Angelynn Talcott, @angelynn1872

Editor's Note: We regularly look across the industry for experts to offer viewpoints and tips in our popular "From the Trenches" series of guest posts. For this one, we looked across the office. We asked Angelynn Talcott, director of marketing for the PSBJ and TechFlash, to share her biggest takeaways from the Social Media 201 conference Thursday in Redmond.

Who knew Benjamin Franklin was the first social media guru? Why? He used all the technology available at the time to express, publish and distribute his ideas and thoughts. He became a brand of his own.

That was one of the insights offered up at Social Media 201 Conference, held at Microsoft on Thursday. Hopefully we've all followed Ben's lead and embraced the idea that there's value in social media. It’s another way to engage and communicate. But how can we use it to build our businesses? The event featured some insightful speakers who focused on that important question.

These were some of the lessons I came away with.

Build trust: Consider this: In his presentation, Eric Weaver, account director and strategist at Tribal DDB, said 91 percent of people globally will buy from companies they trust. Social media can build that trust because it fosters two-way communication and customer care, while traditional marketing is based on one-way message delivery. This video drives home the point.

Match goals: Social media strategies should be a natural extension of what your company is already doing, and tactics -- the things you do to implement those strategies -- should align with overarching business goals.

Respect time: Keep content short and relevant, and tag it, to make it easy to find.

Tell a story: The brands with the best stories win. These days, a majority of customer interactions with your brand are out of your control; all you can do is steer and guide the conversation. One effective way to do that is to get others excited about your brand – make them a part of the story.

Personality sells, so put yourself out there. The people in your company are representing your brand to the world. And, building sales through personality works. To build your personal brand, think about what you can contribute. Get in the habit of sharing information publicly (in good taste) as opposed to privately. Darren Williger, president and CEO of Regillo Consulting Group in Chicago, reminded everyone to be authentic and fun. Kristen Ruby, president and founder of Ruby Media Group in New York, said guest blogging and speaking at industry events are great ways to start.

Influence, activate and measure: Identify those with the greatest influence in your industry and engage them through their most trusted networks. Measure the return on investment by asking these questions: What actions has that influence generated? And how do those actions amplify our value?

Monetize: When you manage and measure it, you can monetize it. Understand your goals and customize your social media plan. Use analytics and metrics to map results and track success.

Make use of online tools: Strapped for time? Use Twitter clients, Google Alerts and other tools to organize, track and increase efficiency. Don’t forget you also need a real, live person to thoughtfully respond and engage.

Don't forget your manners: You wouldn’t walk up to someone at a party, tell them something and then say, “Can you share this with everyone here, right now?” So, don’t ask people to retweet. A better idea might be to ask them to do a giveaway or contest that is relevant and of interest to their followers.

Follow the fish: Don’t follow a trend over a cliff (i.e. MySpace). Constantly ask the question: How will people interact with each other tomorrow?

Angelynn Talcott is director of marketing for the Puget Sound Business Journal and TechFlash. Follow her on Twitter @angelynn1872 and reach her via email at atalcott@bizjournals.com.. Have an idea for a guest post of your own? Let us know about it at techflashtips@bizjournals.com.