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When you’re dealing with an online business it’s easy to stay safely invisible behind your computer and let your business do the talking. Sometimes people who feel uncomfortable selling or networking offline start businesses online because they believe there is anonymity in cyberspace. They are right to an extent, but to see real gains in your business or in brand recognition you’ve got to get out there and be social. Yes, I’m talking network, same as you would do in the offline world. You’ve got to pound the pavement so to speak, except that you’re pounding bandwidth.

The benefits of social networking for online businesses

1. You will gain traffic–Traffic is good for business. The more traffic the better right? By getting out there and getting to know people interested in your particular niche you will attract them to your site as well. Visit blogs related to your business. Leave genuine comments or add to the conversation. Interact with your business’ Facebook fans. Make sure you are active on your own blog as well promptly responding to comments and questions. The more you reach out the more people will start looking for you.

2. You will build brand recognition–When you start networking online it’s like you are leaving a cyber calling card everywhere you go. Suddenly people are seeing you on Facebook then they are seeing you commenting on one of their favorite blogs. Then they see you on another blog. All of a sudden it seems like you are everywhere. Your brand will stick in their minds and it becomes recognizable. The best part is you didn’t have to shell out big bucks for advertising.

3. It’s free–Like I said, you don’t have to spend advertising dollars to use social networking to your advantage. It’s completely free. The only thing you have to invest is your time.

How to maximize your social networking time

Of course, you do still have a business to run and you can’t be a social butterfly all day long. So you maximize the time you spend social networking with a strategy. You want to make the biggest social network impact in the shortest amount of time.

1. Identify related blogs–This could be blogs that are competition. Well you definitely want to check out what the competition is doing but you can also want to find blogs that relate to your industry. So if you sell silk flowers maybe you want to hang around some bridal blogs. Right? Just like you would do in the offline world. Identify 10 blogs/businesses whose radar you’d like to cross and start networking. Comment on their blogs, add valuable comments.

2. Find out where your customers are socializing–Where are your customers going for information. If they are going to bridal websites or forums that offer resources or tips that’s the perfect place for you to hang around and contribute. Offer to guest post something about your industry, like “Why silk flowers are a better choice for your winter wedding.” The important thing is to find out what sites your customers are visiting and be there. They’ll see you.

3. Set aside a finite period each day to  participate in social networking–Maybe it’s just an hour a day, maybe it’s two, but be consistent. Another approach is to set a goal for the number of comments you want to leave or how many tweets and retweets you want to post. Start out by promising to visit 5 blog sites and leaving five valuable comments a day. Then adjust from there.

The internet makes it easier to be even more social than offline marketing does. It may seem overwhelming at first but setting a plan and getting social can reap big rewards for your business.

It’s happened to everyone, right? You’re relaxing with a glass of wine, it’s late, you’re checking your Facebook and you post something funny, but slightly naughty or maybe you just embark on a tirade about your jerk of a boss. You log off and go to bed and then at 2 a.m. you spring up from sleep remembering that OMG last week I friended my (mom, boss, insert fear-inducing person here).

Now whether or not to friend these people in the first place is a moot point since it’s done. But you wonder what are they going to think of your post.

Before this happens to you you might want to get acquainted with the privacy setting on Facebook.

1. Use Friend Lists
Create private groupings of friends based on your personal preferences so you can have a list for family, co-workers, good friends, professional, you get the idea. You can configure these lists by visiting the Friends area of Facebook.

2. Remove yourself from Facebook search results
First visit the Search Privacy Settings page. Then under Search Visibility select “only friends” and click save. Here you can also remove yourself from Google by unchecking the box next to the phrase “Create a public search listing for me and submit it for search engine indexing.”

3. Control tagged photos of yourself
Visit your profile privacy page and modify the setting next to “Photos Tagged of You” Select customize. Here you will be able to choose who can see your tagged photos and whether you want them kept private.

As for your albums go to the Photos Privacy Page and manually configure the visibility of each of your photo albums.

4. Make your personal contact info private
In your profile go to info and contact information and edit. This is where your Friends List will come in handy because you can modify it so that only those close to you can see your contact information.

5. Adjust wall posting visibility
Within your profile page click on Settings. Then you should see a box that addresses posting ability. Adjust the setting that says “Who Can See Posts Made by Friends?”

You can also control who can post to your wall under the Profile Privacy setting page section labeled Wall Posts.

