David Bain: What social networks are most effective for business in 2014? How do you measure the effectiveness of your social media interaction; and is there still a place for business blogging in 2014? Those are just three of the questions that I intend to ask our special guest today, Stan Smith. Stan, thank you very much indeed for joining me.

Stan Smith: Thank you for having me. I’m sure we’re going to have some fun.

David Bain: Absolutely. Now, Stan is a business growth strategist at Push Social, particularly focusing on using social media tools to achieve a competitive advantage. His main expertise is in social media and business blogging. Stan, blogging has been mainstream for nearly 10 years or so now. Has social media finally taken over, or is there still a place for business blogging in 2014?

Stan Smith: That’s a great question. I believe that blogging gets stronger as the social media channels get stronger. I arrive at that premise really by thinking about blogging and social media this way. Blogging is the story that your business is telling. It’s the information that you’re providing to your prospects, you’re providing to your customers and your fans. Now, that content needs to be distributed to an audience, the targeted audience in the best case scenario, and social media is still the channel for distributing that. They are really at a symbiotic relationship, so you really can’t have one without the other. I believe that business blogging is as strong as it’s ever been, and I think it’s going to get stronger as we move forward, and it only will get even better as the social channels improve as well.