Using Social Networks To Promote Your Business - Basics
There are many social networks from MySpace to Facebook to Twitter
, LinkedIn and Friendster, not to mention countless others that are vying to be the next social media powerhouse. Using these to promote your business is de rigueur these days, but there are a few things you have to know to set them up correctly.
First of all, you dont have to hassle everyone on your friend lists when using social media. Facebook and Twitter allow you to set up pages specifically for your business, which other users with common interests can find themselves. You can set all this up in less than a day, but it would be a good idea to be prepared with some content before you do this. For example, photos, logos and links to things you are promoting on your website.
The first thing you should do is sign up with an account on the following 3 services: Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Its free and relatively simple to sign up. Keep your logins and passwords in a safe place. When your business gets going, youll be using them frequently.
To create a page in Facebook, go to http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php (log in first).
Facebook has recently improved some of the things about the site. What used to be called manage pages is now called Use Facebook as page. Basically, what theyve done is they now allow you to switch between being yourself and being whatever page you youve created. This command functions like a toggle switch. If you have a personal profile set up as your name and another page set up for (as) your business, you can use the Use Facebook as page command to switch back and forth. This is a bit strange, so Ill explain further: I normally log into Facebook as Ian Rich and this is my identity as I browse around Facebook. Ive also created a page called Record And Grow Rich for my Info Product/Online Marketing business. When I want to switch to that identity, I use the Use Facebook as page command located under the Account menu. When I want to switch back, there is something in the same menu that says switch back to Ian.
When I have something new about my business that Id like to share on Facebook I follow this basic procedure:
- post something new to my website, copy the URL, then go to tinyURL and get a short version of the URL.
- log into Facebook, switch to my business page using the Use Facebook as page command, go to my wall, write a short blurb and post the tinyURL.Thats pretty much all there is to it.
One good thing about Facebook pages is that they can be seen by unregistered users. You can add as many Facebook pages as youd like.
Twitter is slightly different than Facebook, but its the same general idea. On Twitter, you are either following someone or being followed by others. 3 main statistics are displayed: how many people youre following, how many people are following you and how many tweets youve sent. Keep in mind that Twitter has a limit of 140 characters for each message (its called micro-blogging) so whatever you say has to be short & sweet. Adding a page in Twitter works pretty much the same way as it does on Facebook; you just go through the same basic procedure that Ive outlined above.
Using video to market your business is essential these days. Think about it. Peoples attention spans are getting shorter and shorter and they are reading less and less. Now more than ever, its all about video. Having a YouTube account gives you a place to post all of your promo videos and its a great way to drive traffic to your website. YouTube will also allow you to create a profile page which you can use to promote your business.
If your intent is to drive traffic to your website with video, do your keyword research, then create a short video that answers a relevant question about the keywords and then directs them to your site for more info. For example, if the keyword was sales training, youd make a video saying hello, Im (your name) and I know youre looking for information on sales training. Over the years, Ive found that the best way to learn to be effective in sales is to (insert your best tip here, along with a couple of sentences of explanation). If youd like more information about sales training, I invite you to check out my website at (www.yourwebsite.com), where youll find all sorts of great information and resources. Thanks for watching, and Ill see you over at (yourwebsite.com). Of course, your script can be whatever youre comfortable with, but the basic idea is give them some good information and a tip or two, then direct them to your website for further information.
You might not be a social networking guru, but as long as you get Facebook, Twitter and YouTube going, youll be well on your way.
Once youve got Facebook, Twitter and YouTube set up, you might want to continue with sites like LinkedIn, Ning, Digg, Reddit, StumbleUpon, Delicious and MySpace.
by: Ian Rich
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