feeds.

If you haven’t wet your feet yet with any of these web 2.0 tools, now’s the time to jump on the bandwagon. I think you can’t go wrong in investing time and/or money into at minimum, social networking sites such as Facebook or Linked In. Keep in mind you can’t simply start up a Facebook page or Blog and expect the masses (and benefits) to start pouring in. I always recommend to clients and friends to integrate these tools with other forms of customer interaction such as email or print newsletters, word of mouth, and creating links on your main website.