Wanna know how to make your offline network pay off online? Since I try to write for business owners I want to share with you some great information I happened upon. I read an amazing article last week by Andrew Hazen on iMedia Connection. After reading it I wanted to go and beat my head against a wall. The suggestions he made were so simple. Many of them I even know about but hadn't seen them approached this way. I wish I had written this article: Online Opportunities for your Offline Business.

If you are networking offline in any fashion you need to read this article. In fact I have nothing else to add. Take five minutes, go check out what he has to say. I agree one hundred percent when Hazen says:

When networking, it pays to take the extra step of exploring the many existing online opportunities within your circle. Think of it as profitable social networking for your business.

I've reviewed almost a dozen social media sites for you. I've listed all their pros and cons, but why bother with social media?

Social media is not traditional media and many business have trouble figuring out exactly what to do with it because they can't label it. Mack Collier talks about this in his article Why is Social Media so Hard for Businesses?

"The problem that I think many businesses have, is how they view
social media. I believe many businesses (of all sizes) see social
media sites and tools as new channels to publishmarketing channels.

Nothing could be further from the truth."

Its true. Social media is its own unique genre of marketing. It is a new way to interact with customers and clients. It is an invaluable tool for feedback, polling and reviews. Did you know even the Pope uses social media to get his message across?

So why aren't more businesses taking advantage of this free marketing tool?

Time: Businesses think social media is a waste of time. They don't see an instant result so they aren't willing to pursue it (despite the fact that many forms of advertising have a time lapse). Or they are unwilling to devote the time. I'm of the opinion you either make time or you hire someone to do it for you, internally or externally because the return on investment is huge.

Fear: We fear what we don't understand. Many business, even mainstream ones don't feel like they are up-to-date with technology. Smaller companies are worried about the time and energy it will take to get involved.

Knowledge: Too many business just don't know these avenues exist or--worse!--they don't think their clients aren't using them.

Pride: I read a study on SEO once that said that in 2006 NIKE had not optimized their website and when you searched for NIKE tennis shoes, they weren't even in the first page of links. I'm not sure if that is the case now, but imagine not even bothering because "you don't need more business" or "your brand is built offline". Social media is a way to gain more SEO and if you think your company just doesn't need it, you should really evaluate your marketing stategy and see what else is out of date.

So why do it? Check out this article about how Firefox used social media to break a world record. And if that doesn't hit you, go to a site like eMarkerter and start researching your target audience. Then decide how useful social media can be.

Get Started: It doesn't matter where you start, just do it. Read some of my recent reviews, find a media that matches your style and go for it. Social media will only grow your traffic, so what can it hurt?

The past few posts I've been focusing my research and attention on the phenomenon of social media. I have to admit it fascinates me, but the goal of course is to make it work, from a business stand point. How can online social networking help your business? And how do you choose from the hundreds of sites that make this available?

I'm going to deal with a number of well-known sites, each one I have reviewed in the last few weeks. Now I'm going to list out each service's pros and cons so they can all be compared.

Pros:

• Networking Intensive
• Open and chatty community
• real time answers.

Cons:

• Time intensive
• Navigation not intuitive
• Leans towards the internet savvy

Pros:

• Great way to "poll"
• Close to Real Time but simple to use
• Ability to automatically feed blog posts

Cons:

• Too much down time
• Often Tweeple are more interested in getting follower than networking
• Superfluous information

Pros:

• Community Opportunity
• Clean Profile look - user friendly
• Ability to create applications, events and blog posts

Cons:

• Audience not "marketing" friendly
• Networking more social
• Ability to be tagged in notes and images that may not be work appropriate

Pros:

• Massive Audience
• Forum opportunity
• Widely-Accepting to advertising

Cons:

• Spammy
• "Bathroom wall of the internet" - reputation isn't great
• Friend Collectors instead of clients

Pros:

• Simple, Clean, Business-friendly
• Opportunity to get business feedback
• Chance to get reviewed by clients

Cons:

• People may "reject" your link because they don't remember you
• Many users don't check-up on their profile regularly
• Not all people network with others they actually know

Pros:

• Viral effect for blogs
• Simple way to get noticed
• Easy to use

Cons:

• Many people "digg" things because their friends do, not because they like it
• Hitting the front page of Digg has been known to crash websites from too much traffic
• Millions of submission to compete with

Pros:

• Easy for any website
• Allows for site indexing
• Allows for reviews and keywords

Cons:

• Takes a little more time
• Can be bad for niche sites with advertising
• Allows the opportunity for people to rate you negatively

Pros:

• One of the longest standing Social Bookmarking sites
• Allows you to import bookmarks
• Ability to share of keep private based on user needs

Cons:

• Usefulness is merely just an extra link without good user connections
• A hassle without a toolbar extension
• Format is not instinctive

Are there any other social media sites you'd like to see reviewed and added to this list? Let me know what business tools you use.

The last social bookmarking site I think is important to mention is del.icio.us. That's right, the one with the weird punctuation. If you've been following the last few posts, del.icio.us works like the other social bookmarking site though its origins are a little different.

del.icio.us started as a way to keep track of your bookmarks from computer to computer. In a world where many of us have a desktop, a laptop, an office computer and a cell phone with internet access, getting to your favorite website can often end up as an exercise in text recall. del.icio.us solved that problem, letting you put all your bookmarks in one place.

