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Social Networks

Humans are social creatures, and it comes as no surprise that social networks are all the buzz these days. The most popular social websites now report millions of active users. Everyone from children to grandparents - they are all communicating in the web.

These developments happen to coincide with the downfall of print, television, and other traditional media advertising. I was watching my local (Los Angeles) news yesterday, when the anchor's latest twitter messages appeared on the screen. He was clearly very anxious about chatting and getting new followers on twitter.

I thought to myself "This is hardly news!” Intrigued, I looked at his twitter page. It was a mixture of what he ate for breakfast, news commentary, and company promotions.

Why is this man so desperate to gain followers on twitter? He already has millions of television viewers. Don't the producers realize that by filling their show with Twitter it devalues their news service?

On the contrary! Internet advertising is on the rise, while television and print ad revenue has seen a sharp decline in recent years.  All companies who depend on advertising revenue are now forced to move their programming to the internet.

Popularity on the web - measured in friends, fans, followers, and positive comments - is in many ways much more accurate and precise than previous ratings systems.

These are good news for you, the small business or independent website owner. In social networks, you get the chance to compete for popularity with big time celebrities, big business, and expert authorities. You have a chance for your personality to shine through and meet new people. F

For those new to social networking, here are some tips to keep in mind.

Basic truths about social networking:

(1) Most people will never have anything important to say. Period.

(2) "Private" information and profiles are not truly private.

(3) Secrets are no longer secret. Everybody knows, and they probably don't care as much as you think they do.

(4) Traditional persuasive advertising looks plain stupid on the internet. It's everywhere, and it's annoying.

There are several basic strategies for a successful social networking campaign:

(1) Attention

This involves setting up public profiles for your website or business. The idea behind the "attention" strategy is to get your website or business out there. Create profiles on many different social sites, and start talking with your customers or potential visitors.

You don't have to do anything special for this strategy to work. Just setting up profiles on the most popular sites will create a web presence for your company or website. As users go about their business, they will begin to notice you on the myriad of popular sites they visit.

Keep in mind that most businesses spend good money just to have people see their logo. With the basic social networking profiles, you can show your logo, share your company info, chat with potential customers, and even refer people to your site. What more could you want from free advertising?

(2) Traffic funnel

The traffic funnel strategy aims to collect as many social connections as possible, and then send them to your sales page. Many large, established businesses have adopted this approach.

(3) Social media

This strategy aims to provide some free entertainment or useful media as a means to attract attention and visitors. Free pictures, music, wallpapers, sound bytes, and how-to videos are among the most common offerings used in the social media strategy.

(4) Applications

This strategy aims to build a base of application users by providing (free) software. These programs can be tailored to run on social networking sites, as well as various cell phone models.

Interactive games are currently a very popular choice among app users.  The most significant applications, however, are the ones that make something happen in the real world.

Tips for successful social network marketing:

(1) Target your audience. Just about every network has a search feature. Go ahead and search for people with interests matching your website's keywords.

(2) Get involved. Go out and meet people who share your interests. Share your work and tell people what's going on with your website.

(3) Be polite. People cannot hear your tone in a text message. Use precise language to make your points clear.

(4) Don't be pushy. Invite people to visit your website only when they might be interested.