SOCIAL MEDIA NETWORKING FOR YOUR SMALL BIZ

If you don't have the $$$$$ resources right now to develop a big ad campaign or a Fortune 500-esque public relations promo, don't worry! You can reach thousands of people--make that millions of people-- with news about your small business' products and services by taking advantage of the various social media sites out there. There is no cost to join, promote, make connections and direct people to your website. There are so many options available. We are going to review the most popular:

TWITTER (twitter.com)

Start your own pr campaign promoting your products & services by sending out blurbs on yourself, your first small business, etc. in 140 characters or less. Log on, choose a user name & password and start "tweeting" Guy Kawasaki recommends that it is important to add "value" to the twitter-verse in order to pick up a lot of "followers", so be careful to tweet about interesting items/events/statistics, etc. In other words, don't only focus on your small business promotion. However, you will see that many use Twitter as their form of "performance art", or use it to promote their products/services, and others use it to fulfill their ego with tweets all about themselves. Sign up, add a photo, bring something to the twitter table, and you will develop a following! Every now and then pop something in about your small business.
Our twitter name is: smallbizstartup

LINKEDIN (www.LinkedIn.com)

The site says: "LinkedIn is an online network of more than 15 million experienced professionals from around the world, representing 150 industries." Join and write up a profile of yourself--include a photo, add your business website. You could reach potential buyers, investors and future partners through this social networking site.

MYSPACE (www.myspace.com)

The music industry uses this site to market their products to a worldwide audience. IF you have something to offer to the demographic of myspace.com, then, by all means, get an account, create a nice page, and start promoting. It's free! You can add a nice template at no charge from sites like nuclearenergy.com, so check it out. Check back frequently to see who wants to request to add you as a "friend"--follow lots of people, they'll follow back. A MySpace Page we really love was created to promote Phoebe Legere's New York Underground Museum:
www.myspace.com/newyorkundergroundmuseum

FACEBOOK (www.facebook.com)

This is a social networking site that is much less professionally oriented than LinkedIn. But most people who advocate using social media as a free way to "get the word out" about a product/service, etc. use Facebook as well as the other sites mentioned here. It becomes a "six degrees of separation" type game to see how many friends are added each week, who knows who, who is speaking to whom, and what they are doing. Most of the postings are personal, "I ate a banana and went to school" or "I'm not watching TV tonight, I'm playing poker," etc. However, you can develop quite a network through Facebook, so check it out.