Archive for August, 2011

Social Media Beyond Making Friends: How It Can Be Used For Other Applications

Most people associate social networking mediums as effective methods of keeping in contact with friends. This is true, but there is a business approach that should not be missed. Keeping in contact with friends and staying in touch with your target audience have something in common: communication.

 

Social networks such as Facebook and Twitter should not be overlooked for the wonderful opportunities that they have to offer businesses around the globe. Fan pages can be created for both the company and all separate products and/or services the business provides, which allows people to “like” them or become fans. When this happens, then it will show up on that person’s profile, available to be viewed by any one of their friends. Then that friend clicks on the link that leads to the product or company, they “like” the link and the cycle continues. Not only is this the ultimate in audience exposure, but setting up fan pages and profile pages is completely free, and what business does not like free advertising?

 

Fan pages can also be turned into groups of their own, all joined together by a common interest. This will give the fans a chance to discuss their interests with others of the same vein, to share news, opinions and other kinds of information all dealing with the shared interest. Hollywood is using this to good effect with movies getting a fan page while they are still in production. Popular music bands are doing the same thing, posting updates on albums, tours and anything else that they are involved in. Not to mention there isn’t a serious successful actor, writer, artist, producer, director, reporter or TV host that doesn’t have their own fan page in order to recruit followers, and to keep their followers informed as to what is going on in their lives and their careers.

 

Events can be arranged on social media and invitations can even be sent out to all the members of a group or fan page. These can be set up around fan pages to certain ideas or events, or an events page can be made to advertise the occurrence, to invite people to the event, and to keep track of whoever will be attending, who will not be attending and even those that remain undecided well past the day of the event that they missed anyway.

 

Social networking is connecting friends, fans, performers, businesses, products, movies, songs and any other aspect of our social and economical lives. In short, it’s entertaining, it’s informative, it’s an extremely useful tool and it’s here to stay.

 

Posted by admin on August 26th, 2011 | Email | Print |

Business of Social Networking: How It Works and Where to Go With Your Idea

Every successful business knows that in order to become profitable, you have to be in constant communication with your audience or else your ship is going to sink, so to speak. Previously, this was accomplished in the form of advertising, be it television, magazine, newspapers, etc.

 

Then came the internet.

 

Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter get thousands of visitors a day – sometimes millions – and businesses as a whole want a piece of that social pie. These sites literally provide global exposure, they constantly have people logged on, they are also available in mobile formats, the vast majority of consumers know how to operate these sites and do so willingly, and the best feature of all is that businesses can advertise for free.

 

Whereas advertising can be purchased for social networking sites, all a business has to do is create an account or fan page on one of these social sites, and from then on keep constantly updating their page, and they have achieved free communication with consumers across the entire globe. This is a form of advertising that no print or televised media could even come near let alone equal.

 

The days of a black and white advertisement playing before a movie are over. Social networking brings the up to date information about products, services and businesses to an endless array of consumers for far cheaper and far easier than any medium before it ever could, and it is doing it for free. This means that businesses are getting the word out about what they are doing and what they are planning for the future, and they don’t have to pay for this information to get into the hands of their customers. It’s almost like the company will be receiving maximum income for little to no expense. It’s a business model that practically cannot be beat, which means the small businesses now have a chance to compete with the major corporations. Social media does not care how big your business is, you have an equal chance of attracting followers as any other business. The difference now is in how pretty you dress up your fan page.

 

When you design your page, make sure your product or service looks as appealing as you can. That way, when customers view your page, they will “like” what you have done, and this will appear on their page. Now, whenever someone views their page, they will see that this person “likes” your product or service and will check it out themselves. They will “like” it, and then all of their friends can see it, and so on. It’s a continuous cycle of free advertising and exposure that could help boost businesses into profit margins that they ordinarily would not be able to achieve given more traditional forms of advertising.

 

The days of spending thousands even millions of dollars on print advertising are soon to reach a demise. It is time for free social media advertising to take the reins in the world of business.

