Social Media - Where Do You Start?

I've generally found the best place to start is by asking questions. Key considerations here include:
* Where do your customers hang out?
* What platform(s) are you comfortable with?
* How much time do you have to devote to social media and how much can you repurpose?

What Social Media Platforms Are There?
​This article identifies the Top 35 social media platforms as of July 2025. There are a number on this list I wouldn't have called "social media." Some of these appear to be international and not necessarily in the US awareness. I also wouldn't consider Discord, Microsoft Teams, or Facebook Messenger as "social platforms" to interact with customers, but maybe that's just me. 

The Top 5 include Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok - no real surprises on these. 

Where Do Your Customers Hang Out on Social Media?
Considerations here include:

• Your type of business or nonprofit
• What platforms do your equivalent competitors use?
• Age/demographics of your customer
• Does your business lend itself to photo or video stories or will you be word heavy?
• Will you need a platform where donations or sales are an option?

What Platforms Are You Comfortable With?
You really won't want to feel forced to work with a social media platform you simply don't like or aren't familiar with. You will quickly face a decision of how much you or your team can manage the social media or if you will need to hire for this role. The follow-up question is whether you can afford to hire someone to manage your social media if you don't have that resource already. 

If video creation or editing is not a skill for you, that will begin to focus your social media choices. Nearly all platforms allow and encourage video as an option. Social media and users seem to love video right now. However, video is a bigger focus for certain platforms. Currently, TikTok and YouTube are pretty exclusively video based. 

How Much Time Do You Have and Can You Repurpose?
Some folks believe in being on all the platforms. Others identify 2-3 to focus on and that's plenty. Both options work. 

Some of the platforms are currently owned by the same company which makes reposting, sharing, and maximizing your effort easier—posting on Facebook may also be easily shared to Instagram and WhatsApp as they're owned by the same company.

The other option is once you have your video ready or image in mind for your post, simply copy/paste/upload may work fairly efficiently for you between multiple platforms. 

Repurposing can be taken a couple of different ways:

• Easily replicate the same thing between platforms
• Have a longer post, video, or webinar prepared and break it into smaller pieces or formats to share in smaller ways across multiple platforms and over time. 
  • Transcripts provide words that can be batched into social media posts as written content and possibly add an image. 
  • Key concepts may lend themselves to being shared and build a poll for platforms that have that option. LinkedIn loves polls for interaction!
  • Videos can originally be "live" events on or off the platform. They can be shared on social media in their entirety or in small pieces of focused content. 
  • Webinars or podcasts are perfect in small pieces on social media platforms to repurpose them. 
  • You can combine creating a podcast (audio show of varying lengths) with a live YouTube event! I suspect this cross-purposing may also work with other platforms. 
  • Repurposing can also be resharing an older piece of content (prior social media posts or blog posts from your website) for a newer audience or updating it with new material with far less time and effort involved. 

As you consider adding social media options to your business plan, this will hopefully provide some insights into considerations. Nonprofit Tech for Good provides a number of resources that may guide your decision on platforms to consider, whether you're a nonprofit, solopreneur, or author. This website offers a number of data posts to weigh where you should consider focusing your time and energy. 

Do you have a favorite social media platform? Are you on all the platforms or focus on 2-3? Do you repurpose your content to save time? Love to hear how it's going! Let's Chat or message me on LinkedIn! 

Artificial Intelligence Literacy for All

I can't recommend this organization highly enough. Paul Roetzer and his team do an amazing job educating the public at all levels of AI awareness about AI, its impact, current industry news and activity, ethics, and more. 



What Does He Have?
Marketing AI's basic mission is to "help marketers and business leaders understand, pilot, and scale AI." They do this in a variety of ways, many of them free or low cost! The focus is on marketers. 

• 60 min free webinars monthly on Intro to AI, Scaling AI webinars quarterly I believe
• Weekly newsletter
• Weekly podcast
• A book!
• A blog
• Additional free webinars as they develop
• Head to their Resources page for a FULL review of options! 

SmarterX "is an AI research and education firm and parent company of AI Academy, The Artificial Intelligence Show [the podcast], and Marketing AI Institute." It's purpose is "to drive efficiencies, productivity, innovation, and growth in all areas of business, but focuses on marketing, sales, and service as the primary drivers of value creation."

