…and welcome to our new BizEdge Blog. We will be advising and reporting on the small business advantage plays that are emerging through Internet marketing and social media.

Whether or not you choose at this time to utilize Merchant Card Services from 1st National Processing and the Merchant Services Partnership we invite you to subscribe to our new blog, we promise to keep it up-to-date and informative.

At 1st National Processing, we are beginning to embrace social media as a powerful marketing and branding tool – and, we’ve yet to think of one business that couldn’t benefit from some sort of social media component in their marketing and advertising mix.

However, there are still skeptics. One of the most common questions that we get from them is, “do you think it’s a fad?”

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Business owners often ask us what they should they be doing for social media their company. In our “expert” LOL opinion, this question cannot be glossed over, let alone without doing bonafide research. That being said, asking is the first step and so we will answer it with the help of social media experts at Catalyst House (follow them on Twitter).

Here is their quick list of what your company MUST first be doing to get into the swing of things ->>

(source: Catalyst House)

1. Create a Facebook fan page and Twitter account and use them. Keep them updated with fresh, relevant content and bring in your personal network for growth. Ask your community what they want to hear about and then provide them with that information. Talk to them, respond to them and do it in a timely manner…not just today, but tomorrow and the next day and the day after that. Make time for these tools – you’ll be glad you did.

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