Business is all about networking, right? Plus, you likely know that you need to get some links to your website to build traffic. Since you’re a pro blogger, of course the first place you look for those much needed links is the blogosphere.
However, some manners are in order when it comes to posting comments and linking to your blog from other blogs.
It comes down to common courtesy. We’ve all heard the ‘golden rule’, right? Do unto others and all that jazz? The goal is for us to get a much needed backlink to our website, that’s true. But that’s not all we want. Spammy backlinks can be obtained pretty easily. There’s even software out there that will blast your links to a million different blog posts comment areas. But it’s not really what we want or need.
I’ll tell you one reason why.
Before even thinking about the other guy’s blog, and common courtesy, let’s consider your overall professional appearance. Think of your backlink campaign as one big press release for a minute. If you were blasting a press release to the major news networks today, you would want to present a super professional appearance right? You would want the world to see you as the undisputed expert in your field, professional, classy, the very best. Right?
Then why would you use a different approach and spam your link across the blogosphere? Making you and your website (translate: your company) look cheesy and unprofessional? If you knew that was the way the world perceived you and your business, you probably would have thought twice about it before you used a link blaster and posted your link to a million spam blogs. The problem is that many businesses and many bloggers don’t think the internet is part of ‘the real world’. They don’t stop and think about the fact that their actions on the web can have the same negative impact that they would have in the real world when it comes to cheesy and sleezy promotion tactics.
Nope, the internet is different in their eyes. They only know they need a bunch of links. It’s not important to them to build an overall web persona. PR is not a concern. But it should be. Because the web is no different than any other advertising medium. People are people, and if they read crappy comments that make you and your company look bad, they are not going to do business with you.
Now, let’s also consider the other blogs out there and some basic manners. In the real world, that is the one that doesn’t have a keyboard attached to it, you need to have some etiquette when it comes to business networking, right?
For example, if you are a member of the local rotary club, you don’t walk into the meeting each week shouting, “Make $5,000 every day using my secret methods”!
Do you?
No. You network. You shake everyone’s hand and say hello. You get into conversations and have intelligent discussions. You add something to the group as a whole. When asked, you give your expert advice and opinions and you build new relationships that turn into new client relationships.
So why would you do it any differently online?
When working on links from other blogs and other business communities, have the same manners you would if you were in that rotary club meeting. Be a contributing part of the conversation. Get involved and work on your professional appearance at the same time. Post relevant comments to the current discussion. Don’t interrupt like a thirty second commercial break, changing the topic so that you can promote your new product or service. Stay on topic and contribute something useful.
It’s o.k. if you don’t agree with someone. Good debate can be good for business. Some people will agree with you and visit your site based on your professional opinions. But only if your argument is written professionally and with some class. Stay out of name calling sessions and stay away from labels. Don’t call anyone an idiot or a moron. In the end, you end up looking like one.
Your comments are mini press releases. They are little road signs showing how professional you are. Or how unprofessional you are. Your public appearance is up to you. So have some courtesy when posting your comments. It will make the difference when it comes to how successful your linking campaigns are.
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Naz Daud asked:
Nowadays, many businesses are reaping the fruits of the internet, especially with the advertising opportunities that the internet offers. One of the ways to advertise or promote businesses is through the emerging online social networks.
You may not notice but quite a few businesses nowadays are advertising through several social networks such as MySpace, Facebook, Friendster, LinkedIn, Hi5, and Tagged among many similar sites. Some may be cynical or disbelieving when it comes to making use of social networking sites to promote their businesses, but that is only because they are not truly acquainted with the potential that these sites have.
If you need persuasion, think about the many people accessing such social networking sites on not only daily, but also on an hour to hour and even minute to minute basis. Imagine a stronger web presence for your business. Most competitors have already joined the trend so why don’t you join in the fun? You’ll have more potential clients and you’ll build more credibility.
Perhaps you might think that advertising on a social site may not be a good image for your business. Some social networking sites are mainly patronized by teenagers, so if your business is not something for the kids, then it might not be of much benefit for you to do so. However, word of mouth is still such a powerful tool to market and promote a business.
A teenager telling his or her mom or dad about what they saw in the Internet is just an example. This is the beginnings of the very powerful word of mouth marketing, and many buzzes now start on social networking sites. Here are ten tips that will help you in promoting your business through such social networks.
