subject: Social Networking For Small Businesses [print this page] How often have you heard a small business owner say I don't have time for a social life? Good social networking is not only a pleasurable activity but it needs to be made an essential part of any small business today.
When you own a small business in a town you are an essential part of that town community. You are there to supply a service or a retail outlet for that community. The people in this community need to know you socially, so that they can assess whether or not you are trustworthy. Business people especially in smaller communities, have different needs to those business owners in a larger town or city. The outcome and need basically remains the same but in a larger town or city, it takes longer and more work on the part of the business owner to become well-known.
In a smaller town, the townsfolk are more accessible to you but may be more reliant on you to be able to get the things that they need or want on a regular basis for a fair price. If the business can't or won't supply this need, then in today's world the people simply make alternative arrangements.
In a larger town or city, the people have a lot more choices physically as well as the internet, so it is important that this city business owner supplies more interaction with their customers than their country cousins need to or that their main competitor is able to. And one of the best ways to do this is by using the main competition itself the Internet.
A city small business owner can make up this difference simply by offering weekly specials via the internet but only being available to those who call in personally. By talking personally with their customers and giving them physical human interaction; the internet, no matter how good the social network site is, or how many friends they have in their accounts, nothing in social activity quite beats a warm personal smile and a real Hello
Many people today feel isolated in their homes and work places. This lack of social interaction is against our human nature. Basically, humans are pack animals and feel most secure when they are with like-minded people. This is one of the major reasons for the phenomenal growth of social networking websites on the internet. Over time, I believe we will see more and more (as we are now starting to see) where the groups in some of these big social networking sites like Delicious, Face book and Twitter, are splintering off and forming their own social websites.
But as a business owner anywhere~ town, regional town, city or anywhere in the world, you need to social network both in person and by joining one or preferably more of these social bookmark sites so you can get the word out to loyal physical customers in your area and to those on the other side of the world. Needs differ, of course, depending on what business you are in.
If your business doesn't lend itself to importing or exporting but if you are in small retail or a service based industry, you need these people on the other side of the globe to link to your website so you stand a better chance of getting a higher page rank in the search engines for your website. In short, by socially networking, everyone helps to build everyone else's business.
Can you start to see the power now as to why social networking is more than just a pleasurable social activity?
