Watch out, forty-somethings. The new generation of business builders has come across a new marketing tool, and they’ve found it in the likes of social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook. If you’re a young person looking to market a new idea, product, or service and want to get the word out, you can use these tools to make contacts that will not only draw attention to your business’s Web site, but will also bring in “residual” contacts. Read below for tips on how to get started.
First, make sure that your MySpace or Facebook business page mirrors your business Web site’s themes. Of course, you can’t actually conduct business on your social networking page, so make your blog a representation of your company, rather than a selling source. Create a logo, motto, and color scheme that can be used for both your real Web site and your MySpace/Facebook business page(s) so that visitors can learn to recognize your brand. This will further legitimize your online presence, which is crucial for the survival of any online business.
Next, don’t be afraid to go modern with your MySpace or Facebook page, even if it does represent a serious business for you. While you should be aware of what pictures, comments, and phrases are completely inappropriate and have no place on your business blog, you can play with colors and backgrounds just a bit. It doesn’t have to be plain and boring. Make your page fun to visit. Add a song and a video clip to liven things up and keep visitors coming back. While you may sign up solely for the purpose of business networking, you have to give others a reason to actually want you on their friends list. Most MySpace and Facebook users are younger (in their twenties and thirties), so appeal to their tastes and interests in order to create a loyal following.
Next, start building your friends list and get your name out there on every single profile possible. Never assume that anyone will just find your business blog on their own. Make a high number of targeted friend requests every day and only make those requests, at first, to those who will add to the professionalism of your blog and will introduce you to other potential customers/readers. In other words, if you are selling ebooks on business finance, do a quick search for business women and men. After you have a good arsenal of targeted friends (at least 30), you can start building your list with reckless abandon. Be sure to visit your targeted friends’ pages for your referrals rather than randomly clicking profiles. Those are the individuals who will have common interests and backgrounds with your targeted friends, and who will be more likely to add you to their lists. Another tip to keep in mind is to only send friend requests to those who are online at the time. Many people will check a MySpace or Facebook page only once every few weeks, but still others are addicted and check every single day (often several times a day). Increase your chances of acceptance by targeting online users.
Next, follow up on accepted friend requests every single time. Each time you are accepted as a friend or that you accept a friend request, place a “thanks for the add” comment on your new friend’s profile page. Why? Because you aren’t likely to be at the top of any friend lists as a business blog, meaning you won’t be visible to visitors on your friends’ pages unless they just happen to check out the “all friends” link. If you leave a comment, however, all new visitors will see your name for quite some time on that profile. Keep it short and professional, and be sure to include your entire business name in the message.
Next, be a “real” friend. Don’t just leave one “thanks for the add” comment” and be done with it. Leave a real compliment or a greeting every once in a while (once a month per profile is more than enough). Comment on their blogs or updates to their pages. They will often return the favor. This, again, will further legitimize your online presence. When new visitors to your page see favorable comments about you, they will be more likely to trust you and your business.
Next, create a way to capture the email addresses of your MySpace or Facebook page visitors. Most social networking sites will allow you to copy code for a sign-up form of some sort into your page so that visitors to your blog can sign up for a newsletter, report, ebook, etc, that you are offering. Do be sure that you clearly state what the sign-up form is for and how often you will be contacting your readers. Otherwise, your send-outs can be reported as spam, which can mean the end of your business.
Finally, create search engine-friendly blogs and add their links to Google and other search engines. Write down a few keywords and phrases that your potential customers or readers might type into a search box, and create informational blogs for them. Be sure to add your business name and Web site at the bottom of each blog.
The most important aspect of using social networking sites such as MySpace or Facebook for creating a new business is being able to relate to other users (which is what makes this marketing technique work so well for younger entrepreneurs). You absolutely must give visitors something to come back for. Keep your profile updated, make changes every so often, and be willing to put in the hard work that it takes to make contacts one-by-one. It takes a little time, but with a bit of patience you may find that social networking sites are the future of low-cost marketing for this generation. Likewise Facebook, the account can be created on the Instagram. The person can buy instagram views at reasonable rates for providing the fame to the account.
