How To Grow Your Business With Social Networking

Social networking isn't a new concept. It isn't an Internet concept. It isn't even a computer concept. It's been around since just about forever. In its basic form it simply means reaching out to others to share ideas, develop new concepts, and help each other. Individuals, each part of the network, fill in the bits and pieces of the whole, bringing their strengths and bolstering their weaknesses with the strengths of others. Social networking provides a means to build your own personal brand and to get known, and be trusted, while helping others and gaining knowledge and advice. The Online Selling Association is, among other things, a social network.

Many people, normal people, every day online business people, from all walks of life, crave the same things. The want to be rewarded and recognized for the hard work they do. They want to share their knowledge and expertise with others and earn respect for it. They need friends and they want to be friends. Many of you, reading this, are just like that.

Social networking provides the platform for these things but, today, with computers and the Internet, it is more, too. It allows us to leverage our efforts across a larger network, too reach many more individuals. It opens the door to many more people, experiences, and tools, and it provides a wealth of information and expertise at our finger tips.

For the entrepreneur, the self-employed online business person, owning and building your own business, and reaching out to others, can be a difficult, indeed daunting, thing. Contacting others for the first time, knowing what to say to promote your products or services, even getting the courage to do it, can be a real stumbling block to your success. Social networking is a way to turn stumbling blocks into stepping stones.

We are all in the same boat here. We all have something to promote. A product or service to market. Something to sell. We all want to find customers. But it's more than that. It's needing to belong. To be able to communicate with others so we are not lost in our own little well of personal security within our home-based business. We need to feel useful and we need to find readily available, affordable, help and assistance. Whether it's bookkeeping, taxes, website desiogn, legal issues, selling venues, marketing or branding, we need more than just customers. We all need friends, associates, and other businesses to draw upon.

So just exactly how do we do this with social networks? Why does it all seem so shrouded in mystery? It really isn't difficult and it needn't be scary either. In fact, once you step into the world of social networking you will find it to be an easy, powerful, tool to reach out and make contact with others. And you will find others reaching out and making contact with you, too. You'll wonder why you ever thought it was going to be hard or complicated.

As children most of us made friends eaily. We found groups of like-minded kids we could hang with, play with, share with. But now, as adults in the business world many of us seem to have walled ourselves off from the very people that could help make our business successful. And, in some cases, we have developed an attitude that says promotion is bad. We frown on others who promote their businesses, perhaps because we are afraid to do the same ourselves.

But what about security? Privacy? Isn't social networking dangerous? Aren't there stalkers around every corner? That seems to be the common thought, but it is wrong. Sure, as you reach out to more and more people you will find a few more nuts that float to the top. Some of these can be very annoying but few are really dangerous. Most are just clowns or frustrated individuals who resort to acting like jerks. I've seen my share. I'm still here and still doing just fine, thank you.

Your business, indeed your life, is a journey. If you do it right it will continue to be so. Your goal, the "destination" if you will, should always be out there ahead of where you are, no matter how far along the path you progress. Social networking is just another vehicle you can use to help move you forward in your never ending quest. And as you move ahead your needs will change, grow, adjust. And so the people you will need around you, to help and assist you, will change. With the right network the right people will always be there.

If we were asked, "What do you need most in your business right now?" many would quickly answer, "Sales!" More sales is typically something we all need and always want. But is that the real answer? Is it really what you need right now? If you think you need more sales then you probably have other, underlying issues, that need adjusting first. Are you promoting effectivly or just waiting, hoping, for sales to roll in? Are potential customers really looking for what you sell? If so, are you promoting where they are looking? And if no one is looking for your products or services then you probably need to adjust your inventory. Do you have a website? Is it optimized for search engine placement? What other means of promotion do you use?

On the Main Street Mall Online public discussion board there is a post in the MSMO Seller Forum titled "Wow! Talk About Owning The 'Net!" It refers to a MSMO seller Comycgyrl who sells books there. One of the owners of the site, who also happens to be the Executive Director of OSA, writes about a Google Search he did for the seller's name. Of course, if you search for your own domain name, or store name, or other identity factor, you should come up at the top of the searches. But in this particular case, searching for a fairly unusual name, there are a little over 6000 returns and this one seller owns nearly all the returns in the first dozen or so pages and then most of them from that point on. Hundreds, thousands, of spots on the Internet turning up for them.

Does that person know how to promote their business? Obviously! But more important than knowing how is the fact that obviously the do promote their business... everywhere! Knowing is good, but doing is the key to success. And making excuses that keep you from doing is the real killer.

