You may have heard the term. You have certainly heard something about “MySpace”, “Facebook”, or Twitter. But these silly websites have no bearing on your business right? Wrong! You need to know about these social media sites, and you need to be thinking about how you might use them to build your business.
Forums too are a form of social media. WoodWeb offers a forum, as do most of the trade magazines through their websites. These are pretty direct ways to communicate with your peers in the industry. People in these forums ask questions, get advice, and even find cooperative work through these forums. It is a good way to stay connected to industry trends and network with others.
Which brings us back to the Social Media sites. Networking is the name of the game here. It is hard to quantify the benefits of expanding your network. I know by now, most of you who do not currently use Social Media sites are groaning inwardly; “I don’t have time to be keeping up with yet another website!” But if you target your efforts, and schedule your time properly, you can reap the benfits without undo time spent.
So lets look at the various sites and which might be relevent to your business. The most known site is MySpace. MySpace typically serves a younger community. I don’t post there, since my clients are business owners and woodworkers. Your target market is probably not there either. I do, however, recommend that you register on MySpace, just as a form of insurance. You want to protect your name online, so registering your company, even though you wont be using the site, keeps others from posting in your name. This is good advice even if you never intend to participate in any Social Media.
Facebook became popular in colleges around the country, and has expanded it’s membership over the years to include a great many adults. I have been surprised at how many of my classmate from high school (25 plus years ago) I have found online there. If your customer base is residential and you want to get information out to people in your area, Facebook may well be a good way for you to communicate with them.
Linkedin is a site designed especially for business to business networking. The rules are a bit stricter, but you can search and connect with people inside and outside your industry. I have met people there from IWF, from the trade magazines, AWI and other people I am happy to be in contact with. This is a good place for you to connect if you want to reach professional outside your normal circle.
Spend a few hours this week looking over these sites. At least register and reserve your name so others can’t. See what they offer, and in the next blog, I will discuss strategies for getting the most from them without spending a lot of time. And feel free to connect with me out there. I am on Facebook as Ralph Bagnall, on Linkedin as Consultingwoodworker, and on Twitter as Consultingwood. I would be happy to introduce you around.