• Separate weekly newsletter
• Additional webinars that tend to be deeper dives on topics
• Three different GPTs available for use and research
• Freely shares prompting information to create an AI Co-CEO/thought partner
• Information for parents on how to try to keep kids safe in this age of AI
• Ways to partner to train teams and advise executives

AI Academy is a membership program providing courses and regular topical communication as AI rapidly changes. Their education, ethics, and business model encourages a human-centered approach to AI. AI will definitely be disruptive of jobs in the short-term, but the hope is opportunities are maximized to create new and different jobs around and with AI as well as capitalizing on advancements made thanks to insights and speed of AI. Certificates and badges are available with course completion. 

If you're just beginning to dabble with AI or you're looking for bigger steps into your use, Paul Roetzer and his resources can't be beat. I've read the book, subscribe to both newsletters, and the podcast is a weekly must-listen for me. Their information and insights are cutting edge current with real world human perspective. 

AI is only growing stronger and more present. I suggest it's a smart investment in your small business or nonprofit to be aware of its capabilities, limitations, and best way to partner with it to maximize your own time and presence. This resource is a great first step to learn more with many free resources and paid options when you're ready.

Where do you find yourself in your AI journey? Is it a big part of your work or daily processes or more on the fringes?

​I'd love to hear how you're using it and compare notes - Let's Chat or find me on LinkedIn!

Do I NEED LinkedIn?

TLDR (Too Long Don't Read) - YES! 

LinkedIn should be part of your marketing and communication package to get your name, your company, your book, your nonprofit - get you - out there. 


How Is LinkedIn Useful?
It's one of a few highly respected ways to be seen as a legitimate business and person to work with. Your first piece is your website as an anchor. Your second step should be to build your LinkedIn personal profile, then possibly a company page—a focus for your book or work. LinkedIn is considered the "professional" social site. 

Build Your LinkedIn Profile
Your profile is your bio and can effectively be your resume, to the point where someone can get a pdf copy of your profile and have a general idea of your work history. This is your billboard.

• Add a profile image (generally your best head shot photo) and background image (large space behind your profile image).
• Come up with a catchy tagline or headline for the top to get people's attention immediately! This very small but important piece can take time to try to get right and evolves over time. The first 5-6 words are critical attention getters that follow you around every time you comment or message someone! 
• Create an About section which is similar to the start of your resume sharing who you serve, how you serve, and why.
• Add your Top Skills, Services you offer, and note your Experience (this is the resume part). For your Experience, recommendations suggest no more than the most recent 10-15 years noted. Ageism is a thing.
• "Extra" sections that may be useful to add:
  • Education (very useful) - no need to note graduation year!
  • Licenses/Certifications (may be especially useful in your market)
  • Projects you're proud of
  • Featured posts, newsletters, articles, or a newsletter - think of these as "pinned" to the top of your profile page
  • Volunteer experience

Is a Company Page Useful?
Yes! If you are a privately owned small business owner, this helps immensely with your visibility. It helps LinkedIn find you as a business entity. It enables you to use your business logo on your personal profile and note it as your current business!

If you manage a nonprofit organization, a company page is crucial. Fellow volunteers or employees will be able to link to it, repost and share good content, and even contribute to the page by tagging the organization in posts. 

Authors or podcasters may use this as a way to focus on the project with its own account to then cross-post between company and personal pages. 

All of that being said, your personal page is your highest priority! For solopreneurs or authors, a company page may be no more than a place to repost your personal profile's information as a secondary way to get noticed. You may never post anything "new" on the company page. 

As a nonprofit, your company page may be your key focus to get that brand noticed! 

Unfortunately for the LinkedIn current business model, company pages definitely rank lower in visibility than personal profiles, but they have their uses.

Develop your following and connections on your personal profile and find ways to connect to the company page to build that awareness. 

How to Build Presence on LinkedIn
The next and biggest step is interacting with others on LinkedIn. 

• Comment on posts by others, regularly and often.
• Respond to comments on your posts on both personal and company pages. 
• Join Groups on LinkedIn to offer ideas, suggestions, and thoughts to the group by responding to questions or sharing your useful news. This gives you presence as a thought leader! Most groups have some content restrictions to reduce the "spam" or "selling something" vibe that can become prevalent without an active group leader. 

All it takes is 15-30 min on most days to gain a little traction. Post, comment, or repost material from others at least 1x/week to show you're alive! That's a pretty broad range of how much to be on LinkedIn, so you have plenty of room to keep it flexible. 

Resources for LinkedIn
You're welcome to review a couple of prior blog posts here for additional information.

• LinkedIn Tips & Tricks adds a bit more detail and specifics for your reference.
• LinkedIn for Nonprofits goes into a bit more depth for that market. 
• LinkedIn itself has a robust library and resources available on the website. 
• YouTube has a number of videos on using LinkedIn. 
• There are a number of books and great teachers on LinkedIn. I'd be happy to share some of my favorite expert recommendations!

