Tech and Trends:- It seems that every business is online now and those that don’t have their own websites at least have a Facebook page or Twitter account. How do they help businesses though? I’m glad you asked.
In the old days, before the popularization of social networking websites, a business used to have to have its own website. Now, many substitute having their own site by just having a Facebook page or Twitter account. Sure, it hurts people trying to make a living from web development but these sites make it so much easier and cheaper for businesses to promote themselves online.
It is so easy for a business to set up a Facebook or Twitter account and the potential to reach people is so great because the Internet is extended throughout the entire world and anything you post could be potentially seen by anyone, anywhere in the world. It’s really quite amazing if you think about it. Even if you are not intending to reach the entire world or people from other continents, social networking websites can be beneficial to locally based businesses.
If your business does any type of advertising, you really need to push your social networking pages. The reason being that once you have a significant number of followers, you can post sales or specials that you have going on. For instance, if your business is a hardware store and you are having a sale on paint, you can post it on your Facebook page or send out some tweets to your twitter followers. It is a lot cheaper to inform your local customers that way than to pay for print advertising. Or perhaps you own a local restaurant. You can post your daily lunch or dinner specials. Now it can take a while for a business to get a lot of followers. Some businesses would opt to buy instagram followers or twitter followers to have an initial boost to their profiles even if they aren’t targeted..
If you are in the entertainment industry, social networking sites are a must. Many social networking sites have the ability for musicians to integrate music players into their page. Musicians can contact venue owners online and provide a link to a music player where the venue owner can hear their music. They can also post their calendar on their page and keep in tough with their fan base.
There are social networking sites that revolve around a number of different interests. You have social networking sites for writers, photographers, artists and so on. Many of the sites have forums where you can meet people working in your industry. Social networking sites are great for business networking, so don’t let the social part fool you. To be honest, I use those sites more for business reasons than for personal.
So, whenever you are promoting your business or yourself for business reasons, always be sure to plug your social networking pages. For example, you can find me on Pinterest at http://pinterest.com/techandtrends/. Now how’s that for shameless self promotion? There are a number of sites online where you can purchase followers. Many are a rip-off. Some of these sites create a multitude of fake accounts consisting of user profiles that have no picture. Some actually have the courtesy of telling you upfront that they aren’t real accounts and are just used for appearances’ sake. It looks more impressive if a band has 2,000 Facebook fans as opposed to maybe 2oo or so. Unfortunately, those fake followers won’t go out to see that band play at a local venue.
I have seen venues use a Facebook page to post their entertainment calendar and upcoming events. It’s about the ability to reach your customers in an efficient and affordable manner. Cyberspace is cheap. Printed advertising, on the other hand is quite expensive. I know that from experience. Another great thing about social networking sites is the fact that you can have some interaction with your client base, or fan base if you are in the entertainment industry. It can make you more accessible to more people, with very little effort. Even business relationships can improve if there is some social interaction between cooperating businesses. Many great business relationships ant partnerships improve when there is some form of favorable social interaction. Social networking sites are also a great way to meet new prospective clients and business partners. They have many sites that are primarily for musicians and a lot of musicians meet each other online and actually get together and form bands.
So if you are a business owner or someone working in the entertainment industry, you have to get yourself involved in social networking sites. It’s not that hard and the benefits are many. Just be careful what you post because sometimes your posts may come back to bite you on the you know what.
