Saturday, March 08, 2008

Socializing Online Could Be Your Key Component

- By: Michael Podlesny, 2008-03-08

I recently watched an interview on cable television on one of those financial networks. The gentleman was interviewing billionaire Donald Trump.

I am sure you have heard of "The Donald". He is a very successful real estate mogul and businessman. Throw in the television show, "The Apprentice", and he encompasses what seems to be every aspect of business.

However did you know he didn`t do it alone? Sure he made some excellent decisions, but without help from others there is no way he could be where he is. He doesn`t drive the cranes that lift the steel girders into place in the high rise apartment complexes he builds, nor does he operate the cement trucks to poor the concrete for the foundations either.

But what he does do well is socialize and network. He meets the right people, gets to the know them, and fits them in to his plans to help make his company even more successful.

It takes years of excellent planning, maybe a little luck, definitely hard work and just importantly, the ability to socialize to get to Trump`s level. Whatever your business dreams and ambitions are, by socializing and networking, you can meet the right people to accelerate them faster.

In this article I want to concentrate on how to properly socialize online to help your business, and give you some examples of what you should do to build your "popularity" so to speak.

A friend of mine owns a rental property repair business. Most of his business comes from his local area, but that does not stop him from socializing online. One way he does it is to find chat rooms and social network sites that cater to his type of business.

In his downtime he heads online and answers questions people may have that he is an expert at. Because of the sites he is on allows automatic signatures, he has set that up to show his contact information. He says it has been a great way to get to know people and once and a while he will pull a customer from there. He says more importantly each customer he lands could grow into more customers through word of mouth advertising. The best part of this socialization technique is that it only cost him some of his time. Whatever your business is or whatever products your sell, get involved in a forum where you can share your expertise.

Next up are the social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook, Furl and Stumble. These sites allow you to post information about yourself, your business, and hobbies and so on. You also build a friend`s list. This list could potentially be your customer base.

Here on our website we participate in all of those social networking sites. We have built up a huge following because we contribute useful information to the business community. You need to do the same. Those sites are free to join and very popular.

So there are two great ways to increase your exposure for your business online. I can not guarantee that it will make you as successful as Donald Trump, but I can tell you with a consistent approach to building your following, you will be well on your way to finding new customers.

By: Bruce A. Tucker



Published By:
Indocquent

You can obtain their free social network bookmarking tool at Social Network Bookmarking Utility Page.

No comments: