WHY YOUR BUSINESS ABSOLUTELY,
POSITIVELY
NEEDS A SOCIAL
NETWORKING PRESENCE
RIGHT NOW.
By Bill Quinn, Internet Marketing Consultant
In case you haven’t noticed, there’s a powerful new force at work on the Internet, and the future success of your business may depend upon it.
It's called social media or social networking. There are thousands of these sites, and some of their names (FaceBook, YouTube, MySpace, Squidoo, etc.) may already be familiar. But do you know just how huge these sites have become? Let’s start with some facts that may startle you:
Did you know that more people go to Facebook every day than go to Google? Or that YouTube has twice as many page views every month as Google? Online users of every age are turning to major social networking sites in numbers that are astounding.
According to Comscore, recognized as one of the more reliable internet research organizations, monthly traffic statistics at leading social networking sites are growing every day. For example…
. Facebook is adding over 1,000,000 visitors every 7 days.
. MySpace is attracting two-thirds of everyone in the world who goes online.
. 29% of those MySpace visitors also spend time on Facebook.
. 27% of them are active on Wikipedia.
. Most social media sites report that their users counts are doubling in number every six months.
Impressive numbers, but what’s in it for you, the business person?
When you’re running a business and looking for new and inexpensive ways to find potential visitors to your online operation, you can no longer overlook the massive potential of the social media marketplace. What’s that? You thought social networks were just for kids viewing funny videos? No longer. Today it’s estimated that more than 50% of visitors to MySpace alone are older than 35. Over at Facebook, records indicate that over 100,000 of registered users are 65 or older. Those are hardly kids, and more importantly, they all have more spendable income than teenagers.
Social networking could be the answer to attracting hoards of new visitors to your website. It’s ideal for building relationships, stimulating referrals, and enhancing your public reputation as an expert in your field. But you have to know what you’re doing.
Don’t think you can just start opening accounts in social media and the floodgates will open for you automatically. It doesn’t work that way. There are many pitfalls, and just one misstep can destroy any benefits you might have received in days, if not hours.
As with any of your personal relationships, your social media relationships are built upon trust. Just as you wouldn’t show up at a fancy cocktail party and start handing out your company brochure, you can’t open a social media account and start pitching hard. Most of the time, you won’t even be discussing your company or its products at all. Instead, you may discuss some of the issues and challenges that your products address. You’ll do it in a very non-commercial way. You’ll build relationships, but relationships as a provider of information, not a hard core sales person.
Subtlety is the name of the game. Greet and interact with people as friends, not as prospects. Avoid the label of salesman as much as you can. Instead, seek out the reputation as an expert in your field by freely giving away valuable information, tips and trends. A low key link to your company website gives your social media contacts the perfect avenue to your commercial site, once you get them interested.
Treat it in the approved manner, and you will not only avoid damage to your reputation, but you’ll soon be attracting thousands of new visitors every month. And did we mention—it’s free.
.