What is Social Networking and why is it important?
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The best way to describe the importance of social networking is perhaps to compare it to a chance meeting in a supermarket with someone you don’t know and have never met.
You perhaps collided briefly next to the crunchy nut cornflakes, said your apologies then after the all too familiar embarrassing pause you went your separate ways. When this happens you have simply no way of telling if the person you bumped into was at all interesting, what they did for a living or if they could ever be considered as someone who you may wish to meet again or even strike up a conversation with.
Consider this scenario:
You join a social networking group online and fill your profile with as many interesting facts as you can, all about your work, why you joined the network in the first place, what you can offer other members of the network etc...
Another member looking through members profiles or searching for key phrases comes across your profile as you mentioned that you are involved in marketing or sales and they are always looking for good tips and ways to increase their own sales. They message you, formally at first but with no embarrassment as they can’t see you online or possible tell that you need a spellchecker to make sure your name is correct. They ask you for advice as you are in a particular field and look forward to your reply.
As the question was directed to you alone and as they have asked a specifically worded and focused question you of course feel obliged to reply, perhaps even flattered that someone should consider you as a source of assistance.
You oblige and answer the question to the best of your ability which results in increased sales for your new contact but more importantly, through the conversations you have been building, you realise that this individual is a specialist in security which by chance is something you simply do not have enough of at your present office, something that has had you thinking over the past few months.
Before you know it, your new business contact has been able to quote you a very competitive price for the new security system that will ensure you can sleep at night and your office will be a lot safer.
You now realise how much social networking has helped your business, you mention this to your new business contact and you both have a laugh when you realise that both of you bumped into a stranger in front of the crunchy nut cornflakes.
The moral: don’t dismiss the power of networking, be it face to face or through an online networking medium, it exists for a purpose and that purpose is to help you succeed...
Date: 24/06/2008
Category: SOCIAL ARTICLES