Not just kid stuff: social networking for business

Online networking isn’t just for the high school and college kids anymore. In the past few years, online networking has become one of the best, easiest and cheapest ways to get noticed on the web. Websites like Linked In, Facebook, Myspace and various online forums are becoming serious assets to businesses and people trying to gain more recognition and reach a larger audience among groups they may not have had such access to in the traditional world of networking.

These networking sites can be just as harmful as they are helpful though. Remember, your page is your first impression and just about anyone using a search engine can stumble onto your page. Supposing that you are on one of these sites to boost your professional/business image and gain useful contacts and clients there are definitely a lot of things that your teenager does and has on their profile that yours should definitely not.

Here are some suggestions for how to create a successful professional page:

• A picture is worth a thousand words: This is the first thing people look at when they go to your page. Your page is supposed to be professional so keep it that way. Leave the pictures of you chugging beers at the family barbeque in the scrapbook and opt for a few professional photographs.
• Make yourself accessible: On many of these sites, there are options that block people from seeing your profile unless you are “friends” with them. If you are promoting yourself, you do not want people to have to wait until you accept them as a friend to see your page, the longer they wait the more interest they’ll lose. Keep it public.
• Background check: Let people know what you’re about. You can include some personal information that gives insight about you but don’t overdo it. Share personal information that will increase your credibility. Explain more about your business and include other contact information incase someone is interested in you.
• Comments are a great way to keep in touch with contacts. Don’t be fooled by the seemingly casual nature of “comment walls” as they are called. Be friendly, but not too friendly, offensive or sloppy in your posts.
• Application vacation: Many sites allow you to add fun little applications to your page. While some of these might be fun and useful in maintaining relationships with other users, don’t bog down your page with every single application request that comes your way. You are also notified when someone sends you something and you have the option to accept it to your page or deny it. Use your better judgment when choosing to allow applications to post.
• Feed me: Some of these sites have news feeds that tell you what your friends have been up to on the website and tell your friends what you have been up to. Ere on the side of caution and don’t do something on the site that could potentially upset someone. If you want to tell someone something that you don’t necessarily want your entire friend community to know, send them a private message.

Keep in mind that not all of these sites may be right for you. There are networking sites that are completely professional and specialized for your industry as well as generic ones that include a diverse community of people with different lifestyles. Research the ones you are interested and think might be the most beneficial for you. Keep your accounts to a minimum though, it can be difficult to maintain relationships if you have too many profiles to keep up with.

 Are you using social networking sites for your business?  Tell me why or why not.

 And if you are, why not visit me on Facebook?