Get Free Marketing, Publicity in Down Market

Many businesses, in an effort to stay in the black, cut spending on marketing and publicity.

But if no one knows about your latest offering, no one's going to buy it. Reaching customers at the right time with the right product or service is the fuel that will keep your company running. One way businesses big and small are getting the message out these days is through social media. Companies from Starbucks(SBUX Quote) to Comcast(CMCSA Quote) are clicking to sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to reach out and touch their customers. Here are eight things to remember when hitting the social-media circuit.

Mine your network: Set up your profile and start reaching out to people already in your network. Upload that list of loyal customers you gathered over the years. Hook up with those in your field or industry. Heck, even reach out to old school chums. The bigger your social network, the better your chance of getting heard.

Set limits: Social media not only can take up your life, it can open it and your business to outside scrutiny like never before. Before diving in, think about how transparent you want to be. Logging on is a great way to give your business a human face online, but you must think strategically about how much you want to reveal and share, cautions Juliette Powell, author of "33 Million People in the Room" (Financial Times Press). "For me, social network is really about branding," she says.

Determine your level of commitment: Blogs take time to write. Joining social Web sites, not as much. Be realistic about how much time you want to devote and plan accordingly. Bob Heyman, chief search officer at Mediasmith, a media buying and strategy agency in San Francisco, recommends starting with one site. His company, for example, landed some big clients through LinkedIn, thanks in part to the CEO assiduously building his network to 500 contacts.