It’s really becoming an advertising no brainer.

The Commitment.
Social Media takes just that – a commitment and a pretty big one. If you dive into this arena, you need to make sure that you are prepared and ready to give steady updates. And various media types take a different level of commitment. Before starting up any of these, make sure you’ve got the time you can set aside to dedicate to update regularly. Twitter takes a pretty low level of commitment, while Facebook requires a much higher level (especially if you created a Page vs. a Group). And once setup, if the account’s active, you better commit to posting and using it, and use it often.

Pace Yourself.
On the heels of use, is how often you use it. Find a schedule for updates that works for you. And that can take some time to figure out as you’re trying to add this into your day-to-day workflow. You don’t have to post just to post and look active. Better to find a pace that allows you to post meaningful content, so you are active and appear intelligent in your market.

Stay Efficient.
This is the biggie. Once you’ve committed and have social media in your workflow, you have to make sure that it doesn’t take away from your actual job. It’s very easy to get wrapped up in these technologies, that the last thing you or you company wants, is for actual work to not get done. Real work cannot suffer just to get your name out there. Unless your job is to maintain the social sites of your company (and that’s becoming more popular), you should not be (what I call) NET-working all day. That’s when you spend all day on the net, working to keep up, while the work starts to pile up and quality starts to suffer.

Instead, make your social media work for you. Twitter is fantastic for this. There are more and more Twitter desktop applications popping up, that let you stay focused on your work. You don’t have to visit the site to post, just quick hit up your Twitter client of choice – make your tweet, and get back to it. I don’t about you, but the Internet has a way of sucking me in if I visit it. I go there for one site, and then I’m hitting up a few of my favorites, and now I’m not getting work done. A native application helps keep that urge under control.

Beyond the applications, and more importantly, you can use your tweets to update your Facebook status, and even add them to your own website. Twitter offers an easy way to make “widgets” (Flash or HTML or site specific) that allow you to post your tweets on any site. Follow a few steps, they even write you the code, and simply copy-paste the code into the part of the site you choose. Then you can use it to share links on the front of your website, or announce when you’ve blogged – and help drive traffic to that aspect of your site.

Adding the Twitter App to Facebook, allows the integration of the tweets as status updates. What I think is very nice about Twitter for Facebook, is that it only posts original tweets and no replies to your Facebook status (anything tweet with @username is considered a reply – fyi).

So check this out – if you download a application and post a tweet, you’ve just updated your Twitter page, your website, and your Facebook status. You never had to repeat, or visit any websites either. In and out. That’s efficient, and that’s a good way to keep you looking active without having to NET-work so hard.

Now, Twitter is limited to 140 characters, so if you have something more you’d like to say, you’ll have to blog it. But, you can also work that to your favor. You can import your blog to your Facebook Notes, so when you blog, it also will become a Note on your Facebook page. Simple import your blog (either by URL or RSS feed domain) and you’re done. Now couple that with a desktop blog editor, and you can do the same thing as with Twitter, but for longer articles or things you’d like to share.

Work Smart.
That’s all this boils down to. Work smart, not hard. Use technology to your advantage. You’re not just sitting in front of a machine that “just” does email, word processing and internet. It’s more and you should use that, and the web technologies to make life easier, especially as fast paced as most companies operate. It sounds counterproductive, but take a step back, and take the time to setup your accounts and equipment up right in the beginning, and you’ll save yourself time (and probably some stress) in the long run. And being more productive and a better company is something you can tweet about, and do so happily.

The Ford Fiesta, already in Europe, will be coming state side next year, and how are they going to advertise it – via social networking. But everyone’s done that. Here’s what makes it so great – they’re giving the car to a few dozen people in their 20’s and they’re going to give their feedback on social networking accounts that Ford has setup for this campaign. Wired’s Autopia goes into the nitty gritty, so be sure to read the article.

It’s great that they’re letting the people do the talking. Takes away the whole idea of them being a “struggling American car company” – which they’re not – they’re the only ones not taking the money. It also shows that they’re “in-tune” (oh, puns are fun) with the younger generations. Plus the fact that they aren’t going to moderate what these testers are saying about the car is also great. If things go wrong, Ford can show how great they are at finding a solution to a problem. Makes them seem human, and that’s something an American car company needs desperately right now.

Rock on Ford…. rock on.