A Quick Introduction to Social Networking
Trends have shown an increase in internet marketing budgets for 2008 in all sectors of business. Some analyst call this the beginning of the end of print marketing, while others believe in combining the two efforts utilizing a holistic approach to reaching customers. E-marketing budgets may be climbing this year but what does that mean for those who can't afford to launch full on e-ad-campaigns spanning the 8,000,000 websites currently live?

Social networking is becoming ever more popular among those marketing gurus looking to increase their prospect to sale ratio. One of the main reasons for it's rise in popularity is the fact that it's relatively free and within a days worth of time you could have profiles created on all the popular sites. Social networking sites like Linkedin, biznik, Facebook and even myspace, all have tales of success spewing from the dedicated, who spend the majority of their daily routines writing comments, making suggestions, answering questions and trying to build relationships with prospects, all without leaving their desk and mocha latte. But what about those of us, with "real work" to do and can't spend eight plus hours a day surfing the web? My answer to that is, do it anyway.

Okay, don't spend all your time a slave to the internet gods, but you can afford to spend an hour a day strictly dedicated to building you and your company's social networking profile and internet persona. In a couple weeks time your profiles will be complete, filled with personal and company bio's, headshots, product pictures, testimonials and everything else you hoped would never make it on the internet. Now let's begin. You didn't think it would be that easy did you? Of course not.

Linkedin
The creme del a creme of social networking websites, Linkedin offers high visibility in google and yahoo search engines and the ability to customize searches to help narrow down those you're interested in meeting. Linkedin only allows you to initially connect with whom you already have a relationship with. But through those established relationships you can get connected up to three degrees of separation from their contacts. Every new connection you make opens up paths to new connections and possible business relationships. In as little as a months time, through my connections, I'm Linkedin to 112,400+ professionals, all with whom I have an in with. But to maximize the full potential of Linkedin you're going to want to upgrade from the free account, to any of three options, all allowing you the ability to reach out to those people you don't know and don't have access to. Prices start at $19.95 per month and climb to $200 per month. Start with the free account until you get a feel for it and only if you have the time to truly dedicate yourself to a site like Linkedin, should you begin spending money on it.

biznik
Truth be told, I only recently joined biznik, so my knowledge of it's full capabilities are short, but during the brief time I've spent on the site, I have to say I really like it, even more so than Linkedin because of the community aspect of website. It doesn't offer search capabilities matching Linkedin's, but it does allow you to join a regional network, already hooked into other professionals near you also looking for opportunities in the social networking sphere, making building relationships that much easier. Your biznik profile also allows you to post articles and tips you've written and displays the most current articles on the homepage of your regions page, increasing the odds of visibility significantly.

Facebook & Myspace
In my experience these two sites have less to do with reaching potential business associates and more to do with keeping in contact with friends and family. That said, you should still take the time to create profiles on both sites, if for nothing else it's another place your company name is on the internet, increasing your chances of being found. Try to find groups with whom you share interests, but be warned, the immaturity level of most groups I've been in touch with is astounding.

Forums
By far the best way to really build relationships on the internet I've found are community based forums specific to your area of expertise. Becoming an active member of a forum will allow you to demonstrate your expertise to those in the industry and those seeking advice from in your area of expertise. Another good thing about forums is they come up in internet searching all the time, so always be aware of what you post and try to avoid those who like to engage in unprofessional conversations. Be respectful of the forums rules, many rules change per forum so be sure to read them carefully. Spamming forums is a huge concern so be mindful of your topic matter, even a simple introduction post could be deemed as spam if you flaunt your company's name and website address.

Remember the point of all this is to build relationships with those who may one day need your service. Don't go into social networking thinking once you're setup you'll have a fresh line of business heading your way. You won't but don't let that discourage you. With time and most importantly, consistency, you'll begin to notice the influx of business coming from your efforts. The more helpful and the more you demonstrate your abilities, the more you'll see this social networking thing begin to pay off, and to get you started feel free to view my profiles and connect with me.

Ace @ Linkedin | biznik | facebook | myspace

P.S. This article is going up in my biznik profile, but let's keep that between us.

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