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Making Social Media Work For You
February 27, 2009
If you’re a rabid social media user, then I know how hard it can be to stay focused. You’re sitting at your desk, there’s a lull in the workday. Why not take a peak and see what your friends, and peers are up to?
The problem is that while it might not seem like much, checking your various social networking profiles throughout the day can be a time sink. Sure, you might only be checking Facebook for five minutes, but add that to the time you check Flickr, LinkedIn, MySpace, and so on. Instead of feeling bad about doing so, why not make your time spent there work for your business.
Before we get further into this article, let me preface by saying that social networking isn’t for every business. You’re not always going to find a diamond in the ruff by looking to Facebook, or Twitter. But if the conditions are right, you could find yourself with some increased page traffic. Which of course leads to more clicks, and clients.
So, if social networking isn’t for every business your first step is deciding if the platform could help. In my experience with social networking, and business, one key ingredient is how new is your product? What the product is doesn’t matter, but is it something fresh and exciting? The reason being is that social networking takes the old saying ‘word of mouth’, and mixes it with about twenty Red Bulls. If you have an original product that’s engaging, then getting the hype started through a social media platform is a wonderful place to start.
Another aspect of your business, or product you need to analyze is how community oriented is it? Is what your offering going to benefit from starting an online community around it? If you hear yourself answering a loud YES! to those questions, then social media might work for you.
Ok, so you’ve made it this far. If you’ve decided that getting onto social networking is a good idea then you need to know how to start. First, any profile you have on any site that’s being viewed by others needs to have a link to your business. I don’t care how small, or underground it is. If you’re name is there, a link to your business should be as well. Looking through stats, and analytics on different sites you wouldn’t believe where some web traffic comes from.
If you’re utilizing a site that allows you to create a group, or community then base one on your site. Invite as many people as you can to it. Try and do as much upkeep with the community as possible. Even link to it from your actual site. The point is to make sure your community is always thriving, and that there’s something going on. Nothing can kill reputation faster than seeing an owner not actively engaged about their product.
What I consider the most quintessential aspect of utilizing social networking, is Do Not Advertise. The advertising that you pay for, or put on your site should seem completely separate from what your doing through social media. You need to come off as being natural, which can probably be the hardest step to take. The easiest way to do this is to utilize family and friends. It might sound dirty, and underhanded but if you can get people close to you for help you can establish a naturally flowing community with ease. Have them start discussions, and mention the product. In some of the large circles certain people run in on sites, just having one person helping can be a big help.
Once you’ve gotten your social presence started, the important thing is to keep up with it. You’re not going to be a Facebook, MySpace, or any other kind of sensation over night. People giving up after a week, or even a few days is a common occurrence. I know it sounds cliche’, but who won the race, the turtle or the hare?
I hope that you find success in jumping into the social media platform. With the amount of users that have some kind of presence on these sites, it would be a knuckle-headed move not to get involved somehow. You just have to know your niche, and make sure the time and resources you invest are going to be valuable enough to your bottom line.
Of course, having a large friend list doesn’t hurt either … 
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