Using social networking sites can help your business grow. With proper use they can also help you get more website traffic and make it build naturally. To make the best use of your time, you should know what types of social networking sites are available and then use the ones that fit your business needs.
Facebook Fan Pages
With an ever growing population, Facebook has become the hot spot of social networking. Fan pages allow people to “like” your business or website which enables you to contact them in limited capacity. They can visit your page and add images and comments and depending on their settings their friends can see when they comment.
Ning
Recently this site switched to a paid program, but with it you can build your own social networking sites. You can create one related to your business or related to your niche. Several radio stations have created their own networking sites with Ning.
YouTube
A video sharing site that allows users to comment, record video responses and more to create a social networking atmosphere. You can create fun videos related to your business or informative, or educational. The more beneficial it is to users the more likely they are to share it with others which means more website traffic for you.
Blog Talk Radio
Start your own radio show. Listeners can listen via computer or phone and they can chat on the website. This is a great way to listen to what your potential buyers want or what they want to know.
Ustream
Social networking meets live streaming TV with this social media site. Viewers can watch online and chat with each other and you. You can have regularly scheduled shows to talk about your niche, answer questions, or offer instructions. Regular shows will help bring more website traffic by bringing in regular viewers.
Take blogging and shrink it down to 140 characters and you have Twitter. You basically can chat with the world. For a business this means sharing that you have a new blog post, you are running a sale, or if you are a food cart in a big city where you are going to be in the next half hour.
Before social networking became the rage, networking was what people did in business. People attended networking meetings to maintain current business contacts and create new connections. LinkedIn is a site dedicated to the old style of business with elements of social networking. Business owners and employees can register with LinkedIn and include the business name in their individual profiles as their job.
Special Social Networks
Social networking sites can further be defined by the niche of your business. There are social networking sites for dog owners and dog related businesses. Cats, lizards, horses and other animals have special networking sites as well. Comic collectors, car devotees, biking, hiking whatever your business niche there is probably a specialized social network for it.