Social situations and relationships have always been part of the day-to-day world of business. Communication and relationships often mean the success or failure of your business. The ‘face’ of your business is important.
And now social networking has been added to the mix. How should you deal? Many have tried to ignore it, but that cannot last long as competitors jump on board (and even your mom has a Facebook account).
As for Facebook, this social networking tool is primarily good for friendships. For your business, you might create a Facebook Business Profile (become a fan of TBH Creative on Facebook). When friends and members become a ‘fan’, you will gain a link back to your site. I have seen other sites promote things using Facebook. This Etsy store has a Facebook business page and posts sales and promotions daily. The owner uses Facebook well.
For Twitter, here are a few good articles:
- 50 Ideas on Using Twitter for Business
- 5 Unique Ways to Use Twitter for Business (Mashable)
Blogging used to be for a personal journal, but now your competitor has a blog and talks about his business. Should you get one too and what should you post about?
Yes, you should get a blog if you care about your search engine ranking and have something to share. If you have a business, you should have something to share. It is a tool that search engines love because the information you post is recent and usually relevant. The more your post, the better. Posts do not have to be long, but should show insight in your area of expertise, have some humor or show your personal side, and link to related information while also including some of your targeted keywords. For example, as a web design company, we post about web site projects, tips and tricks of web development, and related web site or Internet information.
There are free blog platforms out there like Blogger and WordPress.
I found this light-hearted article that outlines some typical situations and the best etiquette to follow on how to use the most popular social networking tools such as LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. Check it out to get social networking responses to real situations such as meeting someone at a networking event vs. making a new friend.
Contact TBH Creative for help with your social networking plan. This article only touches the surface of how your Internet presence is more than just your web site and how to use social networking to gain the competitive advantage.
