Networking through the social media...

Putting a new spin on networking

Whether you offer professional services, specialized products aimed at other businesses or consumer goods, social media can give you great visibility.

Social media is the term used for communities of people interacting through a website, by posting comments, pictures, videos or audio. Integrating social media into your marketing strategy can help keep you in touch with current and potential customers, with suppliers, colleagues and other stakeholders.

5 tips for effective use of social media

1. Set clear goals and processes
The world of social media sites is broad and complex, and creating a presence using these sites can be very time-consuming. Your new online activities should complement your marketing strategy so that you make the best possible use of your time. If your main goal is finding new clients, you may wish to focus on creating a presence on social or business networking sites and in microcommunities that may be frequented by your customers.

For example, if you sell canoes, you may want to participate regularly in a camping micro-community site. However, if your focus is on building customer loyalty, you may want to think about adding a blog to your website, where you offer tips and recommendations to your existing customers, and where users can discuss your products and their uses.

2. Focus on quality over quantity
Social media sites are designed to create a community. It is more important to participate fully and sincerely in a few sites than to spread yourself too thin. By building a strong presence, you will create respect for you and your company.

3. Think give, not take
Don't focus on pushing your products or services. In fact, some sites (such as Flickr) specifically prohibit commercial use. Rather, think about what you can give the community. Share comments, information and content that are relevant and useful for all users. If you market yourself as an expert and the content is relevant, others will keep coming back.

4. Put your best foot forward
In the online world, like in the real world, it pays to be polite, pleasant and honest.

5. Be linkable
Link to other sites, and make it easy for others to link to your site. If you have a blog, make sure you register it with the main blog search sites. Advise your readers of content updates by offering RSS feeds (a file that automatically publishes frequently updated content, such as blog entries, to let users keep up with new posts).

An overview of social media
Social media sites create interactive communities. The focus of these sites ranges from socializing, business networking, sharing information or other resources, and collaborating on shared projects.

Social networking
Sites such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace are designed for personal networking. These sites let you create a personal profile page, and their focus is on helping you keep in touch with the people you know. Some sites let you upload photos and videos, post news and other links, and update your status from your cell phones.

Business networking
These networking sites are designed with professionals in mind. They allow you to

• make connections with people you know and make new contacts
• gain visibility
• discuss issues, such as investment techniques, with other professionals
• post jobs and hire personnel
• find business advice

Examples of this type of site include LinkedIn, Ryze, FastPitch, and Naymz. There are also sites that are specially tailored for small businesses, such as My Cubicle Space.

Sharing information and multimedia content
These sites offer a forum where users can post content that can be viewed, commented on, marked as a favourite, or linked to, by people around the world.

Information

1. Blogs
Blogs are websites that are updated regularly with posts by one or several users. The entries can include general comments or journal entries or information on a particular subject, or multimedia material like links, photos, videos, and audio files. Also, readers generally have space to comment and discuss postings with other viewers.

There are also search sites that collect information from blogs and other sites, ranking them by subject and popularity. These include Technocrati and Newsvine. The sites allow users to search for content by keyword. Bloggers can register with these sites to increase their visibility.

2. Microcommunities
Sites created for groups of people linked by a common interest, ex. wine, yoga, gardening, traveling and shoes. These microcommunities often feature product reviews, recommendations, and discussion boards. They offer a unique way to tap into the preferences of their clientele, and to participate in discussions with the client group.

Collaboration
These sites bring together people working on a common project, such as a wiki (a collaborative website designed to let users contribute or edit content, ex. Wikipedia), open-source software (where participants work together via the web to create computer programs), or other collaborative projects focusing on specific areas, such as the arts.