This article assumes that you have already launched a website or a blog for your business and if not, you need not go beyond this paragraph. Instead view these 10 free videos on how to get that accomplished.

In the beginning the task of establishing an online presence and building a recognizable brand may seem a bit daunting, but it is important to understand that life online is very much like life offline, things take time and you must be both persistent and patient.

You’ve likely heard all the buzz about Twitter and Facebook and how everybody is online now, so you’ve decided to join the league of internet users and carve out a little space for your business. This decision is a good one, so let’s get started.

Establish a dedicated email account

If you’re like most people, you probably already have an email account, but you should not use that one. You need to keep your business activities separate from your personal life. As online business activities ramp up, having all of those communications in one central account will be a major advantage for managing and organizing the various messages.

View this as an electronic file cabinet where you can establish separate folders for each entity. It’s very important to start off organized as they’ll be little time for coming back to straighten things out later.

Recommendation: Get a Gmail account, it’s free, provides plenty of storage space and is easy to navigate. You can open an account here at Gmail.com.

Get a photo

In the business world people like to know who they are dealing with so you’ll need a nice passport style photo to use as your personal brand. Be certain that it shows your face, preferably smiling. No need for a visit to the professional photographer’s shop, just something that represents your likeness. This photo should be no larger than 80 x 80 pixels and will become your online identity, as it will eventually appear in many places. Plan to keep this photo in place for an extended period of time as your goal is to gain instant recognition.

Let’s get out there

The time has now arrived for you to establish your first online presence on one of the many social media sites. It is important to avoid over-reaching and trying to be in too many places at once, leaving your profiles incomplete. Start with one site, complete that profile then move to the next. You will be building profiles for some time, but there is no rush.

Recommendation: Sign up to these three sites as starters, completing a profile on each before moving to the next. Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are critical to your online success.

When you begin to use these sites, be observant and get a feel for how things flow. You have but one opportunity to make a positive first impression so go slow and enjoy these environments. Remember, social media is all about interaction with others, sharing knowledge and gaining trust. Be a contributor to these communities.

Twitter

The signup screen looks like the image below and can be found at Twitter.com

You’ll have all sorts of options once you sign up, but here is a short 4 minute video on how to use the site.

Note: The signup screen in the video has since been updated to look like the one above, but the general functionality of the site remains accurate.

Facebook

Sign up for a Facebook account at Facebook.com. Here’s another quick video to get you started.

How to Register & Join Facebook — powered by eHow.com

A visit to the eHow site will provide you with a series of videos covering additional uses of Facebook’s Homepage, how to build a profile and a host of other helpful features.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a professional business oriented networking site that is a must for anyone in business. Here you will build a network of professionals and have opportunities to join various business groups of interest. Like the other sites, you’ll build a profile, but here you will include information related to your specific business. You can sign up for an account here at LinkedIn.com.

Conclusion

These are but three of the many sites that you can establish a presence on and build your global image. The overall strategy is to establish outpost around the internet so that you are where your potential customers are. These outpost will all lead back to your blog or website, which is what makes this process so powerful.

As pointed out earlier, do not spread yourself too thin in an attempt to cover too many sites at once. The result will be shoddy or incomplete and unprofessional looking profiles, so complete one before moving on to another.

There are more places on the internet than you could ever cover, so be judicious in your selections of sites to use and build your brand.

Be a contributor to these communities and avoid being perceived as a spammer who has only their own interest at heart. A reputation like that will be difficult to shake and must be avoided at all cost. Yes, you are marketing but this must be done in a strategic manner.

I hope that you’ve found this article helpful and that it serves to jump-start your online business career. Good luck with your future endeavors.

Readers of this article may also find interest in;

Why Start an Online Business in a Down Economy

You can find me on  or 

You may also sign up to my RSS Feed for future updates from this site.