Grow Your Business With Social Networking

You’re probably heard about social networking sites—but if you’re not using these sites to promote your business, you’re missing out on one of the most effective marketing tools for a small business.

The basic features of social networking sites are the same: You create a personal profile, then develop a network of contacts you can interact with online. Below are the most popular social networking sites and tips to make them work for you.

LinkedIn is the best-known general business networking site.

• Put a link to your LinkedIn profile on your company’s Web site and on your blog. Ditto, make sure your LinkedIn profile includes a link to your Web site and/or blog. LinkedIn lets you create a unique URL for your profile, so it shows up in Google searches.
• Adjust your privacy settings so your network is notified when you update your profile. Update once a month or quarter to remind contacts about what you can provide.
• Fill out the “What are you working on?” field in your profile. It’s a great way to attract people who can help with your current projects.
• Use the introduction feature to get introduced to people you want to know—whether potential clients, job candidates, or journalists and bloggers who can write about your company.
• Use LinkedIn Answers. Answer other users’ questions to help establish yourself as an expert in your field. Or, if you’re launching a new product, ask questions on LinkedIn Answers to create your own (free) market survey.
• Join or start a group related to your industry on LinkedIn and you can get involved in discussions, get posts and emails, and network with others in the group.

Facebook is a more informal site than LinkedIn.

• Use Facebook to get insights into prospective clients or contacts that can help you build relationships. If you Google someone who’s on Facebook, their link shows up. Depending on their privacy settings, you’ll be able to see their interests, hobbies and the groups they belong to on Facebook.
• Create a Facebook profile page for your company to build your brand. Other users can become fans of your company, which means your logo or whatever image you use to represent your business shows up on their pages.
• Create an application. Create a widget users can put on their Facebook pages. For instance, if you own an online t-shirt store, create a widget that lets users pick different virtual T-shirts with funny messages and send them to their friends. This spreads your message virally.

MySpace is the least business oriented of the three sites, but can still be a useful marketing tool.

• If your company targets tweens, teens or college students, you’ll want a presence here. In terms of the design of your page, pretty much anything goes, and you can post videos, music and photos easily. This makes it a good site if your business is arts-oriented, such as an online music store, a graphic artist or a clothing designer. MySpace is focused on friends, so if your product or service is one people are likely to share with their friends, this could be the place for you.
• When you create your profile, show your creativity by customizing your page, rather than using the default format.
• Use the browse feature to find potential “friends” who fit your target market. The browse tool lets you search by age, sex, ethnicity, city and more. When you find potential prospects, ask them to be friends. If they say yes, your pages are linked.
• Use bulletins to promote your business. Every time you post a bulletin, links to your bulletins appear on all your friends’ MySpace pages. Not only are they getting updates on your business, but so are any of their friends who visit their page.
• When you visit friends’ MySpace pages, post comments and include links to your Web site.
• Be friendly. If your bulletins and posts come across as a “hard sell,” you won’t succeed. Keep it light, and don’t bombard friends with info.

In addition to the “big three,” there are many smaller social networking sites dedicated to specific industries. You can find these via contacts in your industry. Using all the sites out there is time-consuming. Check out what each has to offer, then focus on the site that seems likely to offer the best ROI. Devote 10 or 20 minutes per day to checking the site, answering questions or requests, and building your network. You’ll soon find this small investment of time pays off big.