Make serious money from those forums with the funny names!

So you thought Twitter was too cute for words?

And you thought Facebook was only for college students?

 The truth is, these communities offer a gold mine to entrepreneurs, independent professionals and owners of small service businesses. Internet-based
businesses report picking up 60%, 70%, even 100% of their revenue from these communities.

 Why do these venues work so well? Cathy Goodwin, a copywriter who specializes in online marketing for
service businesses, points out that these communities let you
pick your own target markets. Traditional copywriting, she
says, operates like a space probe searching everywhere for intelligent signs of life. But when you write for social media, you're hanging out at the coffee shop with people
you invited.

 But I notice lot of people get writing blocks worthy of
the Great American Novel when confronted by a tiny box that holds just 140 characters. It's so easy it's scary. You
want to use your tweets and posts to help your business and
you want to get it right the first time. 

So I am intrigued by Cathy Goodwin's new mentoring
course: Copywriting For Social Media, Cathy tends to do things differently from most people, and this time she combines copywriting and community.

Check it out at http://tinyurl.com/cq5yw6

 

 

Friends of Success

Last week, Lois Raats of Ready2Grow Associates commented on one of my Tweets. I followed the link she provided to her blog and discovered a kindred spirit. I just love social networking! The connections are incredible.

If you still haven't jumped on the social networking bandwagon I want to encourage you to give it a try. I've met all kinds of people, increased my market reach, found resources to help me grow – both personally and professionally.

Facebook is NOT just for college students. Ask marketing gurus like Kathleen Gage, Willie Crawford and Seth Godin.

But enough of that bandwagon. What I wanted to share with you today is Lois' speech. The reason I got off onto social media is because of that speech. Here's a taste of what Lois has to say:

Sales guru Jeffrey Gitomer has a great quote:

“All things being equal, people want to do business with their friends.
All things being not so equal…people still want to do business with
their friends.”

So the question is not “what’s your bottom line?” The real question is, especially during tough times, “how many friends do you have? How can you build upon and leverage the friendships you already have? How can you collect even more friends?”.

One great way to make more friends is with social media. I'll blog more about it this week.

To read Lois' speech in its entirety click here.

 

Why Facebook?

Over and over I have people ask me why they should bother with Facebook? How can something created to let college kids connect possibly have any relevance to business people?

Some of these people dismiss it, I'm sure, simply because any kind of change is threatening. But most of the questioners I've come across are sincerely looking for answers.

And my answer is 'It is for business – if you use it that way."

I don't post family pictures and seldom update my status with "Just had breakfast." Instead I try to offer real value to anyone who reads my status updates. I feed this blog into the Notes section. And I block almost all applications. (Sorry. I don't throw snowballs.)

In other words, I behave on Facebook the same way I would behave in a live business setting. I talk about my business, I maintain a sense of humour without going crazy. I offer a personal touch without revealing my private life. Finally, I strive to offer value before I ever ask to be a vendor.

I consider Facebook critical to my success.

If you want to know more about the business side of Facebook then I recommend Mari Smith. She's considered one of the top experts on Facebook and relationship marketing.

 

Privacy Practices

“ 'Facebook Connect' will transform the social network from a private site where activity occurs entirely within a “walled garden” to a Web-wide phenomenon where software makers, with user permission, can tap member data for use on their sites." Globe and Mail article, July 24, 2008

My initial response to this article was "What about my privacy?"  

And then I gave my head a shake. "Privacy" is only an illusion if you're already on any networking site. After all, isn't that the point? To be seen and to connect? The truth is you should have polices and practices in place about what information you will share.

First, don't use your real birthday. That little tidbit of information is one link in the identity theft chain. Your family and personal friends should already have that information. There's no real need to share it with the world.

Just this past week one of my Facebook Friends added an application that displayed the flags for country, state/province and town of birth. Looked lovely BUT it also provided a big key to unlocking important birth information, especially with that all important date right on the same page.

Before you add any application ask yourself if it could be a bread crumb in the trail of identity. In this case, it was a full slice of bread.

Second, if you're operating your business from your home, don't use your home address. Get a post office box number and hide behind it. Even on your own website. 

I'd love to hear from others about their ideas and best practices when it comes to monitoring personal data on social networking sites. In the meantime I'm reserving judgment about the Facebook announcement. They were burned earlier and it sounds like they are proceeding more cautiously this time out. In fact, when I re-read the quote I opened this post with I realized I'd missed the words "with user permission."

Mark Zuckerman,creator of Facebook said at the conference, "“Facebook's mission … is to give people the power to share (information) in order to make the world more open and connected. By giving people the power to share, it makes it more transparent.”

As long as we retain the power to choose what information is shared then I am cautiously optimistic about the possibilities for those of us who use social networking for business exposure. However, having a choice and actually using it are two different things. Be sure you choose to protect yourself. No one else will care as much as you do.