TWEET, TWEET!

THIS LITTLE PIGGY …

THE PRINTS AND THE PAUPER

JACK AND THE [ORGANIC] BEANSTALK

SLEEPING BEAUTY

No, I’m not referring to Michael Jackson’s 1972 hit song, Rockin’ Robin. It’s the topic on the tip of everyone’s tongue [or fingers, as the case may be]. And there are dozens of well-known sites specializing in it: Twitter, MySpace, FaceBook, SalesHQ, LinkedIn, Wombeat, Naymz, Meetup and more. A little birdie told me it was important to utilize these forums. But what’s all the commotion about social networking? What does this mean to my business? Where can I find a coach who can teach me how to tweet?

Went to market his products and services. Before the advent of social networking sites, he had to hire a firm with a fancy name and lots of credentials, pay out tons of money, and wait weeks or months to hear what the target market thought about his concept. If they didn’t like what he spent so much time and money developing, it was back to the drawing board. Interactive internet sites like the ones mentioned above offer every business owner the opportunity to conduct their own research in real time, and have feedback almost spontaneously … with plenty of time to make adjustments before the Big Bad Wolf even knows what’s happening.

Creating elaborate, full-color marketing materials to get your idea out to the general public can cost a fortune. Having to reprint them due to an error or omission can send you to the poorhouse. With an active presence on social networking outlets, you can reduce this to a minimum while still making a huge impact. Save your printing budget for the important stuff. Upgrade the look of your business cards and presentation materials, while using virtual salesmen to get your message out. That’s an idea worth a king’s ransom.

The real beauty of all these online opportunities is that, if you plan your posts wisely, you can continue to interact 24 hours a day, 7 days a week … even while you’re sleeping. People across the country and around the globe run on different schedules than you do, so you never know when someone might stumble across your post, offer a valuable comment, or perhaps buy your product. Now that’s what I call a happy ending.

An internet search on using almost any keyword will generate thousands of results. You can pay for ‘adwords’ to move up on the list, but social networking can provide a similar benefit. When search engines like Google ‘crawl’ the web, they generate ‘organic’ results which appear in the order of relevance. The more you use social networking outlets to spread your message, the higher you are likely to appear. Just plant the seed and watch what happens.

TeamThinkTank.org