Today’s post on The Methodology Blog is from Kristin Page, project manager for Golden Technologies. As a social media and internet marketing specialist, she advocates the importance for maintaining rules and regulations in regards to social media use in the workplace. Yet, for companies looking for exposure, her advice is simple: encourage employees to use it.

Originally social networks appeared to be a threat for businesses, whether it was their employees spending too much time on them or employees making inappropriate posts. Yet, it has very quickly become a common trend for people ages 13 (legally) to 104. When Facebook started, it was geared to keep college students in touch when they graduated. Now it’s simply unheard of not to use it. Twitter is very quickly following a similar path. Only in the last year or two have businesses embraced social media, and yours should too.

Social Media will open up a whole new world to your customers and let them contact you and read about you on a more personal level. You might not talk about your kids in front of a customer at your office, but by letting them see a photo or two of your children on Facebook or Twitter, it can open up a whole new conversation the next time you see them.

It is also beneficial when something negative happens. Inevitably, it enables you to control your brand name. Just by getting on social media you are able to start making a good name for yourself in the event that things go wrong. People have a tendency to turn social media into a bad situation. Yet, you will have a heads up on addressing the problem before all of the negativity is exposed.

It is also nice to see that not everyone is perfect. Simply stating your opinion can expose a side of you that the general public might not know about. That’s not a bad thing. After all, you never know who might share the same opinion. By encouraging your employees and your CEO to use social media you are letting others see you are human.

While it is important to keep rules and expectations with employees on social media, at the same time encourage them to use this new platform. Social Media offers a chance for you to get more of your business out on the web and let others get an inside look. If you’re a Fortune 500 company or a mom and pop shop, social media is a tool that you should at least dabble around in. So get out there, enjoy the exposure. What are you afraid of?

Kristin Page is a project manager for Golden Technologies with a special interest in social media and internet marketing. She blogs often on the Golden Tech Blog and can be found on Twitter @kristypage.

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