Social Networking for Business…Yes, I said BUSINESS!

Recently, walking through Barnes and Noble, I came across a new book shelf. It was an entire section of Social Networking books from How to Start – to How to Improve business using Social Networking.

Let me start off by saying that I wasn’t surprised, we’ve been using social sites for years, and all of our most successful clients have been using sites like Facebook and LinkedIn for quite sometime now. The thing that surprised me was the fact that we still have clients, TODAY, that insist on not using the power of social networking. I’ve included a couple of pictures to bring some validity to this article. As you can see, Social Networking is not only here to stay, it’s about to take over. And if you don’t get a handle on it now, you will get left in the dust!

Social Shelf Photos

The above photo is a picture of an entire shelf that is right up front in the door way. The picture below shows the shelf devoted to this new Business Marketing section at our local Barnes and Noble.

It’s plain to see that people are asking questions… They want to know how to get in the game, so to speak. And that’s great! But, just keep in mind that many of these books are useless. Yes, useless… Unless you actually do what they say to do. Social networking isn’t a build-it and forget it type of deal – it’s a constantly changing environment that even I, a web design and marketing expert, have trouble keeping up with.

Social Marketing Tips

First off, nothing is free. If you want to be successful it takes time or money, and usually both! Hire an expert who can get you up and running quickly. Get a handy all-in-one tool, like TweekDeck, so you can stay on top of all your mentions, friends, and posts easily – without having to login to 10 sites everyday!

I must admit, I am amazed when I hear business owners (even my very own clients, God bless ‘em!)  in today’s marketplace actually refusing to get social. Maybe this will bring them around, or maybe it has encouraged you? Whatever the case, it’s pretty clear… Social Marketing is here to stay and it’s not going to get any easier from here on out! So, what are you waiting for, go GET SOCIAL!

Here’s some of our favorite Social Sites for Business:

• Facebook: facebook.com
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com
• Twitter: twitter.com

Yes, there are others. But these are the first to get a handle on…

In the next few weeks, we’ll cover more of the “How” and not so much the “Why” – I think we all got a clear picture of “Why” in this post. It’s absolutely crucial, no matter what type of business you’re running.

Until next time! – Thanks for reading.