Social networking is a term with scope much larger than what the term states – it’s not just about social networking. I have seen people who have said they were virtually getting tired of the term called “Social networking”, with so many of such sites offering the same services lined up, rising with every tide and in huge numbers, often failing to differentiate their product offerings from the others. Well, I would say those would be the people who haven’t looked at the “Opportunity” side of the coin. Every idea, every phenomenon has two sides – one could be the problem or the mundane side, which might either mean trouble or might not mean much, and the other would invariably spell “Opportunity”.

Social networking sites, which come under the wider phenomenon called “Social Media” is a perfect opportunity for business. Entrepreneurs, specifically, have a lot to gain out of these sites which offer them the platform to launch their products and services on and showcase them to the public. Social media is the pedestal that would project your product into the mind space of consumers.

With all the business opportunity that social media sites provide, they wouldn’t guarantee success to each and everyone who gets on to the social media bandwagon. In other words, social media is not free meal to every aspirant – one has to work for it and know how to make the most of the opportunity. There are people who have been in the phenomenon for years and yet haven’t had anything to write home about. On the other hand, there are those savvy entrepreneurs who have just known where the social media phenomenon fits in with their overall business idea and how they could be leveraged to maximise business potential. So, how can you maximise the potential of social media for your organisation and emerge successful, both online and offline? Here are some tips for success on social media for your business:

1. Twitter for Business: Like it or not, Twitter is one of your best bets. Twitter has been on the internet for over 3 years now and 3 years is a reasonable time for proof of stability of a platform on the internet. While the business model of Twitter may be yet to be proved, the fact is that Twitter is home to millions and you can not just ignore the phenomenon of such significance when you are into business, trying to sell stuff to people online and offline. For further tips on how you can use Twitter for your business, you may read my post on Twitter for Business.

2. Twitter is not the only place on internet: This is a mistake that some people do – if not recognising the power of Twitter is a problem, over-estimating the potential of the Tweeting bird and putting all your business eggs on the Twitter basket is yet another problem. Use Twitter, but do not depend exclusively on Twitter – if you do, you are spending your all important resources, effort and time on one platform that may have only so much to offer. Twitter may be a good tool to promote your business but you can not possibly sell your products and services on Twitter. Twitter may help you make money online but you can not possibly print money on Twitter.

3. Invest to Reap Rewards: Being in business is no child’s play. You are in the serious business of making money and you need to invest to get returns on investments. With all the power of Social Media, do not be hoaxed into believing that you can have a clean sweep at your business objectives without investing what you have to invest. All said and done, the basics of business are going to be the same and the new-age phenomena called social media only add on to what you do for your business at a more fundamental level. Make sure you can invest proportionately to what you expect to have in return.

4. Use Blogs for Business: Blogs are one of the basic tools in the e-commerce model. Blogs are what would give you life in the internet. Being on Twitter is all fine, but Twitter would help you project your image and would be a valuable extension for your blog. If you choose not to blog, you are missing out on a vital tool of propagating your message and services to your target audience.

5. Get into Video Blogging: If you are blogging, into a whole lot of social media including Twitter and are also ready to invest money, go to the next level – Video Blogging. Video Blogging has a distinct advantage – it gives you the stamp of authenticity as to who you are, it gives your message a personal touch, it gives your products a personality and it helps people readily identify with you. Use videos in your blog and be active on YouTube. Use short videos to project the image that you want to have of your organisation and products. And be precise and add value to your audience. Ultimately, it is only the value that matters – everything else are tools to delivering value.