Of course the social aspect soon developed. People shared links, used del.icio.us to promote other websites and their own. The truth is, humans are social creatures. We love to share and learn from each other. We like to offer up knowledge to other people. Use these social tools to get in on the online networking! Most business owners spend hours networking offline, but imagine a network that is running constantly. Again, del.icio.us is a must for you to submit to and also put as a widget on your blog.

del.icio.us is not just like a browser bookmark. So the interface may take some time adjusting to. Everything works with tags instead of being sorted into files. However, if you bookmark your own site you can also find out who else is bookmarking your site as well!

Get del.icio.us links from Veribatim.

Not only is StumbleUpon a great way to use up your free time, its also another essential tool for anyone with a website. In my last post I talked about Digg and how every blogger should use it, StumbleUpon is a great one for any level of website.

StumbleUpon falls in the social bookmarking category and again is a great widget to install on your blog. You can add an website to your Stumbleupon porfile and even write reviews for your own and others' website. You can also stumble every page on your site, so for example I can stumble my homepage, profile and every blog post. Again, the goal is to create a viral effect, more stumbles mean you are more likely to show up on the stumble website or show up for a "random" stumble. That's right, users can click the stumble button (if it is installed in their browser, or go to the StumbleUpon site) and automatically be taken to a website that matches their interests. What StumbleUpon sends you to is based on interests you've listed and other websites you've ranked.

Problogger talks about paid advertising through StumbleUpon. I personally don't promote paying for online marketing, (why? when there are so many ways to do it for free!) however, if you are interested, check out his some of his posts. Also remember to find other people you network with who stumble, this always increases your ranking and traffic.

Stumble through the web with us.

MySpace is probably the most controversial social networking site in existence. Having a reputation for everything from advertising Russian mail order brides to being the premiere way for pedophiles to stalk children, Myspace has gone from bad to worse.

Myspace is every teenage-girl's father's worst nightmare. The site is full of pictures of barely adolescent girls in tiny skirts and tons of make-up in provocative poses. Many news stations have reported on how these girl become targets for internet predators.

On the tamer side of things, Myspace is know as spammy and full of people who only want thousands of people on their "friends" list. Even after the revised MySpace layout the user-interface is covered in (often nonsensical) advertisement.

But the real question we want to get down to is are there really any opportunities for businesses on MySpace? The answer is yes, if you are willing to wade through the masses of silly profiles and find a few serious people it is possible.

The key is to create a profile that stands out a little and then get involved in forums, groups and other ways to interact with MySpace's massive user-base. Just creating a static profile and never touching it won't bring you customers. MySpace especially will take some invested time. Be aware that if you are an MLM or trying to find subscribers there are millions of others doing the exact same thing and the best clients will ignore you. Start by finding people you know in real life and build that base for your profile. Put event invitiations on your account and keep people updated with little blog entries. Despite my general despise for MySpace as a business (go read up on their history sometime) it is overall a better tool for businesses than Facebook: why? It is more generally accepted. On Facebook no one wants to get sold, but on MySpace it happens everyday.

Check out a few of your favorite musicians, most of them have a profile and keep it updated, these are good examples on how to make MySpace work in your business. Just remember, MySpace is a time investment so be prepared to put effort into it before really becomes your space.

Had an experieince with MySpace? Share what happened!

Wanna see our MySpace or lack there of? Click here.

Facebook Profile.

There's no question that more and more people are using social media. Facebook has become the next big thing; the cleaner, sparkly version of MySpace.

I originally started using Facebook back in college, mostly to keep track of my friends from high school. Facebook grew and started to allow high school students to participate as well and finally opened to the general public. As a social tool, to keep up with friends I have found Facebook to be invaluable, especially on the "college scene". However, as a business tool, I must admit I have my doubts. Some people find Facebook to work really well. But it seems that Facebook is a "viral" effect. Its like posting a youtube video, it hard to know what's going to suddenly take off and be the next big thing, and what is going to flop.

Facebook has a business section that you can explore which has more in-depth information. They talk about advertising and also applications. Applications are an interesting concept. They allow you to create a game or some other hook, which brings you users that you can then give your information to. There are plenty of website about how to "create a viral app" or the "best app design" but here's something to consider: The majority of people I know on facebook, who are average Gen Y users, think of application requests as spam. The majority of applications require you to invite friends before you can use it and so it maintains a vicious cycle. My senior year of college, these applications gained a nickname: FACEBOOK AIDS. That's right, we thought of applications like STDs; they spread quickly, everyone you touch gets it and it clutters up your entire profile.

However, there are way to make creative and useful applications. I use friendfeed's application on my profile, as well as a "free gift" one so I can send cute images to my friends to brighten their day.

You can also create a group or just a profile specifically about your business. This gives you a chance to link up with people you work with, went to school with or have been your clients. Of course then you have to figure out where to draw the line on personal information: do you post crazy pictures? What if someone else does and tags you in them? Do you list your birthday, phone number and religious affiliation? You have to decided how much you want to give.

I admit, I've not really used Facebook for business. I use it mostly social and list my business information. What do you think? Here is a blog that talks about business leverage in more detail and here is one that talks about the cons. Feel free to share your experience or other data. The debate rages on.