 

Posted by admin on August 16th, 2011 | Email | Print |

Features of an Effective Social Networking Site

Facebook has become the world’s leading social networking phenomenon. When Egypt’s King Hosni Mubarak was ousted from power in February of 2011, protestors said that Facebook helped make it possible for their cause to receive worldwide attention. This is the kind of power one social networking site can yield. The ideas, hopes and dreams of the protestors were carried over the internet via Facebook into the hands of people that could make a difference, in this case the press, other governments, military, etc.

 

The Mubarak situation is an extreme example – but a good one – of the power of social media. The world paid little attention to Egypt hearing nothing of their troubles until it was released on Facebook. This can happen again, hopefully not to oust a criminal regime, but for more positive effects.

 

Imagine if the power of social media were wielded for a different cause. A new start-up business could receive worldwide attention using nothing more than Facebook. Such a business could purchase advertising space along the right hand column and then distribute their product to approximately 500 Facebook users at random and then sit back and watch the dominoes fall into place.

 

There is no guarantee this business strategy would work, but then again, no one thought the protestors in Egypt would get anywhere when they started complaining about their governance on facebook either.

 

To increase your exposure through social media, the first thing you need to do is “like” as many similar concepts to your own product as you can. When people traverse the site of something you have “liked,” they will see a list of people to the left of the page. If you have clicked the “like” button, there is a chance they will see your business there. Once curiosity sets in, that person will click your link and will be on your page then, and from there, you let your site sell your business, product, service or whatever it is you are peddling.

 

Another thing that will help your site is to get well-known people to “like” your group. If a famous celebrity shows up as a follower of your site, this could lead other people to your site to get an idea what it is their favorite celebrity is endorsing on social media.

 

You may also want to have a catchy name across the top of your site, something people can remember easily, along with big pictures of attractive people having a good time, possibly with any one of them holding your product. It may seem clichéd, but it works. Selling is a visual experience, and customers remember what they see more than what they read about your product or service.

 

Posted by admin on August 12th, 2011 | Email | Print |

Facebook Page or Fan Profile Page – Which is Better?

Facebook, the social networking phenomenon, has proven its strength and dominance over the internet channels, and a part of that strength is the many varied uses for Facebook’s platform. Just about everyone in the free world has a personal profile page. Given the popularity of Facebook and the ease of making a page, many people and businesses as well have taken to creating fan pages as a way of increasing their exposure to their target audience.

 

Profile pages are mostly self-explanatory. Each page is devoted to its owner, featuring a picture, a summary of their friends and family in the left hand column, and the main body of the profile listing their updates over the past few days and any activity they may have had in either the Facebook games that they play or comments they had made on their friends’ profiles. The right hand column contains advertisements, friend suggestions for them and a list of anyone they may have “poked” or that has done the same to them. The top of the personal profile lists the pertinent information about that person: birthplace, the town they live in, the school they graduated from, their current employer, marital status, etc. This information gives the reader a decent idea what the person is like and what values they hold dear, including favorite movies, books, religious standing, and many other things the person “likes” and follows in their spare time.

 

Fan pages serve a different purpose. These pages exist to pay homage to an idea, concept, band, movie, book, role-playing game or some other form of entertainment that will have a throng of followers. The pertinent personal information is absent here, but instead readers are met with quick information about the subject matter, testimonials offered from fans and links to events that have to do with the subject matter, to name a few. Fan pages teach the reader just about as much about the subject matter as profile pages do about the person, but fan pages tend to lack that personal touch. It’s true that fan pages are made and moderated by those that hold the subject matter dear to their heart.

 

The love these people feel for the subject matter can sometimes seem to be dripping off the sides of the fan page with the heartfelt words they have to say about the subject in general, but these pages are designed as gathering grounds for those that share a love for the same idea. It lacks the introduction qualities of a personal profile page. Readers don’t get to know the subject matter in a fan page like they get to know a person in a profile page; fan pages are to introduce the reader to the subject matter and let the reader browse things written by fans of the material.

 

Posted by admin on August 5th, 2011 | Email | Print |