Strategies: Which social networking site is best for your small business?
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In the olden days – say five years ago – it was enough for a small business to market its services with advertising and public relations.
But in the last few years, an avalanche of new opportunities has cascaded on the Internet in the form of social networking sites.
These sites give entrepreneurs more opportunities to get the word out about their companies, but they've also made many of us feel overwhelmed, trying to keep up. What's a small business person to do? Do you really have to be Tweeting all day?
For the uninitiated or under-initiated, I'm here to help. First, recognize the advantages and limitations of social networking sites.
Advantages:
• Connect with lots of new people, just as with real-life networking.
• Get the word out without an intermediary, such as a pesky reporter or columnist!
• Establish yourself as an expert in a field.
• Stay on top of your field and your competitors.
• Connect with your own customers.
Limitations:
• Can consume a huge amount of time.
• Most connections will never convert to paying clients or customers.
• A zillion of your competitors are out there.
Managing your social networking visibility can be a full-time job – in fact, many companies employ people just to be doing that. But you have a business to run.
So here's Rhonda's handy-dandy field guide to social networking sites as they relate to your small business.
Twitter. Twitter's the Internet darling of the moment, allowing users to send very short messages (limited to 140 characters) known as "tweets." You could choose to 'follow' me by searching for Rhonda Abrams. (Twitter doesn't allow spaces so my Twitter name is RhondaAbrams). I "tweet" about things I think small business people would find interesting or sometimes amusing. This enables you to get more of Rhonda Abrams (you do want more, don't you?) than you can from just my weekly column.
