Those who do not believe in social networking for online business development, have never tried it. By allowing your readers to see you in another light, you are solidifying any relationships that you may have with them.
Be very careful before you engage in social networking, however. It is very addictive. Keep in mind that there are many potential advantages for you and your readers, if you keep up with it on a daily basis.
Social Networks
You will have heard of MySpace, Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. So have your readers. They probably use them for social interaction with friends and family, but you can show them how to use it for business.
Start off by setting up both a business and a personal presence on these sites. Do this thoroughly and provide a lot of information. You may well have a personal presence on a number of these sites, but this will be new for your business.
Facebook is a very versatile tool for keeping your readers informed about you and your activities. You can set up the business page to tell everyone about conferences you’re going to, any podcasts you are hosting and list those blogs where you will be posting as a guest. Readers, that find you here, can sign up to listen to live podcasts, follow you to the guest blogs and also invite you to their events.
If there is a question they want to ask, let’s say about how to start a business or how to troubleshoot a problem, they can talk with you wall-to-wall in private to get advice. Through Facebook, you can offer free classes, e-courses and other tools to those who opt-in for different services on your website. Try and encourage your readers to become part of virtual focus groups, to help you with your research.
YouTube
If you have a new product that needs feedback, post a video on YouTube. Anyone who reads this can post a comment on your efforts. Use it as a forum to demonstrate products or services and also to tout the advantages of buying from you.
Do you send tweets? If you are familiar with this, then you can use them to communicate with people about what you’re doing. They can get timely information about your business and also about your personal life, should you choose.
Create a separate business and personal account so that you can manage both. If you come across readers who might engage with you in business terms, then you can give them access to your personal sites as well, if you want.
If you listen to a good online business consulting firm, you will realise that social networking sites are great places for people to see you in an environment other than the office. You can build a relationship with them as well by showing them new services and products here.
You can develop your online business through Social Networking and if you are diligent, you could take it to greater heights than you ever thought possible. There is no time like the present, so get moving and set up your profiles to start making contacts with people from all over the world.