How to Use Online Social Networking to Market – Part 1

What Is Social Networking and the 3 Benefits for Having Your Own Social Network

Social networking has been around for a long time. Hobby clubs and nights out with the “boys” or “girls”  are 2 examples of social networking. In fact, any time a group of people meet socially with their friends or coworkers they were social networking.

You see social networking is all about sharing ideas, values and information with your group of friends. And online social networking is the same thing only it’s done online.

And because you can’t have internet users meeting in someones living room or bowling alley, social networking sites were created. These sites allow people to create a community (a group of individuals) based around a common interest.

Social networking communities are groups of like minded people who provide information with each other. And the value of a community is judged by the amount and quality of information shared by its members.

Note:  Marketing is the sharing of information to influence a consumer to purchase a product or service and is not social networking. However social networking can be an effective way to market a website, product or service.

3 ways social networking sites help you market your website, product or service are:

1. 1. They provide free advertising in directories with potential exposure to millions of people.
2. 2. They help you get better search engine rankings.
3. 3. And they can help you get a higher PR.

To get these 3 benefits from social networking sites you must first join and set up a profile. Having a profile then allows others to use the social networking site’s search feature and potentially find you. Plus, you’re creating a backlink to your website.

Now before you rush out and join lots of social networking sites you need to know that spending some time on a few select social networks is definitely more effective than trying to join 100 and then having no meaningful presence on any of them. There simply is no value in joining a social networking site, posting your picture with one lonely link, and then not being active in the community to build your web presence on that site.

Imagine an off line hobby club started by a person who never said anything. The club had a place to meet but no one said anything. Think very many would join? And if someone did join how long would they continue to come to the meetings?

If you’re going to use social networking to market your business you must be an active participate in your network’s community. If you’re not then your community is like a ghost town where someone may find it but they’ll just keep going because there’s nothing there.

To Your Success,
Susan

P.S. See the “Follow Susan on…” links on the right side of the page? Those are the social networking sites I’m currently using. And while I try to participate on all of them I’m the most active on Facebook, MyBlogLog and Twitter. (I’ll tell you why in a later post.)

Anyway, feel free to join me at 1 of my communities and lets share some information.

P.P.S. By the way, blogs are also a type of social networking because they allow you to give input about the article and leave your link. So if you’ve taken the time to read this article give yourself some credit and post a comment with a free backlink to your site.

I see you've been here before. Would you like to subscribe to my RSS feed or follow me on Twitter?
If you subscribe with your email address you'll get instant access to my free membership site. Click here to see what's inside.

Thanks for visiting!

Tags: how to use social networking to advertise, using online social networking to market, why do people use online social networking

 Print This Post Posted in Social Networking, Traffic 4 Comments