LinkedIn is Ready for You!
It's a phenomenal tool to find your ideal client and job. It's an ideal place to showcase yourself! It's also a different personality and interaction than you'll find on any other social platform. The professionalism is generally a notch above all other socials. 

LinkedIn is a fantastic way to ENGAGE your audience! If you'd like a hand on the platform or to simply chat about your ideas, Let's Chat or find me on LinkedIn! 

Suggestions for All Nonprofits, Entrepreneurs, & Authors

There are some basic needs all businesses share when getting started, especially for small nonprofits, entrepreneurs/small businesses, and authors. This post will shed some light on what you will need to start communicating with your audience.

This post is assuming you've done your homework to create your "brand" to begin your marketing. Your "brand" includes your logo, colors, fonts used, and much more. If you need ideas before diving into the communication piece, head to these posts - Engage Your Customers, Brand Updates, and Resources: Louise Harnby.

Website
This is your best focal point or store front to have in place. All other pieces you develop will hang off of this. Having a website, at least to start, lends credibility to your efforts. It shows the world you're serious about your project! Head to Why Create a Website if you need some convincing. 

Great initial websites that are affordable and easy to design:

• This post gives you a bit of an overview of my favorites.
• Weebly
• Wix
• Squarespace

​Social Media
This is likely the next most critical piece to get started - choose and start your social media platform. This is where my markets may find different needs for where best to focus your efforts. Another critical consideration is your comfort for where you spend your time and how you prefer to communicate.

The most basic consideration is your comfort with video creation for how heavily you may decide on your social media platform. Short-form vs long-form video comfort is also a consideration. YouTube reigns for long video content. Most of the other social media platforms now offer some variety of short-form video. 

Nonprofits
Nonprofit Tech for Good with Heather Mansfield is an incredible resource for all things communication in nonprofits. This study published this year (2025) gives amazing numbers for reference in what platforms are currently performing well. The Big Three for nonprofits currently seem to be:

• Instagram
• Facebook
• LinkedIn

Entrepreneurs/Small Businesses
The communication needs and markets are different! 

• LinkedIn - this is a must for your personal profile and it's highly recommended to create a "company page" as well. Many items may cross-post between them, but both are highly useful. We can chat on other posts about the benefits of both.
• The rest depends greatly on where your audience is and their age/demographics. Videos on these platforms tend to be key. 
  • Facebook remains the place for the older generations and donors
  • Instagram seems to be hot for millennials
  • Millennials and Gen Z consume a lot of video and are regularly on TikTok

Authors
Suggestions here will be dependent on your type of writing and genre for where your audience is. Fiction vs nonfiction may be a consideration. Younger vs older readers may be a factor. A number of these platforms have "book" specific sites to them for your focus.

• Instagram - search for Bookstagrams or even "reels" from favorite authors
• TikTok - a category within this platform is BookTok. Once logged in, you can search BookTok to find plenty of material.
• Goodreads
• LinkedIn - remains valuable to establish your credibility as an author. Great place to connect with folks to be a guest on podcasts or live events to talk about your work.

Newsletters
Once you have your website and social media in place, you can take a breath and consider your newsletter options. How will you share your news or spread the word? How will you get readers?

• Email your subscribers News in your customers' inbox remains key. There are a number of ways to get subscribers to your newsletter, but the key is to get folks to voluntarily give you their name + email address. There are "services" out there happy to sell you a list of names + emails, but they've been scraped from the internet and you don't have permission to send them content. There are a number of anti-spam laws now in multiple countries. Consult your government agency or even email provider for details. If you're looking for a round-up of affordable, easy to use services, refer to this blog post for details. 
• LinkedIn This is a great way to connect with your connections and share your news! The service is free. Your very first edition goes to all of your contacts, so it's recommended you hold on this until you have at least 1,000 connections. Once you create the newsletter, LinkedIn helpfully sends a quick note to all new connections asking them to subscribe to your newsletter. This happens on auto-pilot and you don't have to think about it. The caveat here is you don't "own" the email addresses of these subscribers. If you ever get locked out of LinkedIn for some reason, your entire database of contacts is gone. You can, however, see who the subscribers and commenters are and message them directly! 
• Consider a blend of the two options. Have an option on your LinkedIn newsletter to subscribe to your email list. 

A Good Start
This will get you started with your brand marketing. There's always far more that can be done including creating PR items on Canva and attending in person events. 

If you could use a hand getting started, I'd be thrilled to be of assistance, listen, or brainstorm ideas to set you on your way. Let's Chat or message me on LinkedIn!