Small business executives are experts at hyper-tasking. While it’s great to be your own boss, you have customers to keep happy and vendors to pay, which can leave little time to be strategic, uncover new leads and grow your business. Social networking sites are great for reconnecting with old contacts, but that doesn’t translate into time well spent – especially if you’re connecting to the same people across multiple sites. Here are three tips to get the most out of your online networks:
1. Make sure the site you choose offers sales opportunities.
• A lot of sites are designed to help job seekers. Instead, look for a site with actionable sales leads such as Government Contracts, and learn how to position your business for contracting opportunities with the Federal Government. Some sites have new leads every day, so it’s worth scheduling 10 minutes each day to see what’s new. That time could translate into a new agreement worth thousands – or more!
2. Determine whether you’ll learn something from the site, such as how to more effectively market your products/services and website.
• The focus of marketing is people. If you're concentrating efforts on your product/service or profit only, you'll miss the mark. Learn to "target market" the right group of people for all your marketing efforts. The more statistics you have about that market, the more precisely you can develop an effective marketing strategy.
3. Can you augment your site with links to forums, photos, audio and video?
• There are lots of ways to grow your business, but in this visual, viral age, anything that can give you an edge over the competition is worth it. For example, consumers are interested in working with companies who are going green. If you’re using environmentally friendly methods to run your business, grab your camcorder and create a video short to post online.
Top Three Tips to Make the Most Out of Online Social Networks - To learn more about this author, visit Howard Keating's Website.
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Howard Keating
(Visit Howard's Website)
Anne Cron is with ZANA Network, whose goal
is to continuously provide members with a
comprehensive package of products and
services that enables them to acquire the
essential business tools and global
marketing information they need to advance
their companies and concepts on a local,
national and international level. We aim
to create a highly effective community
that shares and grows together, and where
our individual and collective voices can
be heard for the benefit of small and
medium businesses everywhere. Visit www.zananetwor
k.com today to learn more!
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