1. Try out several social networking sites.
To start with, don’t just focus on just one or two social networking websites. Begin with as many as possible: the opposite of what you might expect to do, but try it. It works with these sites. You can post a photograph of yourself, digital photographs of your company and of your products if you have them, or of your company logo. Write some blogs, make some quizzes or engage in activities until you get noticed.
After you’ve built your presence in multiple networking sites, it’s time to focus on one or two sites that generate positive results. By now you should have seen how people react to it and you’ll know which social networking websites are the most effective for you.
2. Share the company’s public profile.
Lay out your business expertise. Clearly state your credentials. At the same time, make sure that your profile is as attractive as possible. It has to be something that will catch other social networkers’ attention. Also, make sure that your profile is keyword-rich for people using the advanced search features.
3. Make use of applications and widgets.
Most of the social networking websites you’ll see now have their own widgets and applications. Some of these widgets were made for businesses. They have a business page or “About” page made specifically for companies. Make particular use of the Fan page, the News page, and the Events page.
4. Comment on posts or blogs online.
One way to maximize the opportunity of your web presence is by commenting or replying to posts, articles, and blogs you see online. You can leave your signature (with links to your website) after your username. This will help you get noticed even more.
5. Join forums or groups.
When you join forums, you get to engage with other like minded individuals and share your ideas with other people. Then hopefully, they might notice your expertise and may even ask for details of your products or services before you have to offer them.
6. Seek help from expert social networkers.
Social networking is just like traditional networking. The internet just made it easier. So if you want more networkers to notice you ask for help from the experts and find out how best to use this medium. Ask and answers will be forthcoming.
7. Select your friends.
Since you’re creating an account for your business, your friends will matter. Make sure that all your friends are legitimate, trust-worthy, and credible. It doesn’t matter if you only have a few friends. The quality of friends you add to your account is what matters most.
8. Write recommendations for valued clients.
Your clients don’t need to tell you to write them a recommendation. If you feel they are valuable, then recommend them. Not only are you being more credible to your readers by providing genuine information, your clients will be happy and may do the same for you.
9. Promote your blog or online resources.
Blogging or writing articles and providing resources to your readers or clients have proven to be an effective way to drive traffic to your website. So if you have a blog, make sure that you promote it through these networking sites.
10. Use privacy settings.
In order to avoid scam artists and identity theft, make sure that you adjust the privacy settings that can be found in social networking sites. Check what information can be seen by the public and by your friends and adjust accordingly.
Why not start to use social networking sites to the greatest advantage for your online business? Most traditional businesses have no idea how to use this new medium, and if you do then you can have a good and profitable lead on your competitors.
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Michael Hutchins asked:
I realize that for adults on the social networking sites, many of these tips are common sense. As I point that out, I also know that nothing is “common” about common sense. The tips are not listed in order of importance. Here they are!…..
1.) Decide on the type of networking you would like to engage in.
Most people that are new to social networking are nor aware that different sites cater to different groups of networkers. Some sites are for people in particular age groups, others are for people with specifics hobbies and interests. Still other sites cater almost exclusively to business networking. Before you join a site, spend some time getting a sense of what type of networking is most popular. For the newbie to the networks, MySpace and Facebook are good choices. Generally, these sites have wide appeal to a large cross section of networkers with a wide variety of interests.
2.) Have A Plan When Putting Together Your Profile
Virtually all social networking sites provide members with a personal profile page. Unfortunately, many people spend very little time planning the content to be included in their profile.
WRONG!
Remember, people will usually review your profile before deciding if they want to contact you. The information that you supply can attract quality networking opportunities. Let people know, via your profile, exactly what type of online relationships you want to pursue. Answer ALL profile questions honestly, with no hidden agendas. Oh, and by the way, include your picture. People want to “see” fellow networkers!
3) Let The Online Relationship Develop Naturally
One of the biggest mistakes made by social networkers is to “force” their agenda on new contacts. This type of selfishness does not work in the offline world, so why would it EVER work online? Become acquainted with your contacts first. Let them know that you intend to be a useful resource. During this process of getting to know each other, both of you will discover if you have mutual intentions. Do not rush this process of discovery. It could provide the foundation for a very beneficial, long term, relationship.
4) Do Not Get Too Personal Too Quickly
This tip is in the ‘common sense” category, and is similar to tip #3. Personal experiences have prompted me to include this tip. I have been contacted by individuals, and within the 1st EMAIL, they are disclosing very personal information, even inviting me to come meet them!! This approach is dangerous and leaves a bad 1st impression. It is a definite “red flag” if individuals give you “too much information” too soon.
