Are you missing out socially?

That is a fine position to be in if you are an individual, however, the rules change as soon as you step through the door marked ‘Business owner.’

Business owners take heed and consider this analogy. You may not read your local free paper or magazine that appears through your door and all the doors of your neighbours, but the chances are that you advertise in it. You probably do this, because you know that your potential customers read it (or at least some of them do) and that means revenue generating leads for you.

The same is true for social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and any others you care to mention. You will be missing out on future customers, unless you engage with the technology and establish a presence.

Even if the thought of posting something online is frightening to you and you really can’t bring yourself round to joining a social network, you can still benefit from them without actively taking part yourself.

The simple answer is to make it easy for visitors to your website to share your pages. All of the major social networks allow you to add buttons to your site, which let their users share your content with their friends and colleagues. In the case of Twitter and Google+ especially, you may find someone sharing your web pages with thousands (or even millions!) of followers.

If you do decide to take the plunge and join a social network yourself, don’t feel daunted. Start small and share things with your friends and family. It’s a great way to keep in touch with people you know from across the world.

If you join Facebook, you only need to ‘friend’ people you actually know. With Google+ you can choose exactly who gets to see what whenever you post anything via your circles. Be selective until you feel ready to post publicly.

Alan Stainer

http://www.alansitsolutions.com