Tips for managing your Social Networks

Networking is one of the most important aspects of building and growing a business.  I attend a lot of face to face networking meetings and I am a big believer that there is nothing like building a relationship by meeting someone in person.  However, meeting someone face to face is not always an option.

To save traveling time and meet people across the country, I have developed an online networking & marketing strategy.  I leverage social networking websites to make connections and build relationships.

Social networks allow businesses to find and develop new sales prospects, research companies you want to do business with, and job hunting and employee recruitment, and build brand awareness.

The biggest challenge for most people in managing social networks is TIME.

Here are some tips to help you manage your social networks:

1. Only join as many networking sites as you can manage and know WHY you’re joining them.  Dee Barizo offers 3 Reasons Not to Target Too Many Social Media Sites

2. It is also important to find niche social networking sites where you can reach the people you’re likely to market to.  For example, if your business sells dog products, you should join dogster.com, which is a social networking site for dog owners.
3. Set aside time to be a part of the community.  Social Networking is all about being a part of the community. I schedule my social networking time into my calendar and generally spend 1 hour a day managing my social networks.
   
   
4. Link your accounts – Most social networking sites allow you to link your profile with your twitter account.  Every time I post something on my twitter account, all of my social networking sites automatically get updated with the same information.  You can also use HelloTxt or Ping.fm to cross post your messages across multiple sites.
5. Use AtomKeep to manage all of your social networking profiles in one place – AtomKeep allows you to link all of your social networking accounts into one AtomKeep account.  After that, every time you edit your AtomKeep profile, all of your social networking accounts automatically get updated with your latest profile information. When joining new social networking sites, you can simply link to AtomKeep and push your profile information across.

Social networking can be a very effective, however, you need to manage your networks so they work for you.

Related posts:

1. Social Networks Around the World
2. Social Networks and Online Shopping Collide to Create “Social Shopping”
3. Tips for following up with contacts after a meeting or conference
4. Time management tips for working women in technology
5. 5 ways to promote your blog