Freedigitalphotos.net

And my short answer is “Because you are expected to have a social media presence. That’s where your customers are.” Of course there are a million other reasons why that company should have a social media presence — to connect on a personal level, humanize their company, start a discussion with their clients and potential clients — but the easiest way to stop any counter-arguments is to tell them that’s where they are expected to be. And it’s true. Think about how many times you’ve visited a static web page and looked for a Facebook or Twitter button or sought out more photos or reviews. If you don’t have that ability to connect, you customer feels, well, disconnected from you. And these days web smart customers assume a business has these channels to connect in place.

To answer the first question, yes, being online and communicating with your clients will ultimately lead to sales but not directly usually. It’s important for business clients to know that a social media campaign is just one element of a complete marketing strategy. But it is an important one that should be standard operating procedure.

What other things do your customers expect of you that you may be missing?

Ndaura, male silverback

When you visit the site you can find all sorts of info about gorillas and you can see the names, background, family group and pictures of the gorillas you want as your Facebook friends. But much like on Facebook, their bios are reserved for their “friends.”

So when I came across this site, I was excited to help out and I adopted a few. But what excited me even more was the campaign itself. What a fab way for a nonprofit to put Facebook to use to help their cause. Who can resist getting updates from a lovable, goofy gorilla every now and then? It’s taking a successful model–the “adopt a child” plea– which is always hard to say no to, but then using Facebook to take it to another level by:
1. Playing on people’s vanity by allowing an app, or a page showing the gorilla they adopted. and 2. Giving it the irresistibleness to go viral.

The app instantly posts to your Twitter and Facebook accounts announcing your new friend. There’s also the ability to friend a gorilla as a gift.

Check out the site both for the cause and for an example of a great way for business and nonprofits to use social media to get their message out and raise funds. www.friendagorilla.org

The above title is a little misleading, as you will find out. If you haven’t seen the Public Relations Society of America’s post Status Update: Millennial Staffers Can Update Your Social Media Plan you need to go there and read it. Like now. Because it’s ridiculous and you may need a good laugh tonight. What the heck, any time is a good time for a laugh. Only I wish we weren’t having to laugh about this. It’s plain silly.

Like this post, the title of PRSA’s post is misleading as well. The author may have meant well but he actually came across as offensive to lots of Millennials. He suggests that companies look to their Millennials to help build their company’s, as well as their senior staffers’, online presence. But he says things like this: Tapping on these new professionals may seem like a gamble. You don’t want them speaking to clients, let alone producing messaging. However, to increase your organization’s toolbox and capture the attention of younger staffers eager to get ahead, the social media space is an ideal testing ground.

What, what?!?!?

Not only is this offensive to Millennials, it’s offensive to those of us who are a bit older. However, because of the assumptions made–both that Millennials are Social Media pros and also that they are incompetent to deal with clients, Millennials took the brunt of the offense. Social Media is not about “testing things out.” A successful social media campaign requires some strategy and planning. Also, it should be representative of your company, it should be about branding. You should kinda have some idea of what you want your company to be online — that’s not something you can delegate to someone you don’t feel safe with speaking to your clients.

Read the PRSA post and the great comments that follow it. But let me just say this, if you want an online presence for your company make sure you learn a thing or two about social media, why you want an online presence, and how you want the company to be presented online. Then find the best qualified person (yes, sometimes even people way past their 20s, like me, know their way around a social network) to do the job. Don’t just assume your Millennial employee is the best person, although, they very well may be. Remember what they say about assumptions.

First it was your momma on Facebook and now grandma is on Twitter? What’s next?

Crime fighting. Yes, authorities and government officials have got on to the fact that there is a wealth of personal information they would love to get their hands on, just offered up into cyberspace by the very individuals on whom they want the info.

Think about it. We may find nothing wrong with posting about our new job, your raise, or that fact you’ve started an internet business to make extra money. But the IRS thinks that is some information they can use to help collect those back taxes you owe.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the Internal Revenue Service has been using social media in several states, including Minnesota, Nebraska, California to successfully collect back taxes. They employ Google searches, Facebook and MySpace to gather any financially-relevant personal information that could help them in their collection efforts.

Hmmm, the IRS friending me? Shudder. Actually they can’t request friend status under false pretenses, so don’t worry. That is, if you have anything to worry about. Which, I hope you don’t.

And while even those whose financial affairs are on the straight and narrow may bristle at the thought of the IRS monitoring their posts, social media is also being employed to bring scarier criminals to justice.

After a recent break in at the Hollywood Hills home of Linsay Lohan, police used YouTube to aid in the search for the three suspects. Police posted the surveillance video showing the three on the LAPD’s YouTube channel hoping for leads.

So you tell me, do you think this should be admissable evidence? Should the IRS be allowed to use information you post online to collect back taxes?