Becoming a member of one or more good social networks gives you the opportunity to learn from others, share and explore ideas, promote your business, build an extensive network of other like-minded professionals you can call upon when you need information, help, or services. As you extend and expand your identity you will find sources for information, advice, referrals, assistance, collaboration, inspiration, honest (sometimes tough) feedback, and the opportunity to develop long-term friendships.

So, just how important is your business? No. Not to you. To others. I hate to disappoint you but the fact is, to most people, it is not important at all. For most of us, especially when you consider the reach of the Internet, any given customer has lots of choices to pick from for exactly what you offer. Anyone can do a Google search and pick from a large selection of returns. It's not your business, it's not your products or services, that makes your business stand out. It's you! It's the personality and the creativity you, and you alone, bring to your business that will make you successful. You need to develop your own individuality, your own identity, and that is what you need to promote as much as, perhaps even more than, your products or services.

When you come the face of your business, when you develop trust and respect among your peers, then customers will come to you to find the things you offer. It's that basic. And that's the hidden power of social networking. It gives you the platform to present, well, YOU. And when you do that, and do it well, then others care about you. Others will talk favorably about you. Others will promote you. Others will support you in the development of your business. And you can do the same for them. It's win-win.

You need to become an expert in what you do. Don't let that scare you off. The truth is you probably are already an expert. And it's not that you just don't know it. It's really that you just don't show it. Somehow, for many of us, our schools, our friends, our peers, have kept us down. They have made it seem bad, or wrong, to stand forward in our own success. That is so wrong and it costs so many of us so much as it keeps us from our success. We hide in the corner, soft spoken mice that don't want to leave our safety zone. And our business suffers as a result. Social networking allows you to reach out, slowly at first, to others. You can build your online identity in the presence of friends who will praise and support you. In the end, we all win.

There is an expressin around that says, "Fake it 'til you make it!" This can be disasterous. If you pretend you are successful when you are not then others will believe you don't need any help and you won't get any. But if you be yourself and seek the help you really need, in the right group, you will find lots of others willing to help. Some will be able to help a little and others will be able to help a lot. In the end you will get all the help you need. And, in turn, you will find you will be able to help others, maybe just a little at first, and maybe a lot. Once again, we all win.

There is a balance in promoting yourself. You need to be careful not to over drive it. Otherwise you will come of as arrogant or obnoxious. Sure, we all know that promotion is what it's really all about, but give us a little time to get to know you. But you don't want to be that corner mouse either. You don't want to seem scared. You don't want the appearance of being a liability. Be friendly. Be open. Reach out a little. It doesn't matter that you don't think you have anything to offer. That will come in time. What you do have to offer right from the start is you. You can share a little about your goals and your dreams. You can ask questions that come to you when you read about others and what they are doing. Successful people always like to share what they are doing, and how they got there, and most will gladly answer your questions. You will learn from the answers. In time you will be able to answer other's questions.

A very successful social networker, Roger Hamilton speaks about what he calls being in your "Flame". It is a powerful concept that can be applied every day in your life and in your business which, if you are self-employed, really will be a significant part of your life.

Bing in your "Flame" is about leveraging your talent, your expertise, and ensuring that others can see what you do. After all, you decided to start your own business, to take on a role in a business, as a way to focus on what you know, what you are good at. Owning your own business, and working at it, should feel like you are zeroing in on your greatest dreams. But, has it all turned out that way? Do you really love every minute of what you do? Or is it becoming at repetitive chore that you no longer wish to face every day?

Roger Hamilton says to imagine you are a candle. Part of you is a flame and part of you is the wax. When you are in your flame you are on fire. You can light a million other candles without using any energy. You can shine brightly and you go home feeling energised, happy, and you know that you have contributed to your business in just the way you want to. Business grows, and money flows, when you are like this.

But, when you are in your wax, you are reducing in value in the way the wax reduces as it is consumed by the flame. You lose your energy. You feel tired. You don't feel good about what you have accomplished that day. Life feels tough and you will probably reflect this in your relationships with those around you.

