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Online networks are all about making connections where none existed previously. They are for people to share interests and activities, and interact via chat, e-mail, file sharing, blogging, discussion groups and more! Facebook, Bebo and MySpace are among the most commonly used Online social networks.
Since social networks connect people at minimal cost, they are a great medium for entrepreneurs and small businesses to expand their contact base. Not only do companies use social networking sites as customer relationship management tools to sell their products and services, they also use social networks for advertising in the form of banners and text ads. Social networking websites are great for connecting otherwise fragmented industries and small organizations without the resources to reach a broader audience with interested and passionate users.
So, from cut and paste pitches and PR reps to industry associates and messages from companies trying to promote their own message, Social network services are increasingly being used. A single mention/link or an endorsement to the network of an enthusiastic social networker can no doubt send traffic and offer a signal to search engines. However, using bookmarking, posting, news submission or other means can mean a boost in credibility by association as well as links from multiple bloggers that see it.
Pitching useful stories and link requests to social networking websites is likely worth far more than a mention and a link in a single blog post. Building offline business networks not only consumes a great deal of time and energy, but a lot of money too. Social networks prove helpful only as long as the information and links being shared are valuable to the community. Otherwise, sharing information and resources that don’t really offer value will only alienate network members.
Your best bet for great and relevant content to show up on social media and networking websites is to build your own network and then share relevant content that interests one and all. Also, it should be easier for users looking for your content to locate you on search to share. If the content is useful, you should be looking for more than a mere mention or a link.
In terms of online publicity, you need to have a good reason for not leveraging the power of social networks. Depending on the quality of the post, the right article can really fly much further by becoming a true viral piece. Anyone creating a social tagging campaign must understand that it has to be interesting, sassy, maybe a little quirky, appeal to different people at different levels and contain an implicit rather than explicit marketing message.
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