Using Social Networking In Your Business

Since Interest in social networking seems to be extremely high, I thought I would like to share some information with you about it. Below is a list of ideas to promote your business using social networking:

Limit yourself to 3 choices

Q: Just how many social networking websites are there?

A: Far too many! So many, in fact, that we’ve actually lost count!

You are free to join as many as you like, but we recommend you stick to the top 3 in order to make the most effective use of your time and energy. While this rule may be reconsidered if you want to drive a lot of traffic to your landing page or search for niche specific customers, we really recommend the following 3 networking sites to appeal to most businesses and professions:

1. Facebook

2. Twitter

3. Facebook

Make use of their applications

Most of the social networking sites these days already come with their own exclusive plug-ins and applications. You should take advantage of them and utilize them for your own personal and professional purposes.

For example: Facebok allows you to integrate with twitter into your profile. This is very advantageous to you because there could be people on your facebook that are not subscribed to Twitter and they can see your short message without you having to post the same message twice. Digg also allows you to immediately upload and share stories by adding one button to your blog, another time saving tool that can increase the overall value of a single effort.

Be friendly

This includes one forgotten rule of salesmanship, be human. Make sure that you are sensitive to people’s feelings, give them a chance to interact with you by asking them about their posts or answering a question of theirs even if they are not related to your particular business.

Don’t be stiff or business like and avoid coming out like a salesman. Most of all, do not spend all of your time just promoting yourself or products or your followers can become bored with you. I cannot emphasize this enough! Most people want interaction and information. While they may not be seeking the products or services you provide, they will learn that you are a person to be respected and when they are finally seeking your product, they will find you are the expert they are searching for.

Make sure to use your landing pages

For a while, I have talked about Landing Pages and I consider them to be your best tool for social networking websites. When you are simply using Facebook or Twitter for the purpose of meeting and making friends, even though that is important, you are defeating the purpose of building a social networking campaign. The goal is conversion and if you have a great landing page, it is comparable to having a skilled receptionist in your office. It will take care of your customers wants and needs, even when you are not available to help them.

You have to make sure that first your landing page is working effectively and is able to communicate clearly and efficiently. Think about it in terms of having that secretary or receptionist I mentioned earlier. Would you hire a receptionist who was rude, un-attentive or incapable of answering the questions posed by your customers? Would you employ an auto-mechanic to answer technical support calls for a computer software and information technology company? No. Then why would you permit this kind of behavior from your landing page?

Fortunately, Ad2Action.com offers an array of designs which you can conveniently modify to fit your needs, whatever your business profile may be. You can also keep track on your campaigns to determine which of your marketing effort are providing the bulk of your traffic and utilize your time to focus on those areas.

Think about your profile

Upload your picture! It does not have to be your smiling face if that does not appeal to you, but it should be a picture that represents you or your personality or your business. Use your company logo if you would like.

Some people have pictures of their children, others use pictures of their pets. This is actually OK! It shows you’re human and it provides an ironic window of opportunity to converse with others on similar interests. If you upload a picture of your beloved Dalmatian, you may find people you’ve barely spoken with in the past are now offering a brand new social relationship because it just so happens that they have a Dalmatian too!

Let your biography, user name and posts be a reflection of who you are as well as what your business is. Make a clear distinction between your personal and professional information, and be certain before you post a personal comment that it will not reflect poorly on your reputation or your business.

Accept all opportunities you come across to direct your followers to your landing page, without overwhelming them.

Utilize all aspects of social marketing by directing your traffic to your landing page. Before building your landing page, check out Ad2Action.com Check here for free reprint licence: Using Social Networking In Your Business.