Let's face it, social media is now apart of our world in pretty much every aspect and more than likely here to stay. I'll admit, when I first heard about MySpace, I was like what the what, but once I got the hang of it and learned all the tricks of the trade, here came Facebook. From that point on, the social media world has grown to over 200 networking sites and is continuing to grow.

Whether you're a blogger, business owner, or an artist, social media networks are necessary to grow your business and your brand. You see celebrities, bloggers and business owners tweeting and posting all day long to reach millions of people to promote, market and keep themselves relevant. If you're doing anything worthwhile, social media is definitely your friend because it's lets people know about you and what it is you do. Instead of just being on social networks to see what so-and-so is doing, dating or what kind of drama they have on their status today, you can really use these networks to your advantage and take your business to the next level.

Here are some strategies to grow your audience via social networks:

See and be seen, in a good way of course. When you're trying to grow your audience for your business, you have to engage in the conversation so to speak. Visit other people's page, blogs, etc and leave comments to create exposure to yourself. Nobody will know anything about you unless you let them know you're there. So don't be shy, connect on Facebook, join Twitter parties so that people start wondering who you are while all along you're building your brand.

Join platforms that work best for your band. Although there are over 200 social networking sites out there that doesn't mean you have to join them all. Join the ones that are beneficial to you and your brand.

Determine your audience. One of the most important parts about running any business whether it's a blog, storefront or general business is that you MUST know who your audience/target market is. If you aren't sure, you can use Google Analytics to determine your audience as well as a site I just found out about TweetReach to see just how far the word is being spread about your business. If  you want more real time results, use Bitly.

Engage influencers. Start off engaging influencers. Be observant, resourceful, and effectively engaging, you become an asset, not a detractor.

Make your content easily shareable. Nothing is more irritating than not being able to share something interesting you've read with friends or even followers. Make sure your content is shareable for social media. You can use plugins to add to posts so that others can share them as well as sign up for updates, such as newsletters.

Although these tips are intended for bloggers, I think they could be useful for just about any business that plans on building an audience online. Remember, social media is FREE publicity.

Source