5) Do Not “Hit And Run!”
Many people make the mistake of joining too many social sites. In their excitement to begin networking, they fill out profiles to every site under the sun! These same individuals spend very little time navigating each site. They will also make the mistake of adding a bunch of “friends” at first, and never following up with them. This “hit and run” approach is not a good way to form online relationships. Only become a member of a site if you plan to become an active member of the community. Without active participation, you will never achieve trust within the group.
In Conclusion….
Hopefully, these tips, and your common sense, will make social networking more productive. If you are specifically interested in the adult social networks for business, the FREE curriculum at Renegade University is a perfect training ground. It is possible to earn while you learn marketing with video, articles, email, and even marketing to the Web 2.0 communities.
You will also learn how to brand yourself in the social networks, and how to gain access to FREE social media tools.
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Jonathan Mac asked:
The concept of social networking is used in many ways today. Some consider it as total fun while others consider them precious to get into some serious relationships. Social networking is actively used for business promotion too. Whatever the use may be, Social networking websites have become a must have for every grown up human being.
The Social Networking Concept
There are thousands of Social Networking websites that are available today. However, not all of them serve the same purpose. Some of those websites are dedicated to business networking and some others entirely for school and college buddies to stay in touch. Though social networking websites differ in their mode of usage, all of them have the same concept – “active communication”. Let it be a social networking website for dating, or a social network of professional businessmen, all these websites enable people to find more contacts and also to re-kindle old relationships.
The ease of use
Almost all the social networking websites follow the same procedures. After making a free registration, you will be able to put up your own social networking profile. The profile page is the one that makes the first impression. The profile page must be the best and unique to make it highlight in the social media crowd. Social networking websites like myspace enable the users to use custom designed profile pages. There are many professional social networking web designers who can create stunning profile pages for myspace. You can also get professional help from them for setting up unique profiles.
Once the profile page is setup, it’s time to gather friends. Getting friends in a social networking website is real fun and easy. You can search for new friends wherever you wish and also connect to your old friends and rekindle the relationships. Businessmen can find more people of the same interest and share ideas and thoughts. The social networking websites are the excellent platforms for business promotion.
Creating your own social networking websites
With the increasing popularity of social networking, many professional web designers are now designing social networking websites for personal and business purposes. You can create professional social networking websites like myspace and facebook with the help of these social networking web designers. As the saying goes, “Make new friends and keep the old”, creating your own social networking website will make it easy to find your old friends. In general, social networking sites are a great way to meet new people, make friends, and connect with people from your past. You can build relationships, build a reputation, or build a business with these social networking websites.
If you are not into the world of Social Networking yet, you are missing a great part of your joyful life and successful business promotion.
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Mike Claggett asked:
Networking whether for socializing or for business is what makes the world go around. Not Love. Well love keeps it positive and interesting, but without socializing, love doesn’t have a chance. Don’t think so? Then how do you explain sites like MySpace has literally millions of users and all of the on line dating sites combined have less.
Do you know what the main purpose of a social networking website is? If you are an avid internet user, it’s you likely do. Social networking websites are online communities that make it easier for internet users to meet and communicate with each other. If you are an internet user who enjoys using the internet to meet new people, there is a good chance that you already belong to a social networking website. What about an online blog? Do you have a blog? In a way, your blog is like having your own personal social networking site. If you have a blog, do you know that you could use your social networking website to promote your blog?
The goal of most business owners is to make a profit. There are of course a few that have business web sites only to support their products or provide information. But for the purposes of this article, I’ll only be talking about sites with the primary purpose of making money. Obviously the hope of the site/business owner is to generate income from the selling of a particular product or service. However, to sell that product or service business owners need to alert the general public and preferably a targeted portion of the public at large (Thier niche), to the availability of their products or services. Customers cannot buy a product or a service if they do not know that it exists. Obviously that’s why, as a business owner, you need to advertise your business.
When it comes to advertising there are many business owners who literally cringe at the thought of putting together an advertising or marketing plan or campaign. Have you planned your campaign and are you working your plan? Is it costing you more than your are making? There is a good chance it is because most traditional advertising methods cost money. Many cost a LOT of money.
As a business owner you want to make a profit and not spend any more than is absolutely necessary to make the profit you want/need to, right? Fortunately, if you believe that all forms of advertising take money, you’ll be glad to know you are mistaken. Although you may have to spend some money to make your business as profitable as you want it to be, there are ways to promote your business and the products or services that you sell without having to spend any money at all.
