Social Networking In The Print Realm

Very recently the word social networking was brought to my attention. I always knew of sites such as facebook and myspace, but I always used those sites for personal use and entertainment. For those of you who don’t know, social networking is defined by wikipedia as

A social network service focuses on building online communities of people who share interests and/or activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others. Most social network services are web based and provide a variety of ways for users to interact, such as e-mail and instant messaging services.

Social networking has created new ways to communicate and share information. Social networking websites are being used regularly by millions of people, and it now seems that social networking will be an enduring part of everyday life. The main types of social networking services are those which contain directories of some categories (such as former classmates), means to connect with friends (usually with self-description pages), and recommender systems linked to trust. Popular methods now combine many of these, with MySpace and Facebook being the most widely used in North America;^[1] Nexopia (mostly in Canada);^[2] Bebo,^[3]Facebook, Hi5, MySpace, Tagged, Xing;^[4] and Skyrock in parts of Europe;^[5] Orkut and Hi5 in South America and Central America;^[6] and Friendster, Orkut, Xiaonei and Cyworld in Asia and the Pacific Islands.

I decided that this might be a tool I could use for my business. But does social networking really result in sales? I posted this topic on a small business networking site http://sta.rtup.biz/. You can see the whole thread http://sta.rtup.biz/forum/topics/does-promoting-your-business?x=1&id=2084667%3ATopic%3A2655179&page=1#comments. What came out of this thread and what I have learned so far that social networking needs to be used just as any other business to business networking technique. It is about building relationships. One must act as they would at any networking event. Put yourself out there and be prepared to help others as much as you want help yourself.

What does this mean in the print world? Well my friend, that is something I am unsure of at this point. So far in my social networking journey I have put myself out there on many sites. I actually find it very enjoyable. My husband will pick on me and say that I am wasting my time, and not actually “working”,  but I am confident that my efforts will pay off. I joined the small business group I mentioned above. That one so far seems to be generating the most traffic to our updated website www.foleybf.com. I have bought facebook ad space. We have people clicking on that but so far nothing has come from it. I also started a facebook group called Foley Business Forms & Print Solutions and so far the only members are people that I know. I am active on twitter. My name is www.twitter.com/foleybf feel free to follow me there. I am active in groups on www.linkedin.com. I find this site to be the most beneficial in the realm of printing. Here I am able to start and respond to discussion topics about the industry. I have been getting good ideas here, and hopefully will be making good contacts. So far, no sales have been generated, but I have to believe that I am on the forefront of this new networking technique.

 I am  finding that people who are in charge of buying printed products for their companies, and other items that we sell are not the ones who actively use these sites and techniques. That being said, I still believe my efforts will get my company’s name out there. You never know who will be searching for you, and if some extra time online allows them to find me, then HOORAY for SOCIAL NETWORKING!