Social media and other online tools can help you grow your business, but only if you use them effectively, says Marie Swift, president of Impact Communications Inc., a Leawood, Kan.-based marketing consultancy that specializes in the financial advisory business.

Swift, who spoke at the FPA Business Solutions conference in Cambridge, Mass. on Thursday, offers these social-media best practices:

  1. keep your website fresh;
  2. blog twice a month;
  3. check LinkedIn once a day:
  4. tweet three times a day:
  5. to engage others in dialogue, comment on their posts;
  6. track mentions — the times you are mentioned in blogs or tweets;
  7. archive activity — ensure you have a record of all your posts.