Promote your blog through your social networking site and vice versa? Why would you want to do that? Honestly, in this day and age, if your in business and have to ask yourself that question you probably need to look into the upside of owning operating your own blog and reciprocally linking with one or more of your own social networking site pages. The whole purpose of a blog is to document your thoughts, views, and opinions on a particular topic, issue, or subject to boost your credibility in the eyes of your reader as an authority on what you write about. What good will your blog do if no one reads it. Social networking sites are a way to get readers for your blog.
Is your curiosity peaked yet? There is a good chance that it is and rightfully so. One of the ways that you can promote your online business, without having to spend a dime, is by using something that is readily available online. That thing is an online social networking website. A large number of internet users, in fact literally millions of them, belong to at least one social networking website, if not several.
When it comes to promoting blogs, there are many blog owners who decide to let the search engine do the work for them. Search engines, such as Google, Yahoo, and MSN use special techniques that read/scan the content on your website. That content is then used in part to link your blog website with particular keywords. This means that you run a blog on graduating from high school in New York, there is a good chance that your blog will appear in searches done on New York high schools.
Although many blogs are successfully ranked in search engines, not all are. That is why you are advised against relying solely on search engines, when it comes to promoting your blog. There are other ways to promote your blog besides social networking, such as “blog and ping” or “Tag and Ping” but I’ll leave those subjects for another article you can find at my blog.
When it comes to social networking, there are many individuals who think of building new online friendships or online relationships. While these types of relationships are the most common, did you know that social networking is also used for businesses? A lot of businesses? In fact, that was originally how social networking got started.
As previously mentioned, if you love meeting with or talking to people online, there is a good chance that you belong to a social networking website or community. The individuals that you talk with and that are in your community are likely the individuals that you wish to target. Since most social networking websites work to connect internet users who have the same goals and common interests, there is a good chance that your online friends will enjoy reading your blog. But, before they can read your blog, you have to let them know that it exists.
Although social networking websites are traditionally focused on those that would like to make online friends or develop online relationships, there are networking sites that are designed primarily for business owners. Ryze.com is a good example. These websites will not only allow you to share your business information with other business owners, but it will also allow you to develop close relationships with those that share an interest that is similar to yours. Essentially, this means that you could not only learn valuable business information, but you could also walk away with a new business partner, a new friend or a business prospect.
When it comes to promoting your blog on social networking websites, you have a number of different options. Your first option is to include a link to your blog in your community profile or profile page on your social networking site. This will allow other community members to checkout your blog, only if they wish to do so.
The other way is to inform your online friends of your blog through Private Messages (Or PM’s). Once you join a social networking website and create or join a network of friends, you should easily be able to communicate with those friends. Sending each of your friends a private message with information and a link to your blog tends to be more effective than just placing a link in your profile or on your profile page. As well, a PM is more personal. Naturally, you will want to offer the link to your blog in a kind of “Oh, by the way”, fashion or maybe asking their opinion of one of your recent or past blog posts. The last thing you want to do is make it appear you are soliciting your new friend.
As previously mentioned, social networking websites with a focus on businesses, are a great way to promote your business. However, this does not mean that you should completely forget about the other online social networking websites, the ones that are designed to make online friendships. Although you may not learn any valuable business tips by joining “Yahoo! 360″ or “MySpace”, if you are subtle in your approach, you may be able to end up with new customers and new customers is exactly what your business needs.
As you will see, there are like minded people that will join an online community to make friends and or to learn more about what they are interested in from the people they meet in a social networking community regardless whether it is business related or not. There are a number of different ways that you will to go about promoting your own profile or profile page so as to not appear as though you are actually advertising. If you are planning on joining a traditional online social networking website, to gain access to millions of potential new customers, you are urged to be careful when making your online Social Networking webpage or profile. One thing that internet users hate is being solicited for business using the guise of wanting to make friends.
This does not mean that you cannot use social networking to your advantage; it just means that you need to be careful with how you do it. Instead of creating a “MySpace” page or a “Yahoo! 360″ page for your business, you are advised to make one for and about yourself, but, of course, you will want to include information on your business as part of your ‘interests’. You never know, but, in addition to promoting your blog, you may also make new friends along the way as well by linking to your social networking profile page from your blog.
