What Not to Do If You Are Promoting a Small Business on MySpace

I recently read an article in a popular business magazine which suggested that the website MySpace.com is one of the most effective ways to promote a small business. After reading the article, I decided to make a deal with the devil and promote my home-based business on a site that I loathe.

My deal worked. Since creating my profile on MySpace.com I've sold products, my site traffic has grown and I've even secured a few freelancing jobs. While I've personally had a great experience selling my business on MySpace, I've come to the conclusion that a MySpace account can be just as detrimental to someone's home based business as it is helpful.

Here are a few of my personal "what not to do" tips if you are trying to promote a small business on MySpace....

First, while I understand that you may have a crush on "McDreamy" please don't devote half of your space to him...and the other half to your home-based business. At what point am I supposed to take you seriously? The part where you share your x-rated fantasies about the former "Can't Buy Me Love" star or the part where you are trying to sell me candles or mineral makeup?

Second, I could care less what your "stripper name" is, and I doubt anyone else does either. Are you a Miranda, Carrie, Charlotte or Samantha? Get over yourself, get back to work and stop taking stupid internet quizzes.

Third, the little glittery sign that says "sexy bi#ch" actually has "'I'm still in Jr. High" written all over it. I want to do business with grown-ups, not insecure pre-teens.

If your profile song is littered with words like "pimp, bi-otch and ho" I will not look at your products, use your services or pay you to care for my children.

Frankly, you will lose my business even if you have too many glittery things on your site. I am sorry, but glitter should be reserved for preschoolers, clowns and the prom. If you create a glittery name, a glittery heart, angel or butterfly on "MySpace" it screams "silly, immature and tacky".

Case and point. I was visiting a friend's MySpace page and found another local woman I had met earlier in the year. Out of curiosity, I clicked on her site. It was the classic MySpace 'stupid crap' dumping ground. My eyes still hurt.

Where do I start? It had an over-sized glittery pink playboy bunny background. It had a few quizzes. "What kind of kisser are you?" "What color bikini are you"? It had a few classic drunk photos of the site owner and her friends. It had half-naked photos of various celebrities and numerous dirty jokes including a picture of several fake Sesame Street characters....errrr, *enjoying each other's company*.

Did I mention that this women is a 28 year old mother of two little boys, a direct seller AND a daycare owner? When I met her in person, I thought she was sweet and funny. I even considered paying her to watch my children on a "drop-in" basis. After seeing *her space* I am not sure if I will be able to look at her again without blushing.

In case you are interested, she's a "Samantha", a shy kisser and has the personality of a red bikini. She might be a sexy bit*h...but she is one very stupid business woman. Her space is costing her business and she is too busy playing with shiny things to realize it.