Seven Social Networking Strategies for Smaller Businesses

Rusty Weston’s article illustrates 7 social networking strategies for small businesses. The seven are Prospecting on a Social Network, Sourcing talent on a social network, building widgets for social networking sites, encouraging employee use, not abuse, of social networking, building a custom social network for customers, building a custom social network for employees or suppliers, and building brand awareness on a social network.

Social Networking sites are the new target for small businesses, as they garner some of the greatest numbers of hits each day. It is important for small businesses to take advantage of these untapped sites with millions of customers at their disposal. By connecting to these sites, the companies are building bridges to networks of customers that, before, were unconnected. The site users could be thousands of miles away and have no other way of coming into contact with the company or its products, but the social networking site closes this gap.

The sites also allow companies to grow from within. By encouraging employees to use the social networking sites, companies can keep their employees happier, retain them longer, facilitate the exchange of information within the company, and as a result, increase innovation. Building social bridges between different divisions within a company is essential and will only speed the development of new ideas and innovations.