Hi everyone, I am happy to post my first ever guest post. Have fun reading it and let me know how you feel about post.
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The Business Face of Social Media
I’m among the millions of people who have accounts on Facebook and MySpace, but I use these social networking sites for social purposes alone. But there are others who have leveraged the huge popularity of these sites to augment their business prospects and gain larger profits or a higher amount of exposure. If you’re wondering whether you need to establish an online presence and if social media will help you, here are a few tips that will help you decide. Social media works well:
- When your company needs more positive exposure: It pays to have a profile on social networking sites or on the Internet when you want people to know more about your products, services and the kind of progress you’re making. It’s a convenient and relatively inexpensive way to keep people abreast of all the latest innovations and developments at your company and also a way to let clients communicate with you and provide feedback.
- When your products are technically sophisticated: Products and services that require some kind of information for their use are best marketed with podcasts and ebooks that can be downloaded by customers from your site. Most products come with guides that offer only information related to basic set up and usage. Podcasts, ebooks and PDF downloads are for those who want more than just the basics – they must include all the advanced operational features and instructions for their use.
- When you need to know what people are saying about you: The Internet is a hotbed where news, especially when it’s bad, spreads like wildfire. If your customers are saying negative things about you, you want to make sure that you hear about it first. If you have your own website or a forum, you could take steps to rectify the situation and turn it around to your advantage.
- When companies similar to yours have used social media to their advantage: If your competition has used social media successfully to boost their image and increase sales, it’s time you explored the possibility too. It’s not a question of aping what they’re doing; it’s more the fact that you cannot afford to be left behind when there’s such a rat race for profits.
- When you’re open to new ideas: If you’re still stuck with old-fashioned notions of how a business should operate, the web may not be the right place for you. But that’s no reason to eschew the new way of doing things, so it’s best to find yourself a young team that’s web savvy and join the Internet and social media bandwagon at the earliest.
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This post was contributed by Kelly Kilpatrick, who writes on the subject of teaching certification. She invites your feedback at kellykilpatrick24 at gmail dot com
