Web 2.0 Business To Business Social Networking

Despite its now rampant popularity across the internet you still may not at this point have heard of the term “Social Networking” in relation to the internet. Social Networking refers to the development and then utilization of an online community website for the purposes of meeting other people. This type of website began with friendship type networks like the now billion dollar “Myspace” but it was only a matter of time before it was adapted to a group of people who could benefit from this phenomenon perhaps more than any other: Business people. This article will explore the benefits of what is called BUSINESS TO BUSINESS Social Networking.

WEB 2.0 BUSINESS TO BUSINESS

Social Networking sites operate by a business registering an account with the home website that is usually free then gaining the ability to create a profile about their business that is publicly viewable over the internet. They then become part of a community of other business owners who have also created profiles, and can meet and interact with these people in various ways such as email, instant messaging, chat, forums and more. The idea of BUSINESS TO BUSINESS Social Networking is for the business owner to meet as many other likeminded individuals as possible in order to leverage knowledge and information as well as in some cases ideas or even customers in a community environment.

The benefits of BUSINESS TO BUSINESS

Social Networking for business owners are many. The first benefit is the ability to gain free advertising for their business and mission on the internet. Most small businesses pay large amounts of money to get the right people to see their advertisements and while BUSINESS TO BUSINESS Social Networking won’t replace this it does provide another viable option by which to generate leads and increase exposure to their business. Of course this is particularly relevant for those businesses who offer products or services to other business (ie. BUSINESS TO BUSINESS products) and for them it creates a virtual marketplace and as such a wealth of opportunity.

The main benefit of BUSINESS TO BUSINESS

Social Networking however is the people factor. Some people still believe that “It’s not what you know it’s who you know” and so the ability to meet large numbers of business people particularly that share the same geographical location can be highly valuable. It can give business owners the ability to share skills, connect each other to better ways of operating and introduce one another to people or methods that can help increase profits. For example you might run a shop and be able to find out through networking with other shop owners in your area what is the cheapest place to buy certain stock.

As you can see, if you own any kind of business there are definite advantages to participating in the new craze of BUSINESS TO BUSINESS Social Networking. In business any small advantage you can get is important, and BUSINESS TO BUSINESS Social Networking is one that for many businesses is providing an advantage that is anything but small.

Promoting Your Website With Social Networking & Web 2.0

Many webmasters have found that submitting great content to digg.com or del.icio.us is a great way to increase traffic quickly. These social networking Web 2.0 sites rely on user submitted content that is then voted upon to the home page. The catch is that this is becoming more and more difficult as everyone is catching on to this phenomenon. There have even been reports of people paying to cheat the system.

These Web 2.0 sites are a great source of traffic, but the real trick is finding the right places to submit your great content. Why go up against the toughest competition in the world when you do not have to? If your content is worth reading, and will get votes, then I recommend that you try the following social networking sites out. These sites are just beginning to become popular. If you are voted to the home page, your content will stay there longer and you may find that you will receive great amounts of traffic over the long term.

1. Content Pop (http://www.contentpop.com) - This website has very similar features to digg, however, it provides the user with the ability to create their own community of content. Top communities will receive top placement on the left hand menu navigation. Also, Content Pop has community web ads where you can promote your website for free.
2. Bringr (http://www.bringr.com) - This website is also similar to digg, however, it is specific to women. So, if you have any content that is especially directed toward women, submit it here.
3. Scoopeo (http://scoopeo.com) - This is the digg equivalent in French. If you have any need for European traffic, you may want to translate your content into French and submit the URL here.

Social Networking: Marketing Businesses Online

Several complaints from marketers have been cropping up recently out of attempting to use popular and prevailing social networking sites to market their respective businesses. These marketers primarily complained about not getting any real traffic in order to make sales by advertising through these sites. Essentially, the social networking sites that they are referring to were a waste of time to market on because these did not produce any immediate marketing results. Nevertheless, these marketers are really missing the whole point of the social networking process. This article somehow makes a bit of clarification regarding this issue.

Barefaced marketing on social networking sites just would not work. The marketing approach has to be far more subtle. Marketers who wish to use social networking to their advantage must somehow aim their target quite differently. The goal is increase your presence on the Internet by building back-links from a major traffic site, and building your brand so that potential customers can indeed find you on the Web.

Increasing your presence on the internet is especially important if you are a novice when it comes to marketing your products and services on the Internet. You have to establish a presence, and a big one, if you want to be actually discovered by your target market. The mantra of those who are so overwhelmed by their egos is, “build it and they will come.” These people mistakenly think that their sites will be found without any marketing effort at all. This is of course anathema to successful marketers. One has to get out there and promote oneself in order to sell one’s products and services. Because social networking sites are high traffic, you have a better chance of being found if you get out there and build a presence.

The search engines are constantly “spidering” these sites. If you want to get your site “spidered” then building a profile on these sites will help the search engines find you and then ultimately, your customers can find you. Nevertheless, one should remember not to blatantly sell on these sites. Create a profile that tells everyone about you and your products or services. Include links to your website, or if you have more than one site, all of your sites. Make your profile keyword rich with keywords from your topic.

By branding yourself, whether you are a writer, or you are simply selling your own products and services, you will need to resort to shameless promotion if you want to make the sale. When you brand yourself, you are attaching yourself to a specific topic. You become an expert on the topic. Writing articles and posting them on your blog on these social networking sites can help others become aware of your products and services. This in turn builds and establishes value, and by contributing to these sites, you are not only building value for them, you are building value for you.

The key is to use a soft sell approach wherein you need to establish your credibility and expertise in order to be trusted by prospective clients. Get others to trust you and believe in your products. Then you will make the sale. It might need quite a deal of effort in building your credibility, but there is no reason to neglect the effectiveness of marketing your business online through social networking.