subject: What Can Social Media Sites Do For Your Business? [print this page] Author: Jonathan Taylor Author: Jonathan Taylor
I would guess that most small business owners are reluctant to giving social media a try in their business. I dont blame them. Why would anyone waste their business time on Facebook, Twitter or MySpace- sites that are geared towards networking with friends? I say this with a little tongue in cheek because first of all, in any business, networking is the name of the game. It doesnt matter if its offline or online. Second, social networking sites arent just for communicating with friends anymore.
Facebook is a great example. I have a friend who is a professional fitness trainer. Many of his clients are connected to her (as friends) on Facebook. Most of his updates on Facebook are oriented towards her business. Shes not interested in telling people what he ate for breakfast (unless its part of her training) or what she did over the weekend. Instead, he posts clips of her latest workout videos for everyone to see. She then posts links back to his main website.
Whenever he posts a new article on his site, he has a short excerpt of it posted on Facebook. What this does is keep him at the top of mind position with most people. People, who see his posts on a regular basis, naturally perceive him as the only recognized fitness expert the guy who must know a lot about Heath and Fitness. The people that are connected to him, then refer others who need a trainer his way. He doesnt use Facebook as a way to sell directly, but rather to position himself as the go to expert for personal training in Knoxville, TN.
I have another friend who works as a remodeler. He uses Facebook to post updates about his latest project to his network of contacts. Another person I know uses it to post real estate listings in her area.
Twitter is another great networking tool. Twitter is a cross between texting and blogging. You can post short updates that go out to your followers (customers) on a regular basis. Zappos is one company that uses the Twitter to stay connected with their customer base. Most of their employees have an account and use it to communicate with their customers, letting them know about the latest updates or simply dealing with customer service issues.
The great part about Twitter is that it can be used on your mobile phone. As a business owner, you can utilize networking sites like these to stay connected with your local customer base. Get them to follow you or become friends with them. You can get some video or pictures of recent work youve done and post it on these sites with links back to your main website. You can use it to post promotions you are running, or informative articles you have recently written.
Social media sites arent just for teenagers and college students anymore. They are now an effective way to promote your business. Heres a great article on how larger companies are using social media- http://mashable.com/2009/02/06/social-media-smartest-brands/.About the Author:
Jonathan Taylor is the author of the new book The Official Small Business Guide to Marketing 2.0. Not only does this author specialize in marketing and business success, you can check out his latest website on car sales training and marketing; it's a great resource for auto dealers and sales people interested in gaining more auto sales training experience.
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