start me up!

Podcast #3 -- Entrepreneurs and Social Networks

I'm Dr. Ron Graham, and this is start me up! volume 1, number 3.

Social networking cannot be ignored as a tool for your small business. So I've got a few words to say about three of the major social networking Web sites: MySpace, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

MySpace gets a bad rap from many business owners because its profiles may resemble - according to one user I interviewed - bad Geocities pages of the mid-1990s. But face it: don't some businesses' hosted Web sites look just as bad?

Some professionals are unwilling to use MySpace as a tool for conducting business - though they may use it to follow their favorite musicians. Pay attention to that phenomenon! Event-driven entrepreneurs such as comedians, musicians, independent filmmakers, and pro wrestlers are flocking to MySpace in large numbers. One wrestler told me that his promotion will never have a hosted Web site again. "Why should I? MySpace is free, and it's better for reaching the fans!" If you are event-driven, or do business with others who are, maybe you need a MySpace. If you think you can put up a profile that looks as good as or better than a hosted Web site, maybe you need a MySpace.

If you want to do business on Facebook, you must want college students and recent grads to be your target audience - the high-school age audience is growing and many professionals appreciate the clean layout, but within Facebook they are the minority. This makes Facebook the ideal platform for those who are doing recruiting of college students and recent grads: hiring managers, agencies, contractors, consultants, and the military. Also advertising there are airlines and college savings plans.

Your business method will probably include designing plug-ins, which Facebook uses heavily, or perhaps customizing those already created. Plug-in applications include games and surveys, and the best ones spread throughout the site as great examples of viral marketing. If you can design a viral survey, or can post a viral video for an audience between 18 and 25 years old, you can be very successful there.

There is also the powerful technique of creating "social ads." Marketing on Facebook can be made VERY tightly targeted through a multi-keyword search capability unmatched by MySpace. Combine that with Google-esque Pay Per Click capability and you can have very good returns on a marketing investment.

LinkedIn is for a more mature audience than the others I've mentioned, and is also more about the network itself than selling to the network per se. The people you meet on LinkedIn are the people who will help you iron out problems with your business, and may also help you meet other valuable contacts. BUT... you really aren't going to see much to them apart, perhaps, from consulting services.

Don't ignore what LinkedIn has to offer just because it won't market for you! The people in a LinkedIn network are seasoned professionals in most cases. They know a LOT, and a LOT more than your connections in MySpace and Facebook. And LinkedIn is built for you to ask them lots and lots of questions. Take advantage of that knowledge, entrepreneurs. They will love making you smarter.

In all these cases, your marketing depends on having a very large number of friends, and on having your profile completely dedicated to marketing (in such a way as to convince your connections to visit it frequently). You also want to avoid a marketing plan that uses only one tool, however good and cheap that tool may be.

Like to read more? I've got a free white paper where I go into more detail. Write me if you want it.

For this podcast, I was - alas! - again my own producer. The music is "Plant a Seed," by the great New Brunswick, NJ band Communipaw. I use this space to promote young artists as well. Find Communipaw at myspace.com/communipawmusic.

This has been start me up! volume 1, number 3, and I'm Dr. Ron Graham - I've been your host. If you'd like to contact me, the e-mail address is rongraham01 AT gmail DOT com. I'll spotlight you or your start-up if you'd like. Just ask me how. Until next time, keep moving forward!

Labels: education, young entrepreneurs

posted by Ron @ 12:53 AM