Using Social Networks to Market Your Business

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I'm sure by now you've heard about social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and MySpace. What business owners are still not fully grasping is how these networks can be of benefit to them in their business.

First, lets define what social networks are meant to be. If you go to Google and type in Social Media Networks one of the top search results will be Wikipedia's definition of these:

Social media is media designed to be disseminated through social interaction, created using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques. Social media supports the human need for social interaction with technology, transforming broadcast media monologues (one to many) into social media dialogues (many to many). It supports the democratization of knowledge and information, transforming people from content consumers into content producers. Businesses also refer to social media as user-generated content (UGC) or consumer-generated media (CGM).

Marketing is all about getting people to know you, like you and trust you so that then they can buy from you. It's all about being magnetic.

People are tired of being sold to consistently. As a business, you want to consistently communicate the values you represent. Not the value of your product and services but the values about your brand that will generate interest, conversation and following. A practical way to apply this is to think about a couple of ways you can add value to a potential prospects life, without selling to them.

Think about the concerns, worries or interests of your target market and generate conversations that address these issues.

Here are some additional tips when using social media for business:

1. Use a professional picture. Part of making connections is your image.

2. Don't spam. Again, people want value. If you connect and constantly bombard people

with sales and pitches and unwanted info, chances are you will lose them.

3. Steer away from posting offensive information and material and tell your friends and family to refrain from posting such material as well. (You can also use the privacy settings available to control this.)

4. Be authentic. Nothing is more magnetic than authenticity. While you generate valuable info, also share personal things that can be motivating and insightful. People will appreciate this.

5. Embed your social media links to your email signature.

6. Use it consistently. You should schedule in at least 1 hour of social networking per day. It's a time investment that will be totally worth it.

Here's one final tip. You can integrate some of your social networking accounts so you're feeding all of them through the use of only one. That will save you lots of time and help position you as a go to person, which ultimately is your goal if you are using these networks to market your business.

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Source by Julissa M. Fernandez