By joining a social networking website, especially one that is popular and has a large number of members, you should be able to generate interest in your business, including the products or services that you sell. If your social networking friends are interested in the same things as you, and your blog and is compelling enough to drive your social networking friends to your business site, that interest generated traffic could turn into sales; thus making your social networking experience more than worth your time and effort.
After all, it’s FREE, it’s easy, there is the potential of making additional profits doing it, and it can be a lot of FUN! There is nothing quite like making more money and having fun doing it.
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Jonathan Mac asked:
Social networking is the buzz word in today’s Internet space. With lots and lots of people getting into Social networking everyday, many wise online marketers are creating their own Social networking websites. However, with many online marketers getting into Social networking, it is necessary to highlight your social networking website to avoid getting lost in the crowd. For this you have to offer your users with something unique and useful.
Provide the users with interactive Social networking Softwares
Do you know the reason behind the huge popularity of the social networking websites like myspace and face book? One of the reason is that they provide some interactive, useful social networking softwares. Unlike other softwares that needs to be downloaded to the users computer (which most of them do not prefer), these social networking softwares doesn’t need to be downloaded. These web based social networking softwares are gaining popularity these days because of the ease of use. As there are no compatibility problems associated with these social networking softwares, anyone can use it.
Creating Social networking software for your own Business Social Networking Website
When it comes to creating a social networking software, you will come up with a question “Should I Build my Own Social Networks Software?” Just keep reading on to find the answer. You can create the social networking software for your website by yourself if:
1. You are a skilled programmer.
2. Have lots of time to spare to spend on researching the trends in the Social media.
3. Are able to identify the user needs and satisfy them
The users of any websites will become unpleasant if the site takes long time to load. Moreover, the error messages are the ones that make the users of your social networking website more irate. Once the error message shows up to any user of your social networking website, they will never return back to your website. If you are a no vice programmer, trying to add or build social networking softwares, then your social networking softwares will be more error prone. All of these factors will be rather overwhelming to you if you are not a skilled programmer. Yet creating your own social networking software for your social networking website is not impossible.
Getting professional help for building Social Networking softwares
There is nothing to worry even if you don’t have the above said requirements for building social networking software. The professional social networking web designers are capable of building unique social networking softwares too. There are so many ready made social networking softwares also. All you have to do is to pick the right one that best fulfils your customer requirements. Getting social networking softwares built through programmers has many advantages. It saves much of your time and money along with enabling you to offer the users of your social networking website with some great interactive social networking software.
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Jonathan Mac asked:
Information technology is a much mandate for almost any sphere of life. So is the social networking. The activities like make new friends and maintaining the relationships are common in these social networking websites. These social networking websites are use for effective business promotions also. These traditional websites not only allows one to develop business relationships with other organizations, but also helps one to build close relationships with others with the same interest. This varied use of these social networking websites makes people stay longer in these websites.
SOCIAL NETWORKING AS a BUSINESS
A social networking website can generate revenue for you like any other Internet business. Everyone could see that the social networking websites like myspace, yahoo 360, orkut, classmates etc are in big business, generating huge revenue. The most interesting thing about these social networking websites is that, they have the ability to build up customer loyalty and are capable to retain its members. It has been noted that the members of a particular social networking website, keeps inviting his/her friends to join the same website inorder to expand the friendship circle. This in turn creates more members for he networking website with ease. This act also builds up the brand of the website and as it does, other people will get interested in advertising in the particular social networking website. Hence the revenue starts to flow in.
SOCIAL NETWORK WEB DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT
From the above paragraph, everyone will be clear that a social networking website can generate huge revenue than any other Internet business. So if you want to create your own social networking website, it’s simple. The first and foremost strategy to be considered while designing a social networking website is to create a platform that attracts people to use the website to build up relationships with others. The website should provide user friendly tools to customize their profile layout, add friends, inviting friends and so on. The important factor to be taken into account while designing a social networking website is to make sure that the design is user friendly. I.E the website should be easy to navigate through pages so that even users with little knowledge of the Internet can use your website.
If you are not sure about the design of a social networking websites, there are experts in social network web-design waiting to help you. They are capable of creating eye catchy, user friendly designs. All you have to do is to approach them and describe they type of network you wish to create.
PLAN BEFOR YOU LAUNCH
Launching a social networking website requires a lot of planning. Based on the plan you should choose the best design. You must look into all aspects of how you can lure users to your website and make them spend more time in the network. That is the start of the unique revenue generator.
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