Social Media

The Online Home Business Hangout

Actually it’s where more and more people are hanging out even if they have no interest in online business. You can check out the most notable sites listed on Wikipedia at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_networking_websites

I counted about 30 sites per page and about 7 pages so it’s safe to say including the ones that aren’t listed you can find well over 200 social media sites online today.

Just watching the Facebook explosion alone is enough to make online home business owners excited. Despite the growing number of private social media sites I join they invariably connect back to Facebook.

Used and Abused

All of the free training on this site respects why different entities exist on the internet and demonstrates how to properly utilize what others created.

Social media wasn’t created to replace email spam. If you don’t know somebody it’s ok to ask what they do but it is not ok to introduce yourself by what you do. That’s the definition of antisocial.

Having said that… if you’re prepared to join different groups of interest within social media sites, be prepared for a lot of messages from the people who formed that group. Circumspectly if you form a group it’s safe to assume people who join your group will be interested in what you share – provided it’s congruent with the group topic!

Cultivating Relationships

From a network marketers perspective the ideal way to use social media hasn’t changed since its inception. It was and still is a great way to stay in touch with friends, family and business acquaintances. It’s also a perfect place to meet more people who share common interests (niche) and build new relationships.

Direct marketers still have great advantages within social media because it’s an ideal platform for personal branding and can lead to business branding.

You’ll see the limits tested but those who attract the most attention will always be those who share the most meaningful content. As in any social setting you’ll stand out like a social misfit if you keep trying to attract attention to yourself rather than giving attention away to others.

Fame and Fortune

This cannot be your motivation inside of social media or you’ll just get disappointed. Popular people who open new accounts already have a following and likely told their followers how to find them.

Online home business owners who think they can build a business on the back of social media got that idea from… social media. It’s big business for social sites to collect ad dollars from their membership.

Social media is a great way to build relationships which eventually leads to increased traffic to your websites and can help you build your online business. Depending upon what your business is it can help tremendously.

Still a Requirement

A traditional business that can sell products off their shelves or directly from a warehouse wouldn’t hesitate to capitalize on that business. It reduces their operating costs and increases their ROI.

An online home business without a serious presence in social media is limiting its potential reach. The beauty of online business is that the virtual world has fewer boundaries and meeting people from far away places is a privilege to enjoy.

Worthwhile businesses have become dynasties following the fortunate meeting of two complete strangers. Given the opportunity you should always take advantage of potentially meeting that one person who can change your life.