Social Networking Tools Part III

As a small business, you can use sites like Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn to increase the size and scope of your network, and to increase your web visibility. The more sites there are in cyberspace that include your name and link back to your web site or blog, the better it is for your company and your marketing plan. If you create a YouTube video, have some conversation with any commenters, and post links to the video on your blog or Facebook page. Use Twitter to post "tweets" that will entice readers to your blog. Two articles that explain ways to use these tools are "Boosting Your Sales with Social Networking," by Elaine Appleton Grant in the March 25, 2008 online version of U.S. News and World Report, and, "Are Social Networking Sites Useful for Small Business," by Karen E. Klein in Business Week, August 6, 2008.

You can also monitor sites like Twitter and Yelp to find out if people are talking about your company. If someone posts a complaint or negative comment, you can respond right away, as Comcast's customer service department made news doing earlier this year. The rewards for the investment of your time in networking tools include satisfied customers, and a reputation for good customer service.

Social networking tools for Small Business, Part II

YouTube can be a useful marketing tool for small businesses, provided it is done well. A useful article found on Hubspot.com, "6 Tips for Making a Business Marketing Video," gives you some great advice for making a professional-looking and effective video. Among the points made by the author, Catie Foertsch, are these: use a script, use effective lighting, don't use the built-in microphone on your camera, frame your face (or your product) well, be yourself, and most importantly, end with a "call to action." That is, remind your viewer how to contact you for the chance to take advantage of your great product or service.

Another useful article, including examples of memorable videos, is "How to Market on YouTube," by Stephan Spencer for MarketingProfs.com: more good advice on making YouTube work for you, too.

And finally, you need to get your video noticed. As Stephan Spencer's article mentions, tagging appropriately is important: spread your tags out among your clips; use adjectives to make your videos more visible to folks searching based on their mood; have some category descriptor tags (bearing in mind that YouTube's default search settings are Videos, Relevance and All Categories); match your title and description with your most important tags; and don't use natural language phrases or waste tag space on words like "and" or "to."

In addition to appropriate tagging, you may want to contact the folks at NorthShoreInsider.com, Chicago's North Shore Insider Guide & Video Directory. Their mission, according to their website, is to "[h]elp community businesses increase their profitability within the communities they serve," and they do this by posting local business videos and directories.