Social networks are a hot topic right now. Just last night I had a client ask me, “Should I join Facebook? I don’t understand how to use Facebook or MySpace.” Just like any business (good) decision, what social networks to join takes a bit of thought in order to get the results you’re looking for. And that is exactly the first question to ask yourself:
What goal or problem am I trying to solve?
The answer to this question can completely change which social networks you should take a look at. It may even mean that it makes more sense to create your own social network or community.
Where are the people I’m trying to reach?
Just because you hear about MySpace or Facebook in the news doesn’t mean that your customers or potential customers (or whoever else you’re targeting) is there. Just like in the real world, certain types of people hang out only in certain places. You need to understand where people are in order to get the most out of your efforts.
What will be the reaction to your message?
If you just jump into an established community with messages about how great you are, it can have exactly the opposite effect of what you’re saying. People inherently trust their peers more than messages from companies, so you’ll need to take the time to understand the community and the people who frequent it.
Those are just a few questions to get you started with thinking about your business goals first. We’ll take a look at how to answer these questions and some new questions to think about in future posts. For some outside reading, Groundswell, put together by Forrester Research, is a great book on how to use social networks and community for your business goals.
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Hi,
We’re exploring these exact questions. Found you on Blogher. I just joined over there. I’ve just started blogging about our social media marketing efforts. We’ve got a ning network site with 43 members and not much activity. That is our conundrum right now. How to get the conversations started?
Hi Romona,
Thanks for reading! One of the hardest ways to use social networks is to start your own because, as you’ve found, it takes a lot of momentum to get the conversation started. Starting on Ning at least gives you a wider audience to try to attract. My suggestion would be to take a look at where your audience is currently. Are there other places you can participate to raise awareness of your community? Also, this is going to take quite a bit of effort on your part - you’re going to need a small group of committed people to get the conversation started by having their own conversations. Content and activity are what make a community attractive (seconded by number of users). Advertising the community on any websites, blogs, and other marketing material can help as well. Good luck!
-Sarah
You’re so right, Sarah. I’ve taken on the task of registering The ReCycle Studio at blog sites and social bookmarking sites. What a mind-numbing undertaking. But I do soldier on. I’m even on Twitter and Plurk now. I’m still not 100% convinced that there is a business minded conversation going at either of these sites. I “hear” there is. I’m sure I just have to get on the right “channel”. We’re also on Facebook, but I’m waiting on their upgrade to complete before I take that further.
I do think I’m going to have to get in there and start some conversations myself. When it’s a small business like this, it’s hard to pin the owner down to tasks that are not immediately ringing the register. I’ll keep you posted.
[...] a nice reply from Sarah Worsham at Sazbean. Yeah, it’s going to be a heck of a lot of work. I do think it will pay off in [...]
[...] the first post of this series, What Social Networks Should I Join to Promote My Business Website?, I gave an overview of some questions you should ask (and try to answer) to decide which social [...]
[...] What Social Networks Should I Join to Promote My Business? [...]
[...] What Social Networks Should I Join to Promote My Business? [...]
Hi Ramona.
I would just like to add to what Sarah said with the perspective of creating your own network. You do need to get activity going, but depending on the type of social network you start, it may take some offline activity to get it going as well. I did start my own network and was frustrated by the lack of participation. I then needed to understand my target. All things don’t fit everybody. I also started a Linked In group and saw I got a lot of people joining but very few participants. So I made a forum where we could all communicate and I made stipulations for being part of the network. Now each time someone emails me to approve their membership, they get a detailed email from me about how the network works and their obligations. Most times they are thrilled and join. Some don’t want to do their part in networking so they opt not to join. I also schedule events offline that they can participate in. I have people in various areas who also host gatherings in their cities. And we host conference calls. We have managed to keep the online social networking aspect growing, but brought a personal human element to it at the same time.
It takes time. Believe me, it does. If you start your own network be prepared to work. But the word of mouth will take off if people perceive it as valuable (as in my case). Once you get that word of mouth, there still is no rest for you. You have to continue to bring fresh new ideas to the table to keep people interested. Social networking is not for the faint at heart. It’s not just about gathering name and calling people your friends or clients. But it doesn’t have to be difficult either.
Good luck!
Adrienne Graham
Adrienne,
That is great advice! And very timely since I just wrote a post about some of the things you can do to entice participation yesterday: How to Get Social Network Users to Fill Out Their Profiles.
Thanks for the comment and for reading!
-Sarah
Thanks, Adrienne, for the advice. Are you the same Adrienne that blogs at Empower Me! The Empowered Black Women’s Network? If you are, please check the comments there. I’m a bit dumbfounded, but maybe you have an explanation. If you posted here this morning, and I posted there about an hour ago (say around 6:51pm EST), and I didn’t know about this post here, could the Universe be conspiring somehow? Girl, I think we need to talk. Sarah, thanks for the connect, even though I’m not sure how this happened.
Actually, I have had the opposite response. I made my profiles, set up blogs and have made wonderful connections with people who are interested in my business, products, training and affiliate programs. I think it is just how it is being done - passively or aggressively. No one wants to be forced. Yet again people are curious to know what you are doing to make a living. You have to find balance.
Social Networking, Did you create your own social network or join existing networks? Would you share which networks you had success on?
In my own social networking I’ve had quite a bit of luck connecting with other business people, specifically as potential customers. I’ve also found that different social networks have different personalities (as you might imagine). Some can be very vocal, some can be spamy, and some can be too quiet. It might take some exploring to find the networks that are worth the time investment.
Here are some business networks you may want to consider: LinkedIn, Biznik, Cofoundr, Sta.rtup.biz.
I’ve also had good luck on smaller, local business networks.
Social Networks that may help you promote you business are http://www.facebook.com, LinkedIn, http://www.digg.com, http://www.gather.com, http://www.mylot.com, http://www.adlandpro.com.
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