WEB Wonders: Just When You Thought it Was Safe, Now There's Twitter! - How can Social Networking Help My Business??!?! - July 2009

Hello there Web Fans!

So, what is Social Networking? I always thought Social Networking was being at a party and chatting...hmmm, not any more! Here is a basic introduction to the top social networks that you may have heard about:

FIRST: Facebook

What is it?

A website where you can post pictures, video, send messages, invite your friends, and invite people to different events.

How Can it Help My Business?

Invite people to events you are hosting, participating in, or attending.
Clicking a button on a website in the privacy of your office or home is easier and less confronting than picking up the phone. Not only does Facebook allow you to share your events with all of the people in your network, it also displays your information on your friends' pages. AND by clicking one button, they can easily send out your event info to people in their network. Talk about viral marketing!

Have a Facebook Home page for your business and create "fans" - people who are interested in your business.
Creating a community of people who are important to your business - friends, family, employees, colleagues, networking acquaintances or vendors - builds credibility for your business and keeps you on their radar on a daily basis.

Put a link to Facebook on your home page of your website.
Facebook allows people to see another face or view point of your company. It is easy to put a link to Facebook on your home page of your website.

Write Status Updates that Matter.
Rather than telling people what you had for lunch or how you feel about the weather, be your own advertising billboard and offer people information they can use that will stay with them as a reminder of who you are and what you're up to in the world. Whether you tell people about the launch of a new program/feature at your company, a new client you're excited about, a fascinating workshop you took, or a valuable resource you've discovered, a lot can be said in a small space (see twitter info below).

SECOND: LinkedIn®

What is it?

A website where you can have a professional profile that includes information about your current position, past positions, credentials and interests, groups you belong to, a photo of you, etc. Other people on LinkedIn® may recommend you, providing a testimonial about you and/or your business. You can join groups, create and promote events, make introductions amongst your contacts and, perhaps most importantly, make connections with individuals you'd like to meet.

LinkedIn® is similar to Facebook but is more geared for business. All contacts or "connections" on LinkedIn® are organized by degrees. Those in your 1st degree are people who you know/have worked with directly and with whom you've established a good relationship and certain degree of trust. As a general rule of thumb, these should be people who will return your call within 24 hours. Those in your 2nd degree are the people who are in the 1st degree of your 1st degree connections. Those in your 3rd degree are those who are in the 1st degree of your 2nd degree connections. You can also see a tree, a hierarchy, of who your contacts know so you can link up with them.

How Can it Help My Business?

Leverage your off line networking efforts by bringing them online with the following:

• Post updates about you or your business
• Join alumni or other business groups
• Introduce and get introduced to other people within the network
• Invite people to different events
• Create groups and invite people to join.
• Network online
• Ask someone to write you a recommendation
• And much more...

THIRD: Twitter

What is it?

A service that lets you send and receive short messages (up to 140 characters) called "Tweets" to your friends. It is similar to text messages and allows you to "Follow" people and have "Followers". For example, if you have a friend or anyone you find of interest and want to see his or her updates, you would just "Follow" them and you can see his or her updates (Tweets). You do not have to get "permission" to follow anyone. You can follow or stop following anyone at any time. You will also get your own set of "followers" - people who are interested in your updates (Tweets). You can, however, block someone from following you if you want.

If you like your friend's update, you can do a "ReTweet" where you re-send their update to your followers.

There are applications that people use for Twitter. The most popular one is called "TweetDeck" and is available as a free download to your computer and your mobile phone. You can also post your updates to FaceBook through TweetDeck.

Twitter can be compared to an online Bulletin Board where you can search for and see information regarding topics or people. TweetDeck allows you to set up areas where you can view updates regarding the different topics in which you are interested.

How Can it Help My Business?

Promote your Business.
Similar to LinkedIn® and Facebook, you can post information about your company. You can advertise information and people who are following you will see it.

Post Twitter Updates to a Blog or Website.
If you have a Blog or Website you can set them up to have them display your Twitter updates. This way you post in one place and it appears in multiple places keeping your Blog/Website fresh and updated.

FINAL NOTE:

At first social networking may seem daunting but just like anything new, once you try it, you learn how it works and can even enjoy it. All of these sites have a Help or Resources section where you can find out more.

So this summer, dive in and do some online social networking. But don't forget to look up once in a while, get outside, and do some face-to-face social networking, too!

Amy Gideon is President and Co-owner of TAG Online, Inc., located in Clifton, NJ and providing web development, design, hosting, co-location and consulting services for the last 15 years. Amy has over 20 years of experience in software development, database design, authoring and delivering programming courses on Wall Street and managing large software projects. She has consulted to several well-known corporations, including Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, and Citibank. Amy holds a M.S. in Computer Science from New York University and a B.S.E. from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. Amy can be reached by going to www.tagonline.com or 973-783-5583.