Sunday, January 31, 2010

Why Social Networking Is Necessary in Today’s Businesses

Why Social Networking Is Necessary in Today's Businesses


Social Networking is the current term for an old ingredient for business growth- connecting with people. Today's generation of young entrepreneurs and professionals view signing-up on social networking sites in a similar way their parents before them joined clubs or associations related to their professions or trade.


It makes a big difference for a professional to take time to properly maintain his business contacts. He is more likely to get more business opportunities, more ideas and more offers when he dares to step out of his comfort zone than someone who only relies in his old circle of friends. It's called probability, the law of averages, and it is based on numbers.


LinkedIn is probably the most widely recognized social networking site for professionals- a site where you can connect with old friends and make new acquaintances based on common trade, business or industry affinity. If you want to start on a familiar site where your membership has already been established, Facebook (who doesn't own an account these days?) lets you create a business page. Twitter is also quite useful if you want to get the latest score from groups of interest that you follow. Twitter is also a good way of gauging your online reach- if you can see a steadily growing number of followers, then that's a clear indication that people are interested in what you have to say.


Networking allows you to literally get in touch with thousands of like-minded business people. Perhaps one of those encounters holds the key to a promotion, product idea, or business process that you have been developing for some time. Social networking sites allow you to lay the base for a professional relationship which could prove valuable later in your career. At the very least, exchanging ideas regarding common interests through emails, retweets, status messages, blogs and forums would make it much easier to meet in person. This is where the real work of establishing a good professional relationship can start- building trust.