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Social media builds business, creates a trusted community

Written by: Joni Hubred-Golden

Article Overview: Social media networks can help build your business, but they also provide you with a trusted community of people with whom you can share the details of your life. They are the "community newspapers" of our time.

Social media builds business, creates a trusted community

According to a recent survey, activity on social media networks has grown by 93 percent since 2006. Think about that for a minute. Two years ago, did you know what Facebook was? Or MySpace? Now both those companies report activity increases of more than 60 percent, mostly among that precious 18-29 year old demographic. (Promo Magazine, "Social Networks the ‘Movies’ of the ’09 Downturn: Netpop", January 6 2009) Apparently, they're still buying stuff, while us older folks revert to our parents' Depression-era habits as we try to shore up our retirement accounts.

Social media has spawned a whole new paradigm for the business world, but I believe its phenomenal growth can be directly attributed to the human factor. In just the past few days, I have reconnected with two friends from high school I haven't heard from in 20 years, and another whose name and phone number I lost when I moved to Michigan 10 years ago. Facebook put me in touch with a friend I stopped talking to a few years ago for reasons I can no longer recall, and it keeps me in touch with people all over the country, whom I love but never have the time to visit.

The short version of Facebook (and MySpace, for that matter) is this: Every time I post a thought, an activity, photos, video, event or any item that interests me, all of my friends are notified. Now, generally speaking, I don't spend a whole lot of time reading every activity of every friend on my list. But quite often I learn something I really should know, like how to support a friend who's doing the Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk or that another friend is dealing with a serious illness.

It's the same kind of thing small town newspapers did, in their very earliest days. In way-back issues of my community newspaper, pages are filled with highly personal details about people's lives and activities, from news of which families were affected by a flu epidemic to the list of books due back at the library. When a couple divorced, the details of their marital strife ended up in print.

The newspaper from my hometown in Minnesota (population 672 in 2000) continues to publish "local news" from correspondents who share news about birthdays and anniversaries, parties and events, even social visits and who attended a local funeral. It's probably the best-read part of the newspaper. In larger communities, of course, people are reluctant to share those details, because it simply isn't safe. But on a Facebook page, we can confide in people we trust, the way folks in a small town trust their neighbors and friends. We choose who sees what information we share. So a university student I know felt safe enough to share her family's story of serious illness, job loss and homelessness. They now have a place to stay and are working their way back to self-sufficiency, thanks to fundraisers, gifts and donations from Facebook friends. Another Facebook friend has kept us posted about her cancer diagnosis and treatment with occasional notes.

It's easy to get started: You just create an account with your name and e-mail address, then start looking for people you know. Most of these sites make that pretty easy, with e-mail address searches and contact importing tools. But you can also just search for a name, which is what my friend Peggy did to reconnect us after more than 10 years. Your profile shares as much or as little information as you wish, and with everyone or only the people you choose. You can create a "fan" page for your business, set up a group to find people who share a passion for your product lines. A community will grow around you, the way people used to build their homes around a central business district.

Whatever your level of involvement, social media can open doors for you and can revolutionize your business. But it is the human side of these communities I have come to value most.

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Article Tags: activity photos, breast cancer, business world, downturn, facebook, flu epidemic, january 6, list of books, marital strife, media networks, myspace, new paradigm, phenomenal growth, promo magazine, social networks, survey activity, town newspapers, two friends, video event, whole lot



Related Forum Posts
Re: I thought social sites were a waste of time. How wrong I was - According to my point of view Social media sites play vital role in online promotion. You can interact with your customer and improve your services and even you can spread your business everywhere through social media sites. Now days people use social media sites to interact with their friends, family and everyone. Below are the famous Social media sites: 1. Facebook 2. Twitter 3. LinkedIn 4. Myspace 5. Google+
Re: Marketing 2.0 - What Are Your Thoughts - [quote="TannyL":qu03cck6]Hi Shri, Thanks for posting this. I also read it and I believe Social Media is here to stay, until the next best thing comes up. Social media proved to be useful for me many times and I think everyone should use it for their business.[/quote:qu03cck6] Hi Tanny, Could you give us a couple of examples of how you leverage the benefits of social media?
Re: Marketing 2.0 - What Are Your Thoughts - Hi Shri, Thanks for posting this. I also read it and I believe Social Media is here to stay, until the next best thing comes up. Social media proved to be useful for me many times and I think everyone should use it for their business.
Re: From $0.30 to $300 / Day on Google AdSense Part 1 - How To M - Hi David - traditionally social media traffic does not convert very well. Search engine traffic is by far and away the best kind of traffic you can get because they are specifically searching for an answer to a problem. Social media traffic are just browsing out of curiosity and usually don`t click through on ads. Social media traffic, however, typically leads to more links to your articles (from bloggers, website owners, forum members, etc) which then in turn boosts your rankings in the search engines. More will come on the AdSense topic in the coming weeks!
Re: Social networking rules and etiquette - Social media is there to communicate, so use it to do that. The best strategy is to do this in a way which adds value for others. Of course you should be aware that what you say is usually completely public, so don't share what you don't want in the public. I keep use of social media for personal and business separate.


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