Social Media as Business Networks

With respect to Social Media as business networking, the following are the major social media business networking sites:

AdGabber (http://www.adgabber.com)
LinkedIn (http://www.linkedin.com)
Plaxo (http://www.plaxo.com)
Spock (http://www.spock.com)
Jigsaw (http://www.jigsaw.com)

Unlike MySpace, Facebook, and other personal Social Media sites, the above sites are set up to be business-oriented. It should be noted that one can use Facebook for business solutions. Visit http://www.insidefacebook.com to learn how to incorporate Facebook into your marketing program.

The following are some examples on using Social Media for business applications:

• Develop focused target list by using search capabilities of LinkedIn
• Use contact tools in Jigsaw
• Use Facebook to build a group around a new product or service you want to launch. This is a good way of beta testing and getting feedback.

So how do I start:

• Select a professional network
• Create a presence on that network
• Invite a few colleagues to join
• Ask colleagues what networks they belong to and join them.

Always remember, when it comes to Social Media, active participation is a requirement.

As you become more active in Social Media networks always remember that they are a means to an end not an end in themselves. You should always be guided by the following:

• Developing a presence to extend your brand
• Reaching out to potential employees
• Gathering feed back about your products and services
• Building a sales prospect profile

Please share with us other Social Media business networks that you use and how you use them.