Enter socioclean.com! A creative programmer named Priyanshu Harshavat started this site to help job seekers get their social profiles cleaned up before it got them a rejection letter. Socioclean is a program that spiders your profiles searching for over 5,000 words an phrases that are potential job killers.

Once you have given the program permission to access your account, the program issues a letter grade and a list of inappropriate content found with links to each item. You can easily run through the list quickly and eliminate those potentially offensive items that can turn off potential employers.

You may be surprised to find how much potentially negative items you have. Don’t forget that it’s not just what you have posted, but what everybody else that posts to your profile as well. Have you joined any groups that could be considered “extremist”? These small things that you have overlooked are the same things that can “jump” of the page to a prospective employer.

So if your in the job market today, don’t just get your resume in order. Take a second look at that public profile to make sure it doesn’t cost you that dream job!

Social Media for Business

Social media for business did not just grow slowly over time, it literally burst on the Internet with a huge following and undertaking. Today, if your business, especially an online business is not using social media and networking, you are missing out on tons of traffic that could be sent to your site. This extra traffic ultimately means more sales! The question is why would you not want to use social media to boost your business?

If you have an online business, then you need all the exposure you can get to attract more customers. Go to Facebook, and search for any online business you can think of, you will find a presence there. One of the largest online retailers, Amazon.com has a Facebook page, with over 140,000 people who like their page. Why does such a large business need social networking? HELLO, they are smart and use every avenue available to them.  Another reason they stay on top!

Do yourself a favor and check out some of the businesses in your field that are on the social media sites. Look at how they structure their pages. Of course they have a link to their main website. Someone from the company posts updates, such as sales, special promos, and adds a bit of fun in with it. The important thing to remember about any of the social media sites is it is an avenue to get people back to your website to buy products. However, you can’t just have a sales page because this would no doubt turn people off. You want to get your advertising across in a fun way, but still post comments that are purely entertaining or informational and have nothing to do with selling.

Leave a Positive Footprint!

Finally, always keep everything you write on any of the social media websites positive.  Never knock your competitors because this leaves a bad taste in people’s mouths. Check your social media sites daily or hand the task to someone else so you can always address personal responses. Never post gloomy messages and stay clear of politics or religion (unless your business deals with one or the other) because this will surely begin online arguing.

Social media is here to stay, use it to your advantage to boost your online business!

There is a notion amongst many individuals that Facebook (or any other social media website for that matter) is designed primarily for kids… and that the only people that use social media websites are teenagers and young adults. But this simply isn’t the case and if that’s what you’ve heard, you’ve been severely misinformed!

Individuals, businesses and organizations of all shapes, sizes, ages and backgrounds are using Facebook to connect with and lead the people they are trying to influence.

Author Seth Godin, wine entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk, Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong and even the actress Demi Moore have jumped on the social media bandwagon and are using these new online tools to connect with and inspire their community.

Another misconception some have about Facebook and other social media websites is that they are used primarily for the sharing of pornographic or ill natured information that may offend and frighten off new users. But if this is what you’ve heard, you’ve again been given false information.

What started off as a site aimed largely at college students (who do occasionally post photos of themselves drinking at parties or publish comments that their mothers would be ashamed of under normal circumstances), most Facebook users behave appallingly well. And they behave as well as they do because most Facebook users realize that what they say online and the photos they share with their friends can and very well may, come back to haunt them later in their lives.

Social Media is Transparent

There is a new transparency happening in the business world right now and it is largely due to the fact that people/consumers/your tribe want to know who they are dealing with.

Your tribe no longer wants to deal with a large faceless corporation. Instead, they want to know that the Superintendent of your school district likes Kung Fu movies and goes bowling on Friday nights and is working his or her butt off to make their school district a better place.

Trying to hide personal or work related information in the current age of online and offline transparency is only going to hurt your relationship with your community in the long run.

The new age of business is about transparency. The more transparent you can become with the people around you, the more they are going to trust, admire, and look to you as a source of information and support. So keep this in mind as we move forward.

Another misconception about social media, Facebook and the online world is that these social networking sites are a way for companies and organizations to inexpensively pump and prod their tribe into buying, listening to, or spread information that is solely beneficial to the organization itself. But again, this is not the case and if you try and use Facebook in a manner that is beneficial solely to the school district, your users and your community will revolt against you.

It’s a Party!

The way to use Facebook (or any social media application for that matter) is to think of it as party. When you go to a party, you don’t just show up and talk about yourself, how great you are and everything that you’ve been doing. If you were to do that at a party, people would think you were a real jerk and they wouldn’t want to talk to you for every long. But if you were to show up at that same party and ask questions about the people you met there, complimented their work and the way they dressed and generally worked to build up the people around you, you would suddenly become the life of the party. People would look up to you and see you as someone they could respect and ask for information or advice.

The same is true with social media. You can’t think of it as a sounding board; Instead, you’ve got to think of it as a place to connect, interact and build up your tribe, so that when those people need the information and support you are there to provide, they know how to reach you and most importantly, know that you will be there to offer your assistance.

A Brave New World…

The new online world that has been created and is growing at an ever expanding pace. But this new online world is not about using these free social media tools to pump your tribe with school district propaganda. Instead, it is an opportunity for you to communicated with your tribe when, where, and how they want to be communicated with.

In fact, this is what success in the new online world is really about. It’s about providing your community with the tools to interact and stay informed about your actions in a way that they are comfortable with.

It is your job to provide them with the tools to interact. But it is their choice as to how they interact with you… or whether they interact with you at all.

It is your responsibility to provide the tools and information… and it is the end user who ultimately decides whether or not he or she wants the information you are dishing out!