Social media can be a powerful tool for salespeople but only if used smartly. Some salespeople sign up for a social media network and never use it, or, they play around and waste time rather than actively network with others. Mark Hunter, blogger for The Sales Hunter, shares ten tips that will help salespeople use social media to its full potential. And, once set up, each tip takes less than 10 minutes to do daily. Below, are just a few of his suggestions:

Actively seek out information to share. Hunter suggests that twice a week, salespeople seek out relevant and interesting industry news or articles to share with social media followers. Adding a line or two of commentary to each item shared will give you an opportunity to lend your own voice and knowledge. By sharing these industry insights, you create value for followers and establish yourself as an industry resource.

Follow smart people on LinkedIn. Seek out other LinkedIn users whom you respect and admire. Follow them for inspiration and advice, and if you enjoy a particular item they share, go ahead and share it with your own followers. Also, don’t forget to engage by “liking” a post and/​or commenting.

Use HootSuite for Twitter. Using HootSuite for Twitter, set up streams around keywords that are relevant to you and your product or service. “Check the streams 3x per week and hit ‘like’ for tweets you think are worthy,” Hunter explains. “Take 4 or 5 of them and set them up to be re-​tweeted by you over the next couple of days.” These engagement tactics will benefit both you AND your followers.

These are just a few examples from Hunter’s article. Leveraging social media takes some savvy, and Hunter gives you some great guidance on how to make the most of your social network connections!