Social media networking is about reaching out to the world socially using the Internet and using this to help sell your products or services.  Think of it as being in a big crowd of people, every single day, waving , and handing out your business cards and resume because that is virtually what you’re doing.

Until recently, businesses using the Internet for marketing focused on their websites because that was their virtual storefront.  Much effort was put into making sure that websites looked amazing and ranked highly in the search engines using techniques that I’ll discuss in another post.  But, once a website is created, it usually tends to stagnate online, content unchanged, for months and months and sometimes even years, and with millions of websites being created and added to the Internet each and every day, even when every search engine optimization trick in the book is put into play, the sad fact is that not every website can possibly rank on the first page of a search engine.

So the challenge becomes how to reach people online when websites have become a bit of a yawn.  That’s where social media networking comes in. 

Blogs and Twitter are two of the most popular social media networking opportunities available.

A blog is simple to create.  There are many different blog host sites available.  WordPress and Blogspot are two of the most popular.  WordPress offers two options – using a blog on their servers on http://www.wordpress.com/ or adding a blog to your own website using their software available on http://www.wordpress.org/.   Blogspot can be found at http://www.blogspot.com.  A blog is easy to set up using wizards provided by the blog hosts and it is similar to a website in appearance and has a URL just like a website.  The big difference is that a webmaster doesn’t need to get involved to update a blog.  Anyone can update a blog.  Updating a blog is no more difficult than creating a Word doc or writing an email.  Blogs give us a forum to pass on our views, our knowledge, and our experiences to the world.  Using keyword tags and categories, the content of a blog is identified so that others can find it and read it.  Leaving comments on someone else’s blog will usually link back to your blog and vice versa, and can be an excellent way to increase traffic and your web profile.  For blogs to work well as a social media networking tool, they should be updated regularly.  Link your blog to your website and link your website back to your blog to help people find out about you and your business.

Twitter is a social media networking opportunity that is growing in leaps and bounds.  It can be found here:  http://www.twitter.com.  On the surface, Twitter might seem a bit pointless.  Members communicate with each other using messages called tweets that can’t exceed 140 characters which just happens to be about the same length as cell phone text messages.  This is probably no coincidence as members can update their Twitter status using cell phones and other handheld devices.  But, in that 140 characters, people can tell their followers about what they’re doing – be it a work-related task or just relaxing beside the pool, and they can pass on links to their latest blog posts, their new website, their e-book downloads, something interesting they read about online, etc.  It’s about making connections with people and showing them that you’re an expert in your field by sharing your knowledge.  Your website and blog information can be included in your Twitter profile.  When you sign up on Twitter, you pick other Twitter members to follow.  Similarly other Twitter members can opt to follow you.  Some Twitter members are following thousands of people and have thousands of followers.  If you follow someone, you see their tweets.  If they follow you, they see your tweets.

There are many other social media networking sites and opportunities available and the list is constantly growing.  Social media networking is all about web presence – positive web presence, and it all fits together.  Think of every blog post, every comment, and every Tweet that you make as virtual breadcrumbs all leading back to you and  your business, and the best part is that most, if not all, social media networking opportunities are free!

Social media networking is also about learning opportunities, not just the marketing opportunities.  For example Tweets (Twitter messages) are often filled with links to blogs and websites discussing the latest technical gadgets and software, or free e-books.  There is a blog out there on any topic you’d care to read about. 

Websites are still important.  Websites still play a role as a virtual storefront, and once social media networking tactics have been successfully employed, people will usually end up on the website to gather information and hopefully purchase a business’ products or services. 

So ladies and gentlemen, that ends our lesson on Social Media Networking 101. 

Think I’m going to tweet to my Twitter followers about my new blog post…

I’m really excited to be able to introduce the whole world to my brand new blog called E-vantages for Business!  In this blog I’m going to tell you all about some of the amazing tools and opportunities available to bring the world to the virtual doorstep of your business, using the Internet. I plan to cover topics like social media networking, blogs, do’s and don’ts for websites, Twitter, RSS feeds, alerts, web presence versus websites, and much much more!  Marketing a business is a whole new adventure, but the best part is that most, if not all, of the things I’ll be telling you about are a-b-s-o-l-u-t-e-l-y free!!!!  Also, I’m going to point you in the direction of some really terrific online resources to help you in the office.  And, of course, I would be negligent if I didn’t also tell you, from time to time, about the joys (and advantages) of working with a virtual assistant, too!

Be sure to check out the links to my business – E-vantage Business Services, and to my other blog – E-sense.