Because of my job as social media manager at SAS, a lot of people ask me how to get started in social media. I'm working on several different resources to help our sales, marketing and communications folks understand how to integrate social media into their activities and provide bottom-line value. Some are done, some will be ready soon, some are still in the pipeline.

But I get frustrated. Sometimes I just want to shout, "Here! Go do this!"

So here it is, my bare-bones Four-Step Plan for Getting Started in Social Media. Is it perfect? No. Does it cover every base? Not even close. Will it get you started and help you figure out what's useful for you and how to move forward?

Yes.

Ready? Here we go:

1. Join LinkedIn, create your profile and search for groups relevant to your professional activities.

2. Do that on Facebook, too.

3. Use Google Blog Search to find the most important blogs in your industry, and set up an RSS reader like Google Reader to help you quickly and easily follow them.

4. Join Twitter, set up your profile and use the search function to find people talking about things relevant to you. Follow them and see what they talk about.

There. Go do that and come back and tell me how it went.
Photo by Simon Blackley