Boost your small business on social media with #Bizitalk

If you run a small, micro business, or you freelance you simply cannot afford to avoid using social media in today's world. Connecting with your target audience has never been easier and more accessible and building your community is just as simple. But knowing where to start can be a stumbling block. The easy thing to do is jump on social media and start selling by broadcasting and posting links to products and services - but this strategy nearly never works unless you already have a trusted fan base or community. Enter Bizitalk, Bizitalk is a social network in it's own right which supports and promotes small business primarily using the #bizitalk hashtag on Twitter. (see the: what is a hashtag post). @Bizitalk or twitter.com/bizitalk now has nearly 97000 followers on Twitter and promotes it's members every single day.

Bizitalk is also a members website which is well worth joining - It's free to join and set up a profile page or you can spend £5 per month or £50 per year and they will promote you daily to their huge supportive business community of 97,000 twitter followers. Find out more about biztalk and join in here. That's not all you get for your £5 per month fee, you can post to pinterest boards, get a featured listing on the bizitalk website and much more. Also by using the #bizitalk hashtag you tap into a huge community of like minded business owners. I personally feel that connecting to #bizitalk has opened my businesses up to a much larger community that I actually want to reach.

Adrian - the founder of Bizitalk tells me there are over 3500 active members! That's right - Active! Members of the main website.

I caught up with on TwitterAdrian Llewellyn-Jones - the Bizitalk founder to gather some facts about the network and some advice for small businesses looking to use social media.

Describe #bizitalk in 140 characters

We help small businesses by providing and building on that platform for them and giving them a large audience to communicate with."

Why should small businesses join #bizitalk?

We talk business for small business Promoting and supporting them as much as we can

[Tweet "We talk business for small business Promoting and supporting them as much as we can #bizitalk"]

Why do you think #bizitalk has become so popular?

The popularity stemmed from the launch of the #bizitalk hashtag which trended in 11 days and quickly became the most popular business hashtag in the UK

[Tweet "#bizitalk trended in 11 days and became the most popular business hashtag in the UK"]

What advice would you give to a small business taking part in social media for the first time?

Don't be afraid of social media. Be yourself, tweet and post as often as you like but don't send out the same sales messages all the time. Make sure you engage with others and be humorous and light hearted when you can.

[Tweet "Don't be afraid of social media. Be yourself, tweet and post as often as you like #bizitalk"]

Who is the face behind #bizitalk and why did you decide to start it?

I am (Adrian Llewellyn-Jones) the face behind it and decided to start it when I saw how popular the hashtag became so quickly. There was obviously a need for a platform for small businesses to talk with and learn from each other.

Adrian gives sound advice! Be yourself and don't broadcast all of the time, remember social media is about being social not promotional!

[Tweet "Be yourself and don't broadcast all of the time, remember social media is about being social not promotional! #bizitalk"]

Do you have any questions for Adrian? Why not tweet #bizitalk and see what response you get