Everyone who has every attempted to start a business, either on or off the web, knows that the key to business success is social networking.  Getting the word out that you are in business, and that the product or service that you sell is important and valuable, is central to building a strong customer or client base.

Online Social Networking Websites can help.

Make Yourself Known

The key to a successful business is attracting customers or clients.  The most effective way to do that is to somehow let people who have a need for your product to learn about your existence. 

While ads essentially work to some degree, for the most part they are virtually ignored by potential customers or clients.  Most people who decide to purchase a product don't do so immediately in response to an ad.  They will research the product or service that they need, and they will ask friends and family for advice and referrals.

This is where the value of social networking comes in.

Offline, if you have friends who have been your customers or friends who are involved in the same sort of business that you are - you often will end up getting mentioned in conversations that they have with their own business partners.  It might be as simple as a business partner telling your friend that they really have a need for web design services.  Your friend, who knows that you run a web design business and that you do excellent work, will offer the business contact your name and number.  You now have a potential customer who is much more willing to purchase your product or service than any customer who would be responding to an ad.

Online Social Networking works in very much the same way.  As you build an online social network of business partners and customers who you meet to discuss the industry or business ideas, you will develop a reputation among this social network as an expert in your particular field.  The contacts that you form and foster in your social network will begin to mention you to members of their social network - and before you know it, your own social network (and potential customers and clients) will begin to grow exponentially.

There is no faster known system to building a business than developing and fostering an active social network.  "Word-of-Mouth" is the key to business success - and online social networks can take advantage of that phenomenon to a great degree through the power of the internet.  Because of online social networking sites, your social networking for business can expand outside of your local geographical area and immediately grow into the online global marketplace.  This is an enormous advantage for any business.

Making Friends and Influencing People

The key to making social networking sites work for your business, is to first and foremost "make friends."   This is exactly what it sounds like.  Social networking sites provide you a wide multitude of ways to introduce yourself to people and to strike up conversations.  This may be on a forum, a chat room, or a simple messaging system within a social networking website.  Whichever the preferred method of the site is, make sure you constantly run careful searches of the website's membership related to the industry that your business is a part of.  Once you find other folks out there who do the same things that you do - introduce yourself.  Send a message or reply to their forum posts and strike up a conversation related to the business or industry. 

Enjoy yourself - it's about having a fun discussion and getting to know other people as individuals.  There is an entire world of interesting and fascinating people out there - don't limit yourself to thinking in terms of customers or clients.  Think of people in terms of friends and colleagues, who may happen to require your services.  Present your product as a way to assist or to fill a need related to some issue or problem that might be expressed in their messages or forum posts.  Don't "sell yourself" - simply offer your services and support to the person with the tone of a friend who is offering assistance.

Additionally - don't limit yourself to members who are part of the same industry as you.  Make sure to brainstorm related industries of businesses that generally have a need for your service.  For example, if you are a writer - you might consider searching for social contacts who work in the publishing industry.  If you are a website designer, you might look for social contacts who work for companies who express a need for an internet presence.  Thinking outside of the box to find opportunities to offer your services or product is critical to using your social network to drastically grow your business.

Remember - people don't buy from salesmen, they prefer to buy from friends.  So don't be a salesman - be a friend.

Where To Start

While generic social networking websites can be very valuable tools for developing important contacts who may require your services or product - the most efficient way to develop contacts who will actively be seeking help from other industries is to join a business social networking website.  These websites are focused on connecting businesses to each other.  It's the business version of MySpace - except extremely well designed, and not overrun by teenagers.

Three of the most popular business social networking sites include LinedIn,  ryze business networking, or Tribe - just to name a few of the most popular.

Once you join, you simply create a profile detailing your business and what you do for work, your interests, and additional information that will help to define who you are and what you do.

Then - you can start browsing profiles and comments, and start meeting people and making friends.

Dale Carnegie once said:

"You can make more friends in two months by becoming more interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get people interested in you"

Remember this - and practice it when you work to create new contacts.  Take an interest in what they do.  Learn what they're interests are and what they are actively pursuing.  Not only will you make some great friends, but you will discover that opportunities for your service to help them in their efforts simply present themselves on their own.

Social Networking Sites can help you to succeed in your business because they offer us ways to get away from simply obtaining "sales" - and to instead embrace mutual respect and collaboration with friends.