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Social Networking and Ecommerce
Does your business have a Facebook page? MySpace? Chances are you have heard about each but chances are also that if you're a small business owner, you haven't had time to figure out how to get yours or worse, what to do with it. Heck, you don't even have a blog yet, do you?
You're way out of the loop and I won't even mention Twitter or Jaiku. (Not yet.) But they're coming.
The 2008 Presidential primary is an investigation of who's using the Internet more (although who's using it creatively would be a better benchmark). Every major candidate has a space on the social networking sites and each wants an "I'm-first-to-do-this" feature. Sure, they pay Internet consultants for this edge, so take advantage of their investment and borrow the best from the brightest for your business.
As ecommerce sites invest R&D into social features (like e-notifications, RSVP systems, unique hyperlinks, photo albums, message books, and registry systems you can put on your own site), you can see how ecommerce is seeping into social networking. For starters, we use office product sites that remember (for free) what we bought last time.
IT'S TIME TO GET YOUR SPACE – Log into the well-known social networking sites and claim your business name's space. It's a good idea to get a Web-email address to use (free Web-mail from Google, Yahoo, Hotmail, and others) to control likely spam. If you have teenagers handy, they can help make the process understandable. You don't have to build it up yet; just get your name branded there and think about offering something to download. If a number of people want it, create an email list.
DON'T BLOG. MICROBLOG
– When we use "the Google" to search the "Internets," we can micro-search easily. We don't want "Gestetner Printer Toner;" rather, we want "C7425dn cyan laser toner" and we find it with one-click searching. Blog about specifics – find your topic and write weekly (or more) about it. Someone will read almost anything and it's a cheap, easy and convenient way to announce closeouts or sales to an already-interested community. A microblog will help build your community.
WEB 2.0 IS THE INTERACTIVE WEB – Social networking is interactive. Interactivity makes people converse; it moves people to Web sites (do you get breaking news alerts?). Your challenge? Know where your clients (and future customers) are online and figure out how one of those sites will help your business market itself. Your job is to advertise online, find the right blog or space, create a campaign, schedule, pay and track the results. Blog and social space advertising is a conversation. Don't lecture.
WHERE DOES YOUR CUSTOMER HANG OUT? – More Americans visit the DailyKos blog than all but a handful of newspapers. Instapundit claims more than 200 million page views. Blog readers spend more time and money online. And many find what they want, from housing to jobs, on CraigsList. An ad on a blog that reaches these markets will drive visitors to your social networking page, if you have one.
SHOW US WHO YOU ARE – Web 2.0 demands that you be clever, not rich. Give potential customers something to respond to. In a word, be interactive. Tom Carvel and Orville Redenbacher, became household personalities (of their time) with simple TV ads and moved small businesses to envious heights. That opportunity might be yours for the taking on YouTube. Join and create a community and develop it as time goes on, but own it now.
WIDGETIZE – Do you sell at eBay? Put their widget on your blog or Web site. Robert Scoble told me last year that Web 2.0, in a word, is widgets. Get Amazon widgets here. Hire someone to write one for your business. Tag everything you ever put online!
SOCIAL MEDIA SITES – Check the list of social networking sites here.
Social network spaces are bigger than you thought. It's time to claim yours before they, like all the good domain names, are taken.
You're way out of the loop and I won't even mention Twitter or Jaiku. (Not yet.) But they're coming.
The 2008 Presidential primary is an investigation of who's using the Internet more (although who's using it creatively would be a better benchmark). Every major candidate has a space on the social networking sites and each wants an "I'm-first-to-do-this" feature. Sure, they pay Internet consultants for this edge, so take advantage of their investment and borrow the best from the brightest for your business.As ecommerce sites invest R&D into social features (like e-notifications, RSVP systems, unique hyperlinks, photo albums, message books, and registry systems you can put on your own site), you can see how ecommerce is seeping into social networking. For starters, we use office product sites that remember (for free) what we bought last time.
IT'S TIME TO GET YOUR SPACE – Log into the well-known social networking sites and claim your business name's space. It's a good idea to get a Web-email address to use (free Web-mail from Google, Yahoo, Hotmail, and others) to control likely spam. If you have teenagers handy, they can help make the process understandable. You don't have to build it up yet; just get your name branded there and think about offering something to download. If a number of people want it, create an email list.
DON'T BLOG. MICROBLOG
– When we use "the Google" to search the "Internets," we can micro-search easily. We don't want "Gestetner Printer Toner;" rather, we want "C7425dn cyan laser toner" and we find it with one-click searching. Blog about specifics – find your topic and write weekly (or more) about it. Someone will read almost anything and it's a cheap, easy and convenient way to announce closeouts or sales to an already-interested community. A microblog will help build your community.
WEB 2.0 IS THE INTERACTIVE WEB – Social networking is interactive. Interactivity makes people converse; it moves people to Web sites (do you get breaking news alerts?). Your challenge? Know where your clients (and future customers) are online and figure out how one of those sites will help your business market itself. Your job is to advertise online, find the right blog or space, create a campaign, schedule, pay and track the results. Blog and social space advertising is a conversation. Don't lecture.
WHERE DOES YOUR CUSTOMER HANG OUT? – More Americans visit the DailyKos blog than all but a handful of newspapers. Instapundit claims more than 200 million page views. Blog readers spend more time and money online. And many find what they want, from housing to jobs, on CraigsList. An ad on a blog that reaches these markets will drive visitors to your social networking page, if you have one.
SHOW US WHO YOU ARE – Web 2.0 demands that you be clever, not rich. Give potential customers something to respond to. In a word, be interactive. Tom Carvel and Orville Redenbacher, became household personalities (of their time) with simple TV ads and moved small businesses to envious heights. That opportunity might be yours for the taking on YouTube. Join and create a community and develop it as time goes on, but own it now.
WIDGETIZE – Do you sell at eBay? Put their widget on your blog or Web site. Robert Scoble told me last year that Web 2.0, in a word, is widgets. Get Amazon widgets here. Hire someone to write one for your business. Tag everything you ever put online!
SOCIAL MEDIA SITES – Check the list of social networking sites here.
Social network spaces are bigger than you thought. It's time to claim yours before they, like all the good domain names, are taken.
Comments
1
Subscribe to commentsSocial SquadMay 30th 2007 12:07PM
Way to challenge the user Sue! They need to hear it like that. Most people have heard of social network sites, some have heard it has business value.
Very few have actually taken action!