Its about staying connected..

Most people are frequent users of one or more social networking sites.

Now agencies are catching the bug.

In this weeks edition of Around Town, Brad Feldman shows you the benefits.

{Open} (Sound- typing) It's your key to the world

(Sandy McMerty/ ND Ambassadors) "Facebook" (Andrea Fonkert/ ND Insurance Department) "On Twitter" (Kim Schmidt/ ND Tourism) "We also have a Flicker account." (Andrea Fonkert/ ND Insurance Department) "We are also on YouTube." (Sandy McMerty/ ND Ambassadors) "Linkedin" Social networking

It's a tweet way to post your thoughts or messages to friends, followers and tweeples

(Sandy McMerty/ ND Ambassadors) "So by accessing the advantages and power of social media we are pushing positive things about North Dakota farther and faster than traditional media can sometimes

McMerty spends her time messaging with the states volunteer sales force

One tweet..can net some big results

Already, @NDAmbassadors has seen a gust of success

(Sandy McMerty/ ND Ambassadors) "We went to a wind conference in Chicago and just by tweeting about what I was doing in Chicago at this conference picked up probably about twelve different people who follow wind power on twitter. A couple bloggers in the UK which is one of our target markets for economic development." Now it's just bringing these followers to the state to show the true potential....this is where Kim Schmidt...or @North DakotaTour tweets into action

(Kim Schmidt/ ND Tourism) "Just getting our brand awareness out there so people realize what there is to see and do in North Dakota and generate some hype and different things to talk about." The benefits are huge

(Andrea Fonkert/ ND Insurance Department) "It's fun to offer something different to try and capture different audiences that may not communicate with us if it weren't for twitter that wouldn't call the department or walk in." Social networking helps these organizations reach more people, faster

Brad Feldman KX News watch the video | save this article / add to your favorites list