The Distillery

The Why

If you’re paying attention to the media, it’s not hard to find people using social networks to promote their businesses. Large-scale media outlets like CNN have numerous accounts so all of their high-profile personalities have their own place to connect with fans. Volkswagen used their Facebook fan page to connect with viewers in a new television campaign. But why?

Active Audience

In the days of old, marketing efforts interrupted the viewer. A commercial on television is a pause in the viewer’s favorite show. A newspaper or magazine ad is something else the reader has to flip past to get to the rest of the story. Social networks are different. The user is already there looking for new ways to connect and be engaged.

Ideas Spread Like Wildfire

By staying active on on social networking sites, you can send your message to not just your personal connections, but to theirs as well. Picture if you will, your business (Lets say you’re a producer of rubber ducks) has just released a line of ‘unsinkable rubber ducks’ and marketed the new line via your Facebook Fan Page. Some of your fans may have commented on how much they like them. Others might ask where they can get them. By replying to or answering these customers, you increase the visibility of your message exponentially. Not only do your fans see this conversation, but it can be seen by all of their friends too through Facebook’s news feed. It doesn’t stop there though. If what you’re saying is well received, it can spread to sites like Digg, del.ic.io.us, blogs and beyond. How does this benefit your business? As your message spreads to these sites, search engines like Google, Bing, or Yahoo! read through or “index” them and increase your likelihood of being found through searches.

The Face-to-Face Effect

The backbone of social networking sites is the connection of people. You can use these social networks to answer a customer’s question in Taiwan, make a new friend connection in Los Angeles, and anywhere in between. As I stated in my last post, Social Networking for Small Businesses Part One: The Basics, these sites are world wide. This doesn’t mean you’ve got to engage everyone on the planet, but you should take advantage of that. Depending on your business, it could lead to new sales, distribution, or just new leads.

The How

So now you understand why you should be promoting your business on social networking sites. But how?

Online: The original

If you’ve created a profile on any social networks, you’ve obviously found their website. You can log on here any time to make wall posts, reply to messages, expand your network, tweet, or anything else that can be done through your chosen network. This is often the easiest option, and there is always lots of information and instructions on the help page.

Social Networking Applications or Programs

Depending on what networks you use, there are many options that will streamline your social networks to one screen. With these you can update your Facebook status, read and reply to tweets on Twitter, and depending on which you choose, connect via e-mails, chats, and so many more. Most offer customization too so you can keep track of it all from one place. Look through the options below and find one that works for you.

• TweetDeck
• Digsby
• TwitterFeed
• Twhirl

Feel free to comment and let me know what works for you and what doesn’t.

Social networks are all the rage in today’s media. Businesses of all types are using them. The Search Engine Journal lists several of the biggest right here on their blog. The overall idea of these sites is for users to create a network of friends, associates, and others to share information with. Now not only are there more people using social networks today, there are more of them available. Here are a few of my favorites, along with some examples of how they can help your business.

Facebook

In the eyes of most, Facebook is the current king of social networking. With 350 million users worldwide, its easy to see why. Facebook users can search for people to connect with, then have the ability to share photos, links, and other information, post public comments or send private messages to their friends, and much more. Volkswagen recently started using their Facebook Fan Page on television commercials. When viewers see the ad, they’re encouraged to view the Facebook fan page where they can do everything from chat with other VW enthusiasts to customize a brand new model to suit their own needs.

How Can It Help My Business?

Use Facebook to create a ‘Fan Page’ for your business. Then encourage your current clients to ‘Become a Fan’ of your page. Any of their friends will have the chance to see your page and hopefully be enticed by what you have to offer! What do you offer? Here you can list your services, promotions, and most importantly, connect with your clients. Giving people the opportunity to communicate back and forth helps build a good relationship. Your fans will also be able to comment to each other, building a community feel where your clients can come to ask questions or find new information.

Twitter

Short and sweet, Twitter is concise and to the point. Users build a network of people whom they ‘follow.’ Then users share posts of up to 140 characters with those in their network. Users can ‘mention’ another user in their post or ‘re-tweet’ another user’s post to spread news to all those that follow them. In this way, news can spread exponentially as multiple users pass it along to entire new circles. JetBlue and United Airlines recently started giving discounts to their Twitter followers that were quick to respond to tweets regarding the promotion.

How Can It Help Me?

Use Twitter to update your clients on news or promotions. With one simple click you can share information with your whole audience. By doing so, you can inform those in your network on what’s new. If followers like what you have to say, your message can quickly spread through re-tweets

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a way to connect with other professionals. Users create a profile, add a profile containing professional information, and build ‘connections’ with others they’ve worked with or for. When building connections, users must add the business relationship and company that connects them to other users. In this way, LinkedIn is a more professional social networking alternative to Facebook, as the main focus of a user’s LinkedIn profile is the professional, rather than personal information.

How Can It Help Me?

Use LinkedIn to find old or even current business associates whom you have a good relationship with. Ask them to not only join your social network, but offer to write a recommendation for them. If they are kind enough to write one in return, you can post it to your profile. These recommendations will be seen by anyone viewing your profile. In this way, you can build credibility as well as a strong professional social network through LinkedIn.

MeetUp

Meetup is a lesser-known social networking site with one main feature separating it from its social networking counterparts. It is based around face-to-face meetings. No, its not online dating, but it works in a similar fashion. Users can either find groups of people with similar interest or create a group themselves. These groups hold face-to-face meetings, more than 2,000 groups get together in local communities each day. Each one meets with the goal of improving themselves or their communities.

How Can It Help Me?

You’ve got a couple options.

1. Use this site to start a Meetup group in your area. You can moderate the events or create a network of others in your local area and invite others to help out.

2.Find an existing Meetup group. You never know, there could already be groups in your field right in your hometown. Use the search feature on Meetup to locate them, and become active to further build face-to-face relationships with both perspective clients and peers. These groups can literally be of any kind, so look around and see whats out there!

There you have it, just a few ways to make Social Networking work for you! There are many more options, all with differences and benefits. Want to know about more social networks? Check out the list that Wikipedia has put together. Check back soon to see more about how you can make social media work for you and your business.