Today's topic:  Prerequisite to Internet marketing and social media.

Before you get started following our social media roadmap, you should know that it is about 60 hours' worth of time from start to finish for someone who has not gone through the process before. You could zip through the process in less time, but the goal of investing in your business with a social media and internet marketing presence is to ultimately gain more business. The time requirement I have just outlined is the process of going through this document and really building an outstanding presence on each site. There may be breaks in the 60 hours as you wait for graphic designers to return work, or input from your employees or marketing company, so realistically, the process is going to go more than few weeks.

This document is not designed to be an all-inclusive solution, and you should know that a quick trip to google.com or hubspot.com can find you answers to just about any question on social media. I strongly recommend working with a marketing company who has experience in the field as they will make the process shorter and smoother.

Please also note that once this is all setup, you are still not finished. The true value of social media marketing is an ongoing presence and discussion that will need to be continually refined. A professional website and a partnership with a marketing company or design team to maintain your website is an absolute must.

I recommend getting copies of your logo and a professional photo studio head shot in advance to starting this process as these will be needed. You may also want professional photos of your office inside and out, and maybe other team members.

As you get started on the road map, I suggest using the same username, email address and coming up with a variable password format that can be applied to each site. Using the same credentials and a password that can be applied to each site with subtle differences ensures both security and also ease of use when managing the sites later.

Security is very important. You want a secure password, meaning to say that it should be at least 10 characters containing alpha-numeric and symbolic characters as well as capital and lower case letters. A strong password is a must, because this is your brand, and if someone can break your password, they can also harm your reputation.

Consider spending some time in advance of the setup to see if you can get the same direct link on all the social media sites. A direct link is something like www.facebook.com/tstechinc. TS Tech was not able to get the same direct link on all sites, and as a result we are www.twitter.com/tstechtweet and www.flickr.com/tstech. The difference is not major, but it is in your best interest to find a universal direct link that is not already being used on each site. Please be advised, that just because it is not in use today, does not mean it is available.

Once you are signed up, please be sure to follow me! You can find my social media contact information on the icons at the top of the www.ts-tech.com site.

Your prerequisite homework:

• Collect your logos in small and large format.
• Get a professional head shot photo.
• Gather some photos of your office and the people who work in your office.
• Scope out the sites to see what direct links are available. 
• Come up with what you would like to use as a strong password and memorize it.