Social Networking for Your Business

October 12, 2010

The definition of social networking is the grouping of individuals into specific groups, like small rural communities or a neighborhood subdivision, if you will. Although social networking is possible in person, especially in the workplace, universities, and high schools, it is most popular online.  

When it comes to online social networking, websites such as Facebook, Myspace, Linkedin, Youtube and Twitter are used. These websites are known as social sites. Social networking websites function like an online community of internet users. Most of these sites are FREE to join and can provide valuable advertising for your business at no cost to you! In general, social networking services allow users to create a page about themselves or their business. Users can then upload a picture of themselves, create their profile and can often be "friends" with other users. In most social networking services, both users must confirm that they are friends before they are linked. Some social networks also have additional features, such as the ability to create groups that share common interests or affiliations, upload or stream live videos, and hold discussions in forums.  

So what are 5 ways social networking can promote your business?

1. FREE promotion of your brand, products and services Business owners and strategists all agree that promoting a business, product or service through social media networks such as Twitter and Facebook helps a lot in raising awareness regarding the existence of the product or service.  
2. Speeding up communication between you and potential clients Another great thing about social networking websites is the ability to hasten the interaction between each member within the community. This speed in interaction can also be used in business marketing in social networks. For example, in a question and answer forum about massage therapy, potential clients can ask questions and receive answers faster and easier than ever.  
3. Meet new people Business owners can also use social networking websites to meet new people or followers or fans of their product or service. Getting a clear idea on the demographics of the users or followers of a certain product or service would help a lot in determining or making future plans for the same product or service. All of this thanks to social networking websites!  
4. Attract traffic to your website Social media and networking sites can send quality traffic to your site. For example, example, massage therapists are successfully using Twitter to send “tweets” about articles and specials with links to their websites. Followers click on the link and are taken directly to your site.  
5. Interacting with the public The reason why it is called "social" is because it allows web users to socialize or interact with each other. Interacting with the public spreads your name and brand to many more people than you can interact with in your office.