Why Facebook and LinkedIn are
Good for Your Business

 

Have you been hearing all of the buzz about social networking?

Feeling confused?  Don’t worry, you’re not alone.  The great

news is that it isn’t as complicated or time consuming as it

may seem.  Plus, it’s more than just social; it’s good for your

business to get involved.

 

The list of social networking sites is long and growing.  I

don’t want to overwhelm you so I’m only going to focus on two

that are particularly suited for you as a business owner,

Facebook.com and LinkedIn.com.

 

So why should you care?  What’s the big deal?  Well, here are

just a few reasons to enter the social networking realm:

 

* Gain exposure for your business that may lead to new clients

or projects

 

* Increase the credibility of your business (give and receive

recommendations on LinkedIn, post messages on friend’s pages on

Facebook)

 

* Be connected to the people in your network in one location

(OK, two if you’re on both Facebook and LinkedIn)

 

* Re-connect with business contacts you’ve lost touch with

(sometimes they find you, sometime you discover them)

 

* Meet new people and expand your business network (meet your

friend’s friends that you otherwise wouldn’t meet)

 

Here’s a quick overview of them (both are gratis and LinkedIn

offers paid upgrade options).

 

Facebook:

 

- Informal and more social than business focused (this doesn’t

mean it’s not good for your business)

 

- Almost 100 million members (according to Wikipedia)

 

- Anyone can ask you to be ‘friends’ (you don’t have to accept)

and you can ask anyone to be friends (they don’t have to accept

either)

 

- It is possible to share photos, videos, and add applications

 

- You can join groups within the network that interest you (or

make your own group)

 

LinkedIn:

 

- Business focused

 

- 19 million members (according to Wikipedia)

 

- You can only invite people you know (people whose e-mail

addresses you have) and vice versa.

 

- It is not possible to share photos and video (only your own

profile photo)

 

- You can join groups within the network that interest you

 

To get started you just have to go to the website, sign up and

follow the directions to create a profile.  Because LinkedIn is

mainly for business it is professional and the profile area is

quite structured which makes it easy to follow.

 

Facebook is another story, although it does have a structured

profile area, there are loads of additional features you can

add to your page.  When you join for business reasons be

careful not to make your page too busy or too personal.  You

can be yourself and share your interests, just don’t reveal

anything you wouldn’t feel comfortable sharing with a group at

an in-person networking meeting. 

 

When your profiles are finished you can start asking people to

connect.  The process is different for LinkedIn and Facebook

but both are pretty straightforward.  LinkedIn has a ‘Help/FAQ’

section on the website and Facebook has a ‘Help’ area as well

(bottom right hand corner of the page).

 

You will learn more as you go, so just go ahead and get

started.  And as you meet new people you can ask them to join

you on your networks.  Networking, off-line or on-line, is

about building relationships over time.  So give first when

possible, be yourself, and have fun with it.

 

The benefits of social networking for business owners are

clear.  You will be able to meet new people, build

relationships with your network, improve visibility for your

company, and discover new opportunities for more business.  But

that’s not all, it’s fun too.  So why not get started and join

the world of social networking today. 

 

© Stephanie Ward, 2008

 

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