The title "Social Networking" can be a bit of a misnomer.
WEB 2.
0, the blogosphere, or the social networking arena has fast become essential not just socially, but for business and corporate functioning as well.
It is at the core of marketing, promotion, customer retention, information dispersal, communication and conferencing.
Through social media, you can expand your target market, find parallel and complimentary services and nurture relationships which can help the functioning of your business.
Whether you are a start-up business, a small to medium enterprise, or a corporate concern these are some of the must have social networking sites: Linked in LinkedIn is a popular networking site where business associates, recent graduates and other professionals connect online.
This is a great way to nurture relationships in the same industry or field, or learn about new events coming up.
Twitter This is called "microblogging".
It allows you to answer the question, "What are you doing?" by sending short text messages 140 characters in length to your associates or "followers".
Again, this is a great way to nurture business relationships and find out what is going on in your industry instantly.
Technorati This is considered the hub of the "blogosphere".
Great for increasing readership of your business blog, Technorati is a network of blogs separated into various categories such as business, commerce and technology.
Reddit By regularly submitting articles concerning your industry and expertise to this popular social networking site you could well create a loyal following, enhanced internet presence and increased linking to your site.
Del.
icio.
us This popular social networking site uses Social bookmarking to invite users to organize and publicize interesting items through tagging and networking.
YouTube Yes, even YouTube.
Look what it did for Susan Boyle.
Many businesses are finding a short 2 minute video that either encapsulates their business services; or just offers free information with a link to the site can have untold marketing power.
Keeping up with social media networking can be very time consuming and expensive if you outsource the heavy work.
At the end of the day statistics tend to show that commitment and dedication to it is clearly very fruitful in today's business world.