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Do Social Networking Sites Wet Your Social Marketing Appetite Or Leave a Bad Taste in Your Mouth

Guest post by: Neil Ashworth

Article Overview: Going places is a lot easier now. Not only can you visit new places and see old and new friends, you may have conversations with them and see their face from the comfort of your office chair, your couch or your bed. We're talking about social networking here, and the opportunities to do this abound on many types of sites on the internet.

Do Social Networking Sites Wet Your Social Marketing Appetite Or Leave a Bad Taste in Your Mouth

Going places is a lot easier now. Not only can you visit new places and see old and new friends, you may have conversations with them and see their face from the comfort of your office chair, your couch or your bed. We're talking about social networking here, and the opportunities to do this abound on many types of sites on the internet. Social, of course, means pleasant, interactive companionship with another, with networking representing the exchange of information (according to Webster's) which can both be accomplished on internet sites of many different flavors, for each different appetite. Social networking sites have become the latest way to interact, without having to travel to a contact's home or even pick up the phone. Communication can take place on all days of the week and at all hours of the day with social networking sites which are "up" all the time, as long as the communicator has internet access.

The dynamics of social networking embody a living, growing animal which changes with new additional comments, positive and negative. Because there is no command and control over what is posted on each site, it can show plenty of emotion, from pure joy to downright distress. Readers can engage or choose to be silent on Web 2.0 sites. When on feels strongly enough about a topic, he or she may be willing to share on the social site, but if no comment is made, there can be no accusation that it was ever seen, as updates are made consistently.

Facebook and MySpace are two of the most purely networking sites around. These sites can perform for fun and pleasure, but also can do wonders for lifestyle and business, in unsuspecting ways. Because business professionals need a break during the day too, to pursue enjoyable tasks such as checking their social networking site to update a profile or get in touch with their friends or family, sometimes what they post can be helpful to the business individual posting or reading the post on the social networking site.

An example here: Let's say Diane is selling her house and mentions that she needs the name of a Realtor to list the property, and then help finding a new place. Mark and Kevin, who are Realtors or friends of Realtors let her know about it and her search may be ended, with just a small post on her site. Or, if Kirk is looking for a new job doing carpentry because he's sick of the corporate paperwork of accounting, he may make a few postings and photos on his social networking site regarding his proficiency in woodwork and an expression of his desire to find a job in this field. When Charles, who is looking for a carpenter assistant, sees it, a connection has been made, and the potential for Kirk to try something new is created. This can happen with just a few clicks and typing, with consistency and transparency the key to good communication.

For information from removing earwax the safe way to how to install tile yourself, the HubPages site is fun and very informative. Multitudes of topics including health (ear wax), home and family (tile installation), knowledge and education, holidays and celebrations, food, business and jobs, and personal finance, plus many more, await the social networking site fanatic who searches sites for a location to learn more and to post their own knowledge. The "hubbers," writers and creators that post to this social networking site, have the potential to earn money through the posting of ads that are related to their particular article. When a certain percentage of viewers click on the advertisement, the hubber can be rewarded for it financially.

Squidoo is a site created for people to develop their own "lenses" or views of the world. Tons of fun to look at, this site with many topics of discussion at this point close to having one million "lenses." The creators of individual lenses can earn money, but that is not the goal of many of the authors. The site is free to use, like all of the social networking sites listed in this article. Twitter is the online social marketing site that lets people answer the question "What are you doing?" The computer assisted program translates to phone texting (be brief!) and is much more portable than a computer. Of course, phones may have add-on internet service for social networking sites, but it is not widespread - YET.

For the business professional looking for information and to share with his or her network, there's LinkedIn, a social marketing site representing over 200 countries and nearly that many different industries. It is a social networking site Q&A haven, with questions and answers to all sorts of topics. The questions vary from inquiries about business travel to legal and financial matters, as well as questions about using the site itself. Sometimes answers are quick and right to the point, "Yes" or "No." Other times, responders will tend to ramble and add sweet notations at the end such as, "hope this helps," or "have a great day." On LinkedIn, there's also the statement to "Tell your network what you are doing," similar to Facebook's "What's on your mind?" This is the more social aspect of business networking on this specific type of site.

Checking for accuracy can be critical here on the business social networking sites, as anyone can answer a question without necessarily having the credentials to do so. Reading enough of the answers, or just going to the source, when noted on the site, may be the best way to get as close to the truth as you can get.

Seeing the numbers of users, industries, and countries involved on social sites can make one feel that with social marketing, you never have to feel alone again.

Go ahead, join a social networking site today!

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Article Tags: according to webster, accusation, appetite, business professionals, companionship, conversations, couch, days of the week, emotion, facebook, flavors, going places, internet access, internet sites, new friends, office chair, phone communication, pure joy, social networking site, social networking sites
Referred by: http://jaykubassek.com



Related Forum Posts
Re: How can a social networking site make serious money? - Hi There, It is quite interesting, that some Social Networking do produce an income. I think testimonials are always a benefit to share. See one below: This Social Network has changed my life! Every night is a Friday night and everyday is a Saturday!! Because of it, I have been able to leave the workforce 10 years early.It has given me back my life. Many of us would like to retire early. I am sure there are many more. The point is of focusing with great determination. The ongoing challenge is to stay focussed and not be sidetracked into a newer scheme or so. Also I have read, during this financial turmoil, more people turn to Social Networking for various reasons.
Marketing 2012 - I am interested in what works for you in 2012, Social Networking, Search Engine traffic, Blogs, Articles, Forums, what? This is a quote from a 2009 Topic "Twitter, Social Networking, What is your Method? From my experience, social networking traffic (Twitter included) also converts at a far lower rate than search engine traffic. Evan Is this still true, or do you use something that gives us better returns and conversions
Re: Kevin's Case Study #11 - A New Forum Category? - Hi Kevin, Like GT suggested, I also think you can add Internet Marketing as a sub category in the Marketing section and also a Social marketing as subcategory. Online marketing/internet marketing/online promotion are the same, and it will be best to use the common term - Internet marketing. I can't think about someone to moderate a Social Marketing category. We all use it, we all know how to make it work and we all have our own different experience with it.
Re: How to Promote Your Business Online - Thanks for the list ZekeLL , I use many of these ways to promote my online business and am looking into using more of them. I also use Article Marketing, Social Networking and Blogging which I find a very good way to get traffic to my site and also gain valuable backlinks. Take care, Carol
Re: Marketing 2012 - [quote="drdony":2y0daolc]I am interested in what works for you in 2012, Social Networking, Search Engine traffic, Blogs, Articles, Forums, what? This is a quote from a 2009 Topic "Twitter, Social Networking, What is your Method? From my experience, social networking traffic (Twitter included) also converts at a far lower rate than search engine traffic. Evan Is this still true, or do you use something that gives us better returns and conversions[/quote:2y0daolc] Great question Don! I'll create a video reply!


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