When you first started your own business you were in your flame. Over time so many other things take over and the moments of feeling on fire become less and less. Your time in your wax increases and you no longer shine. But in order to attract people to you, you need to shine. You need to feel and express a positive attitude. You need to feel you are contributing something of value. Creativity and energy are critical to your business survival, to your success, but it becomes harder and harder to stay in your Flame. This is exactly when your network comes into play. Discussion, collaboration, and getting help from members of your network will make the all the difference. Your wax is the fuel to someone else's flame. Your flame is able to utilize someone else's wax. Now that's a match-making opportunity! If only we could open up and speak openly to each other. To really get to know each other. Now that's what social networking is all about.
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Online social networks typically provide two things. They offer tools, the things that make the website work, let us interact with other, and provide information at our fingertips. But online social networks are also communities. They are somewhere you can belong, be comfortable, and get to know others.

Some members of any online social network will be users. They will join, visit occasionally, and use the information they find there. There is nothing wrong with this in, and of, itself. As we have seen, this is one of the two main purposes of the network. But the person who just uses the network doesn't ever get full value from it. To do so they must also participate in the community. They need to share with others. They need to ask, and/or answer, questions in the forums. They need to post something about themselves so others can get to know them. Remember, it's about YOU, not just your business! By participating in, and caring about, the community you belong to you will find your identity, and your business, grows solidly over time.

The Online Selling Association is really a social network of sorts and it is just like that. You can use it, visiting to get just what you want from it, and moving on with what you have found, but you can also participate and contribute to it, building the community, and your own identity within it, as you do. Over time you will reap rewards that you never expected, and never thought possible, for both yourself and your business.

Like anything else, of course, when joining a social network, you have to put in a little effort to learn the tools, the rules, and the culture, to become a part of the community. Just as in real life, there are some social networks on the Internet run by tyrants and some run by those who truly understand their purpose. Some impose strictly enforced rules and cut you off, or kick you out, for the slightest infraction. Some allow you time to learn, provide guidance to correct and, if required, warnings about, incorrect activity. Some know that it is about promoting your business and allow you freedom to do so.

The key to getting started is, well, getting started. You need to jump right in and get wet. Don't feel scared, worried, or vulnerable. But if you do, that's okay too. You need to, as Jim Morrison used to sing, "Break on through to the other side!" You need to take that first step, like in any new experience, and give it a try. Then you need to stick in long enough to make it work for you. Notice I said "make it work" and not "see if it works". There is a big difference. Many people hang aournd for a bit, whether it's a social network or a selling venue, and then, when they don't have any action they move on to another because the last one "didn't work for me". Of course it didn't. Websites, whether social networks or selling venues, don't work for anyone. Successful online business people know this and make the site work for them!

One thing for sure, social networking is not going away. I remember back in the early days of the 'net a fellow business networker wouldn't get invovled online because he was convince that the Internet was a passing fad like pet rocks and over priced coffee. He missed out on what has become the next wave of human development! The Internet is here to say and social networking is a solid, and growing, part of it. To build an online business you need to participate. The longer you take to get going, the more you procrastinate, the harder it will be to compete. Everyone needs to be part of the process, to develop their online brand, and to be found.

You may want to find just one social network at first. It may be all you can handle. But you probably want to join many of them over time, casting a wider net, further developing and expanding your brand. You will need to carefully manage your time and find ways to expedite changes across many networks. This can be done. Many successful business networkers are doing this already. The executive director of this site is rated in the top 100 business networkers in the U.S. and the top 500 in the world. It's taken him over ten years to get there but the results significantly, and positively, affect his business. Getting involved is what it's all about and you can do it too.

Penny Power, co-founder of Ecademy, an online social network with a focus on business professionals, says, "Your brand is everything about YOU, ...not just about getting sales, it is about making trusting friendships and showing genuine interest in the community and people. It would be fair to say that every time you 'touch' another person, when you visit their profile (you leave a profile hit), when you send a message, when you comment on a Blog, when you write a Blog, when you list in MarketPlace, when you contribute to a Club, you are leaving a trace of who you are."

It is that trace, accumulating over time, that forms the collective presence of your identity, your brand. And it is through that identity that you help people decide to get to know you better, to want to know you better, to participate with you in the network and to share ideas and experiences with you that will help to move you forward. And, along with that it should be no surprise that you will develop customers too!

As a family we buy a lot of things on line. In fact, except for groceries, most of what we buy is purchased through online businesses. Probably half of those purchases are made with businesses we know because of interaction in one way or another through social networking. Many of these same contacts have been, and continue to be, our clients and customers.

There's more to this, but this is more than enough to grasp at the beginning. If you feel a little lost then you should come back later and read this again. And then look for the next article on the subject. And, most important of all, jump in and get going with your social networking efforts. The Online Selling Association is a great place to start.