Using Social Networking to Get Testimonials and Build Your Business

You don't have to be a tech geek to know that Web 2.0 has completely changed the way things work online. If you wise up to these trends, you can easily use them to your advantage. Now, before you start to think that you're going to have to spend all day "friending" people on MySpace and other social networking sites, hold on a minute! This can be done in a time-efficient manner that makes a significant contribution to your business in a way that doesn't overwhelm your schedule.

Social networking can in some cases make or break your online business. Taking an example from American politics, the 2006 U.S. Senate campaign of George Allen, the favored candidate in Virginia, was literally derailed by one video that was posted on YouTube and crawled its way virally through the internet. Your good customers can become instant evangelizers by willingly promoting your great service through their own network of friends and colleagues, but disappointed customers can spread information through cyber word of mouth just as quickly.

When you bring a viral component into your advertising by encouraging rapid dissemination of positive information, you greatly increase your chances of success online. Here are a few ideas to get you thinking virally...

1) Put a video up on YouTube.

Enough said! It's easy, free, and extremely viral. YouTube is a huge online community where more than 100 million videos are seen each and every day, so there are plenty of potential visitors just waiting to see what you've got.

2) Make a profile on MySpace.com, Facebook.com, or another social networking site that fits your business's profile.

If Presidential candidates can set up Facebook profiles, so can you! Again, it's easy to do and completely free. This can be an easy way for your customers to keep in touch with you and show that they are proud to be affiliated with your brand.

3) Add a "tell-a-friend" feature to your website.

By adding a simple form to your website that offers visitors a special bonus for telling their friends about your site, you can get automatic peer-to-peer referrals... the best kind! There are several tell-a-friend solutions, many of them offered free, and installing one on your site one time can mean droves of traffic long into the future.

4) Go multimedia.

Today's internet surfers often prefer to hear or watch content rather than read it. Give visitors what they want, and they will come back... and bring their friends!

The possibilities are endless... let your imagination run wild and the applications of social networking to your business will never cease to emerge!