3 March 2011

Social Networking – A Magic Trick for Business Promotion

With the passage of time we have witnessed so many changes when it comes to internet. Sometimes it gets hard to decide if these changes are for good or bad or if they have made our lives easier or difficult. Obviously, everything in this world has its own pros and cons. These days we can find innumerable freelancers and designers so establishing yourself as a new designer can get really hard at times. To be honest, marketing yourself is not an easy task. One of the major reasons why people do not opt for proper advertising and marketing is that it is really expensive. But, people are good at finding alternatives and so these designers have also fine one.

Social media is being used worldwide these days for the promotions of businesses. You have two advantages of using social mediums. Firstly, you get to promote your business without having to spend too much. Secondly, you get to socialize with your friends on n off as well. But as said earlier, social medium too has advantages and disadvantages, depending how you utilize the medium. You can make it useful or a big waste of time as well. Much like passing out your business cards, social networking is a great way to get exposure to you, your company, and your brand. A good mail hosting gives a nice impact to your website. This is also a great option for those people or companies who try to gain customers.”

Following tips may help you a lot in using social networking websites or medium in a positive manner:

Focus on the Finishing Line

The reason why people end up wasting time on such social medium is lack of focus. If you are not fully aware of your own objectives, you will end up wasting time on social networking website. Before you make a fan page on Facebook or Twitter, you need to know what you really want from these medium. They can prove to be a great marketing tool only if you know how to utilize it. Simple creating a face should not be considered that your duty here is done. Staying involved is the most important thing.

As a designer, you goal to be on a social networking website should be to increase your clientele. Such websites will also give you a chance to network with other professionals belonging to your field. First thing that you need to do is clear the clutter from your mind and look for the objectives. Without a clear goal, you won’t be able to achieve anything.

Passive Marketing

If you are new to these websites, you should be really careful with your marketing tactics. Some people tend to go over the board with marketing which can prove to be a negative thing. Remember, you can never get successful with aggressive marketing. Since mostly people consider these websites for social networking, they may get turned off with our promotions so you need to find a right path and a right way to promote yourself.

Opt for the Right Sites

Since social networking websites have become so popular, you will find it really hard to choose the right social networking website to promote your business. It is very important to select the right website as you cannot stay active on all of the websites. Staying active on one website can prove to be much more effective than creating fan pages on every other website. You can select two or three good websites and start promoting your business through them. One of the best websites to stay active is “Twitter”. The reason is that every professional designer or potential employee would be on twitter. You can also look for relevant blogs to promote your business as you would be able to find target audience.

Choosing a few but only the right sites is a great decision as trying to stay active on so many websites will be a hard thing to do and you wont be able to manage it all. In the end you won’t be able to promote your business even on a single website properly.

Be Out There and Stay Out There

Your work does not end with a careful and correct selection of websites. You need to stay active on these websites on a constant basis. Being consistent is the key to success in advertising world. Some designer do a good marketing initially but later on they stop working on it. Make sure you have a schedule in which you have allocated good time for social networking and your promotional campaigns.

Also, users are clever enough to differentiate between an active and an active marketer. So, do promote your business occasionally but stay active as a user to keep the other users involved. As a consistent user you will become the part of community and it proves to be really beneficial for your business and for your marketing plans.

Blog Your Way to Business Promotion

Blogging and social media often go hand in hand. If you are an active participant of such activities, you will witness that every blogger has a social account and every social user has a blog. Okay, not every but almost every blogger and user are acting like this. A blog will not only help you in promoting your business but it will also help you in attracting a lot of traffic towards your website. Also, blogs give you a chance to interact with visitors on a more comfortable way.

Also, having a purpose for blog is as important as having a purpose for business or for creating a website. So you need to be really clear about your goals.

Make a Noise – Share Your Work

Sharing your work is a great way to get noticed. If you are looking for some potential clients, you need to share your work to them. A logo, brochure, flyer, post card or a business card, no matter how big or small your work is, it is always good to share it. If there is a project that you are proud of, you should definitely share those links on your social networking websites so that people can see it. It is a good way to show your work and impress your potential clients. Also, other users can recommend you to their other professionals who are in need of designers.

By sharing you work, you will stay as an active user as well. As said earlier, stay an active user and share your links occasionally as this can be very effective.

Bridge Your Social Profile with Your Professional Profile

Every social networking websites provides you with a facility to interlink your own website with that social networking website. This is an easy way to get relevant traffic and not flood traffic. Also, users will be able to find you more easily. Also, on social networking websites, people are in habit of surfing and if you a link to your own website or work, people may visit and you might end up getting some good new leads which is a great thing.

Quality of Relationship, Better than Quantity of Followers

Do not get caught up in the number games. Yes, having hundreds and thousands of followers may look good but is it really necessary?
Making a good relationship with the followers is more important and effective rather than having thousands of followers and not being able to generate a good lead out of them. Having a great impact on your followers is more important that having a large number of followers. You might be able to impress a new visitor from a large number of followers but in the end its your work and dedicated that will speak for you so focus on relationship building with the followers instead of becoming a part of the number game.

Your Goals in the Long-run

If you have decided to use social networking for your promotional purposes, you need to focus on having a long term goal. If you are simply out of work and looking for a new work on instant basis, you will waste your time on social networking.  If you have along term approach, social networking can prove to be really beneficial for your business.

Some Final Thoughts

If you a have a proper planning, social networking can do wonders for you in promoting your business. Using it in a right way is more important than using it with obsessions. The tips mentioned above will be very useful for you to promote your business through social networking.

The above article was originally published at: http://www.dzinepress.com/2011/02/social-networking-a-magic-trick-for-business-promotion/

For all your website promotion needs, feel free to contact Farend, for no obligation consultation.