SHOW SPECIAL - Attire Accessories magazine
SHOW SPECIAL - Attire Accessories magazine
SHOW SPECIAL - Attire Accessories magazine
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Q&A Technology<br />
Beth Scott from Loud-n-Clear.com Ltd looks at social networking sites and how you could use them<br />
for your business…<br />
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Q<br />
What is “social networking” all about? I’d like to find out how I<br />
can make the most of these sites to raise the profile of my fashion<br />
accessories business online.<br />
AIt does seem as though everyone’s talking about social networking<br />
services these days, posting their photos on Flikr, finding old<br />
schoolmates on Friends Reunited, checking out new bands on MySpace and<br />
keeping in touch with everyone on Facebook. But what are they for and can<br />
businesses make use of them?<br />
According to Wikipedia, “A social network service focuses on building<br />
online communities of people who share interests and/or activities, or who<br />
are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others. Most social<br />
network services are web-based and provide a variety of ways for users to<br />
interact, such as e-mail and various instant messaging services.”<br />
We’re going to look at two examples, but there are hundreds of others -<br />
Wikipedia has over 130 social networking services in its non-exhaustive list of<br />
main active sites!<br />
Facebook (www.facebook.com) is a free social networking site where people<br />
can add friends, send them messages, share pictures with them and update<br />
their status and personal profiles to keep friends informed. Users can also join<br />
networks (geographic, work, educational) and groups (with common interests,<br />
ranging from serious to utterly frivolous) to connect and interact with other<br />
people. There are also many applications available for Facebook users and these<br />
can be shared with other users either through profile updates or by actively<br />
sending an invitation.<br />
This sharing of information is the appeal of Facebook to the business<br />
owner: you can set up a Facebook page for your business that will be visible to<br />
everyone. People can become “fans” of your page, which will be flagged in their<br />
profile, leading their friends to see what they are fans of and hopefully then<br />
looking at your page. You can also set up an event (such as a trade fair) and<br />
invite fans of your page and your friends, giving them the option of inviting<br />
their friends in turn.<br />
Advertising on Facebook is another option that can be used, along with<br />
your page, events and profile, to deliver a very targeted set of prospects to any<br />
number of potential customers.<br />
LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com) is a business-oriented social networking<br />
site, mainly used for professional networking. You build up a network of<br />
colleagues and business associates, and you can use the network to answer<br />
questions, find a new job or a new business opportunity. It’s a good place for a<br />
business to have a presence, especially if you can build a network of customer<br />
and professional contacts that will recommend you. You could also use it to<br />
research some new suppliers or outlets and see what other people are saying<br />
about them.<br />
36 ATTIRE<br />
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Loud-n-Clear.com Ltd have been making<br />
websites for over a decade, specialising in<br />
e-commerce sites for independent businesses.<br />
Beth Scott from Loud-n-Clear.com answers<br />
your questions.<br />
“In addition to joining social networks yourself, it’s<br />
very beneficial if people on those sites are also<br />
talking about your products or services. To make<br />
this easy, social networking sites provide codes<br />
that you can include on your web pages so that<br />
people can easily post your content.”<br />
QHow can I encourage people to “post my content” onto social<br />
networking sites?<br />
AIn addition to joining social networks yourself, it’s very beneficial if<br />
people on those sites are also talking about your products or services. To<br />
make this easy, social networking sites provide codes that you can include on<br />
your web pages so that people can easily post your content. So if someone likes<br />
one of your products or thinks one of your articles is interesting, it only takes<br />
them one click to add it to their favourite site. You could add codes for all the<br />
sites yourself, but there’s a much easier way: AddThis (www.addthis.com). This<br />
free tool provides a simple way to add your page to a host of social networking<br />
sites, as well as bookmarking the page or emailing it to a friend. And you can<br />
see analysis of where and when your site is being listed. A<br />
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We welcome readers’ questions for future issues. Please visit our informative<br />
web page at www.loud-n-clear.com to find out more about the numerous<br />
services available.
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