How to Use Social Networking Sites to Help Your Business Grow

Online social networks are all the rage these days, but what does that mean for the indie or small business owner? After all, aren't some of these sites overrun by teens and college kids? And of the thousands of sites that exist, how do you decide which ones to use? This very simple-to-understand 5 step process will get you on your way quickly to a place where you can take advantage of all that online social networking offers the business you love and want to grow!

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• computer and internet connection
• word processing software (basic - no need or fancy formatting as th networks will do that for you!)
• image editing software (pictures are worth a million words on the internet!)
• patience and perseverance
• your calendar to schedule regular appointments with yourself to maintain your online presence

1. Author's network of indie biz folks on biznik.com UNDERSTAND YOUR MARKET
   
   As with all your marketing efforts, you must be clear what ONE market you are targeting with your products/services, and what MEASURABLE outcomes you are striving to fulfill by reaching that target group.
   
   You’ll know you’re there when you can fill in the blanks of these three sentences: “I am most interested in reaching [specific description of the PERSON, or a specific GROUP OF PEOPLE*] who (need/want/desire) a solution to [fill in a description of their need/challenge/problem here].
   
   “My [product/service name] fulfills on that (need/challenge/problem).
   
   “My goal is to [reach/register/sell/sign-up] XX [put a NUMBER in the place of the xx’s] of this market at [event name/web page title/on the phone/via e-mail/etc.] on [date, time].”
   
   If you have a second, third or more MEASURABLE goals already in mind, list them all in chronological order.
   
   * examples of specific descriptions: alternative body workers such as chiropractors, acupuncturists and Feldenkrais practitioners, who specialize in working with athletes to enhance their performance; emerging artists in the Portland market who want to be as successful in business as they are in their creative process and products; mid-career artists who want to be represented by tier-one galleries in Europe; seasoned entrepreneurs who are looking for unusual vacation opportunities; mid-sized consumer products companies who want to expand into a new market with their existing product line.
2. Just a tiny sampling of all the social networking sites that are out there! UNDERSTAND THE SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES
   
   Understand which Social Networking sites serve what marketplace. Create a list or a spreadsheet listing the social networks you think would be a place your target markets uses. List key tools for each site, and how you see those tools are being used by others in similar businesses to your own.
   
   My list includes these sites for my own businesses (top of my list – but not all of them!): MySpace, LinkedIn, YouTube, Biznik, Naymz, eHow.
   
   The tools include: video playback, blogging, article publishing, promotions, groups, IM capability, sending bulletins, rotating “Top Friends” lists, kudos section, work history.
   
   How I use some of these tools include: Promote events, post “how-to’s” for my target audience that offers valuable information to them while establishing myself as an expert, through the websites’ SEO engines push my listings to the top of most search engines, ask for help or resources, publish calls for art/performances/submissions, as a marketing tool to promote my professional services as a consultant and valuable resource.
   
   Here’s one specific example:
   MySpace page is set-up for my company Working Artists LLC. I re-post my blog entries from my name brand blogs (adriennefritze.com and “From the Mind of A” on workingartistsonline.com), as well as any press releases, exhibit announcements, calls.
   
   I rotate my Top Friends list so a different group of artists gets attention on the page, AND the page gets a subtly different look, frequently refreshing the brand and giving it a dynamic feeling. I post videos from YouTube and other sources containing cool information or info that is relevant to the artists and performers who visit the page.
   
   The results I’ve achieved is that: 1) that page receives almost no spam in its mailbox; 2) we’ve booked artists from other parts of the country into our little gallery in NW Industrial Portland that we would otherwise not have been able to [one artist specifically comes to mind – Joroko, a political artist out of Denver. His website is at www.joroko.com]; 3) we’ve built up an identity in the local arts community with other groups and individuals artists who would not have otherwise known of our existence.
   
   I am constantly amazed when I go to one event or another and hear someone talking about this show or that program we offer through Working Artists that they discovered on MySpace or any of the other social networking sites I use.
3. The author's MySpace page - a source of rock solid leads! PRIORITIZE THE SITES ACCORDING TO YOUR MARKETING NEEDS
   
   After you’ve determined which two or three social networks are the best for you and your business, prioritize their importance to you. After that write out for each site a list of all the components of that site where you will need to provide content. Prioritize those lists as well.
4. WRITE DOWN YOUR SPECIFIC GOALS FOR EACH SITE
   
   For each site on your list, write out your specific goals for the social site that will help you reach your bigger marketing goals. For example: Drive traffic to a page on my website promoting the opening of a new exhibit which also provides an RSVP link. Or, receive a couple dozen responses to a Call for Art for a specific themed upcoming exhibit at the gallery.
5. CREATE A TIMELINE AND FOLLOW IT
   
   Finally, lay out a timeline for your overall marketing plan (if you haven’t already done this), and plug into it the goals and tasks you outlined in the previous steps. Put the specific tasks into your calendar or daily scheduling tool, AND THEN DO THEM.
   
   As you become more familiar with the tasks and the time it takes to do them, you can adjust your schedule to better reflect that reality.
   
   The key to using ANY marketing tool is to DO YOUR HOMEWORK FIRST, including creating your strategy and coming up with the tactics and the tasks BEFORE you start to implement – which in the case of Social Networking Sites means working on your Profiles. I guarantee you will use A LOT less time, and you’ll first do the things that will move your business forward and then have extra time to experiment with the other cool stuff you’ll find on all these sites.

Tips & Warnings

• A good list of social networking websites: http://mashable.com/2007/10/23/social-networking-god/
• A free ebook on realistic goals for LinkedIn: http://www.sellingtobigcompanies.com/content_display.jsp?top=8486&mid=76812
• A short video with an overview of social networking. (CommonCraft who produced this video also has other helpful overview videos on blogging, wikis and RSS.): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6a_KF7TYKVc
• An in depth history of online social networking that includes links to the major players: http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2007/08/digging_deeperyour_guide_to_so_1.html
• Social Networking Blog where you can learn about latest developments and new tools. http://www.socialnetworking-weblog.com/
• Search engines specifically for finding social networks: http://www.digfoot.com/, http://www.findasocialnetwork.com/search.php
• (this list compiled by Elgé Premeau, the eMarketing Strategist, who works with service based businesses to attract clients via the internet. You can reach her via email at [e-mail] or visit her website www.eMarketingStrategist.com and her blog at http://emarketingstrategist.blogspot.com/ .