March 2010 - e-Edge Marketing | AI & Small Business Marketing |Charleston SC 843-647-0489

Social Networks. Why Businesses Should Use Online Communities.

If you doubt that social networking is not good for business, think again. If your lines of communication with your customers are out of date, social networks are the the answer to bringing you current in connecting with your customers. It’s time to bring your business into the 21st century! Online communities offer you a way to connect with your customers in a way that you can’t get anywhere else, for any amount of money, from any other source of advertising or promotion. I can offer you case study after case study of how using social networks has given business owners the advantage over their competitors. First and foremost, giving your readers another arena in which to get to know you is the best way to build a relationship with them.

Social Networks and Social Media Sites

You have most likely heard of social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn and believe me, so have your customers! They probably already use them for social interaction with friends and family and for finding others that they want to connect with. When you use social networking for your business, you can offer them the ability to see what you’ve got to offer. You may already be tired of hearing me say this but since I can’t stress it enough, I’ll say it again. People do business with those who they know, like, and trust! Social networking gives you the opportunity to let them get to know you and thereby trust you.

Begin by setting up a business and personal space on the sites listed above. You probably already have a personal space on many social media sites, but business will be something new. Think about how you’ll want to be known. Think branding. Consider using your own name or your company’s name. If you don’t own your own company, use your own name. You may not be working at the company you are with now forever.

business blogs Most of the business owners I talk to commonly underestimate the power of having a blog for their business or they feel that they just don’t need one because… they already have a website. Business blogs are much more personal and offer benefits that most business owners haven’t yet discovered or even considered as part of their marketing strategy. This is especially true for strategic small business marketing or for home business owners where is is especially important for you to “connect” with your customers.

Business websites are for conducting business. You use the pages to tell potential customers about what you do. They can find out all they want to know about about your business on your website. Things like your business hours, what services you offer, where you are located, and how to contact you are commonly things business owners post to their websites. What readers don’t usually find on a business website are all the little details of your business. Business blogs make connecting with your customers on that level much, much easier. You can be certain that the results of getting personally involved with your readers will mean the difference in your readers mind of your business being just being another website, or the reader actually relating to you. The people who are already searching the internet looking for your specific products and services will buy from people they that they know, like, and trust. Allowing them to know you, relate to you, and like you, will make you stand out from the thousands, or even perhaps, millions of other websites out there!

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