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[S660]Social Networking Business Plan

by Seomul Evans, Seo

Facebook isn't exactly the be-all, end-all for small business internet marketing, but it sure doesn't hurt to start using it. Why? Because social networking sites like mySpace and Facebook are the models for the internet marketing of the future. Once consumers get used to using social networking sites, they will be prepared for personalized business networking. Imagine that you are handling internet marketing for a small business. You're not, of course, going to take over the world by creating communities on existing social networking sites, but what if you could build your own social business network targeting your own community or niche? By that time most people will be old pros at building profiles, finding communities of common interest, and sharing pertinent videos and articles. So get started now so you're not left behind. Here are 11 ways to do that:

1. Join Facebook: The only way you're going to learn how to replicate a social networking site is to familiarize yourself with how they work. Use the Friend Finder feature to find people you already know with Facebook accounts. Join some groups to learn how people interact on social networking sites. Post some video clips and articles that interest you to see how others respond. You might even find that Facebook allows you to make business contacts you would never met in real life.

2. Join mySpace: mySpace users tend to be musicians and teenagers, but it will help you learn how to market yourself beyond your own website.

3. Subscribe to 10 Blogs: Open an account using an RSS reader and subscribe to 10 blogs about social networking and blogs that relate to your industry. Check your account every day to read the new content

4. Comment on Those Blogs: This is as simple as social networking gets. People get to know you and what you do, and you get more traffic to your own site!

5. Open a LinkedIn Account: LinkedIn has been dubbed “Facebook for Businesses” because it allows you to connect with businesspeople in your niche.

6. Open a Twitter Account: Twitter is a scaled down version of blogging. Essentially, it allows you to type 160 characters about what you're doing at the moment. It seems a little silly, but many folks are using it, and opening your own account will allow you to gain some insight about how it might be helpful for you as you market your own business.

7. Use Workbench: Workbench is an example of personalized business networking. Since we've already said that such sites will be common in the future, why not spend some time now seeing just how they might work?

8. Open a StumbleUpon Profile: This social networking site allows you to build communities based on the websites that you like. If yours happens to be one that many users like, you can get a lot of traffic to your site.

9. Check Out Ning: This is a social networking site that lets you create a community that you can brand to match your own business.

10. Digg It: Digg users vote on website content that they think is most important, and it allows you to stay current with what's happening in the business world.

11. Visit Squidoo, Flickr, and Mixx: See if any of those sites would be appropriate for building niche communities related to your business or product.

No one can predict with personalized business networks will become the norm for internet marketing, but it's worth your time and effort now to learn how to use the social networking sites upon which the personalized business networks will be based. And don't forget that an SEO expert can help you make a plan for getting your business involved in personalized business networks.

Social networking for businesses offers a couple of major advantages. Not only does it help you build a list of contacts and leads directly through the site, but it can also help to build your search engine link profile, ultimately giving you greater search engine results and an increased level of search engine traffic. Because social networking is one of the biggest phenomenon to hit the Internet there are many sites that you can use to promote your business and becoming an active and useful member of these communities will help to increase exposure for your website and business.

1 - LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a social networking site geared solely towards professionals and businesses. It is also structured in such a way that when you add a new member to your list of connections, it also adds their connections to your list, and the connection of their connections. This three tier structure can help you build a mammoth list of new contacts to greatly improve your exposure.

2 - Facebook

While Facebook is not geared solely towards professionals and businesses, the audience it attracts is a more mature one with a heavy slant towards business relationships. Some of the unique features and opportunities, including the Facebook marketplace and Facebook applications, also make it a powerful addition to a social media optimization campaign.

3 - MySpace

MySpace was one of the first social media websites that was tapped into by the business community. Unfortunately, it is also largely frequented by unethical advertisers meaning that you have to be extremely cautious to offer genuinely valuable content otherwise users will ignore your messages and your efforts. The MySpace Groups are, however, a genuinely useful pool of information and contacts.

4 - Reddit

Reddit is a social bookmarking website. Members can add stories, news pieces, and articles that are then read by other users and bookmarked if they are good. The more pieces you submit and the more bookmarks you receive the greater your exposure and the better you will fare with your social media optimization and your search engine rankings.

5 - Squidoo

Squidoo is similar to Reddit in that it is a social bookmarking site. There is also a section that enables registered users to answer niggling questions posed by other users, further promoting your profile as being an expert in a particular field. Set up a profile page that answers users questions that they are likely to have (in your field of choice) and then set about answering questions and joining conversations that are relevant to your business.

6 - Newsvine

Newsvine is a social media website that lets businesses register and then post to the general community. Employees of your business (or you) can post regular pieces and insights into your business further promoting what you do and how you help clients and customers. Newsvine isn't as popular as other social media websites but it does have a strong following that is growing.

7 - YouTube

It would be remiss to ignore YouTube in any article pertaining to social networking and social media. Virtually any business that wants to be successful in social media optimization, or in viral marketing, has created a video and posted it to the YouTube community. Videos can be instructional, informational, educational, humorous, or commercially based. If they're good then they will go viral to some extent and you can count on some good traffic for your efforts.

Why Social Networking Online Promotes Businesses

The key to social networking is activity. You need to be regularly active and that activity needs to provide benefit to other members of the community. By doing this you can effectively promote any website or any business and generate more traffic to a website and improve conversion levels, income, and profit.

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About Author

Both Seomul Evans & Omaro Ailoch are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Seomul Evans has sinced written about articles on various topics from Search Engine Marketing, Business Promotion and PPC Advertising. Seomul Evans is a senior with "SEO 1 Services" a Dallas firm providing. Seomul Evans's top article generates over 135000 views. to your Favourites.

Omaro Ailoch has sinced written about articles on various topics from Computers and The Internet, Site promotion and Web Development. Omaro Ailoch is a senior software engineer, an , and the founder of OC IT Services. Omaro Ailoch's top article generates over 27100 views. to your Favourites.