Using Online Social Networking to Grow Your Business

There once was a time when "tweet" was only something birds did and MySpace referred to your apartment. These days however, those terms have a whole new meaning with the latest trend in communication and marketing called "Social Networking".

What started as a simple way for friends to stay in touch with sites like MySpace and Facebook, social networking has merged into the corporate world, quickly becoming a standard in how businesses communicate and market.

How Does Social Networking Work?

Social Networking is basically a conversation arena that takes place online - exactly like what you see here at OfficeArrow. Depending on the network you join you might be able to do a daily or weekly update of any news or events taking place within your company. Many Social Networks also offer interest groups within the network that you can join and talk to others about the topic of interest (like the OfficeArrow Virtual Assistant's Group for example). This presents a bit of an ice breaker and gives members common ground to start a conversation and take it from there.

How Can Social Networking Help My Business?

According to Katie Hellmuth, a New York City based social networking expert and owner of Katie James, LLC "Social Networking can help your business in unexpected ways. While some believe that it is free-form and without strategy, I believe that there are, at the very least, small, calculated efforts you can make to strengthen brand awareness or alert customers about events and movements within your business. Social networking is people-based. Treat it that way, and residual effects may happen for your business. These effects can include finding an employee, developing a relationship for a future partnership, attracting traffic to your website, announcing a product or sale, and more. The possibilities are up to you."

What Types of Social Networks Should I Join?

It depends on your goals and your business. I normally suggest that people join 2-4 general networks such as LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter and then possibly one or two that are specific to their industry, like OfficeArrow for Office Professionals. This gives people the opportunity to network with others about their business and also to learn from and share ideas with others in their own industry. The idea is to do what is comfortable to you and not over-join since it can be too time consuming to keep up with more than a few.

How Do I Get Started?

Getting started is easy - you've already done it at least once here on OfficeArrow. Once you decide which networks you'd like to join, all you need to do is sign up for an account. In most cases it is free to join although some networks offer members the option of paying a monthly or annual fee for a premium membership to have access to special features or resources on the site that may benefit their businesses.

Once you sign up, you are normally asked to fill out a profile with your name, a picture or logo, website address and other information you want people to know about you and your business. Typically there is an option that allows you to receive email notifications if someone is trying to contact you or if someone responds to something you have posted. Any time your information changes, simply update that information in your profile.

Often times you can do a search for people you know or import email contacts to see if they are a member of the network. When you find people you know, you can send them an invitation through the network to become one of your contacts. You can use contacts you already know as a starting point and build your network from there.

I Already Have a Website and a Blog - Why Do I Need to Social Network Too?

Social Networking can be a useful tool in driving traffic to your blog or website. By mentioning your website or blog URL in your networking, people will visit them to get more information about you and your business. One helpful tip is to sign your name with your website or blog address each time you post a question or an answer when networking online. Search engines pick up on the postings which can help your search engine rankings as well as traffic.

I'm So Busy, I Just Don't Have Time

Social Networking can be time consuming but well worth it. If you simply cannot find the time, you could outsource. Many Virtual Assistants and other consultants offer Social Networking to their clients and will go in as you creating updates for you. They can keep you updated on new contact requests as well as what is happening in the network.

Social Networking takes practice to get the hang of, but once you do, you'll find you have new contacts, new ideas and possibly even new customers - all without leaving your office.