Handle This.....
Advice from Projects Unlimited, Inc.

MySpace or Yours?
Using Social Networking Sites to Connect with Your Target Market



MySpace or yours? This might not be the first question that comes to your mind when you are planning a big event or announcement, but perhaps it should be. Conventional forms of communication like newspaper ads and paper newsletters are becoming less effective when it comes to capturing the attention of today’s savvy audience. This is why social networking sites like MySpace, LinkedIn and Facebook have emerged as innovative tools to help professionals like you network, connect and market your programs and services for free.

So, have you delved into the world wide web of social networking sites? If you haven’t, there is no better time than the present to identify the options and select the one that is the best fit for your organization or company. If you are questioning the validity of using sites like MySpace, LinkedIn, or Facebook, we, along with several colleagues, can testify to the benefits of using such sites.

“My favorite social networking site is LinkedIn,” says Andre Natta the publisher & managing editor of The Terminal, a web publication that covers news and issues in Birmingham and the surrounding region. “It has allowed me to virtually "meet" some incredible people, regain contact with former co-workers and acquaintances and interact with others in my fields of expertise that I would have never been able to.”

We asked Andre to give us a specific example of how LinkedIn has been beneficial for him. He replied as follows:
“I was preparing to go to BlogWorld (an annual blogging conference in Las Vegas) and noticed on their website that there were conversations taking place on LinkedIn. Joining in on some of those conversations allowed me to "meet" some of the attendees before I arrived in Las Vegas and resulted in advice on improving both the marketing of the site and the development of content for it. I also was able to get a year's worth of free services to assist in managing and collecting leads”. 

Andre is proof that what happens in Vegas doesn’t always have to stay in Vegas! Thanks to LinkedIn, the connections he was able to make at the conference there have led to strategic relationships that will benefit his company for some time.

We all know that MySpace, another popular social networking site, has received somewhat of a negative reputation due to the unfortunate misuse by some of its members. However, MySpace has also proven to be quite an effective tool for a variety of nonprofit organizations and businesses who wish to connect with area young professionals and garner support for their causes.

For example, by day, Mike Mahon is a Mergers and Acquisitions Associate at FHL CAPITAL CORPORATION in Birmingham. However, in his spare time, he has generated a lot of buzz regarding the fundraising effort for Red Mountain Park by creating a MySpace page to promote the project. “For the Friends of Red Mountain Park, MySpace provided the perfect grassroots avenue to quickly educate and excite over 6,000 people in 6 months,” he said. “MySpace has been beneficial to us by providing a simple, content-rich, interactive complement to our main website.”  

There are so many social networking sites that identifying the right one for you can be quite daunting. We have developed this handy tip sheet to get you started. The list below outlines 5 of the most popular sites:

LinkedIn:

  1. LinkedIn is a business-oriented social networking site founded in December 2002 and launched in May 2003 mainly used for professional networking
  2. As of December 2007, site traffic was 3.2 million visitors per month, growing at an annual growth rate of about 485%
  3. As of May 2008, it had more than 20 million registered users, spanning 150 industries
  4. Click here to go to website

MySpace:

  1. There are approximately 235 million people in the MySpace network
  2. MySpace allows users to create a profile, write blogs, play music, exchange photos, messages, bulletins and other postings, and generally stay in touch with people in their circle of friends
  3. Members can decorate backgrounds, personalizing them with their own individual style preferences
  4. Click here to go to website

Facebook:

  1. Facebook has more than 70 million active users worldwide.
  2. According to Alexa, the website's ranking among all websites increased from 60th to 7th in terms of traffic, from September 2006 to September 2007
  3. Users can join networks organized by city, workplace, school, and region to connect and interact with other people
  4. People can also add friends and send them messages, and update their personal profile to notify friends about themselves
  5. The website's name refers to the paper facebooks depicting members of a campus community that some American colleges and preparatory schools give to incoming students, faculty, and staff as a way to get to know other people on campus
  6. Click here to go to website 

Twitter:

  1. Twitter is a social networking and micro-blogging service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?
  2. Twitter allows users to send "updates" (or "tweets"; text-based posts, up to 140 characters long) to the Twitter website, via the Twitter website, short message service (SMS), instant messaging, or a third-party application such as Twitterrific or Facebook
  3. Updates are displayed on the user's profile page and instantly delivered to other users who have signed up to receive them
  4. Click here to go to website 

hi5:

  1. hi5 is a social networking website, which, throughout 2007, was one of the 25 most visited sites on the web
  2. As of April 2008, hi5 has over 80 million registered members
  3. Click here to go to website 

Out of all the options, LinkedIn seems to be a favorite among our colleagues. Jay Brandrup, founder and principal of web design firm Kinetic Communications, tells us that LinkedIn retains a more professional, business-like atmosphere.  “We enjoy connecting people here at Kinetic, and LinkedIn has allowed us to refer colleagues who didn’t previously know about each other -- leading to new business relationships and career opportunities,” he said. “We’ve even received media inquiries through LinkedIn. If we hadn’t been on LinkedIn, we might have missed those opportunities.”

Brandrup cautions users to only accept invitations from people they know, trust and respect.  He encourages everyone to manage your online reputation in the same way you would your offline reputation.

Natta offers a bit of advice as well, “You can only get out of it what you put into it. These networks can be extremely powerful tools in terms of establishing new relationships or strengthening existing ones but they only work because of the fluid exchange of ideas that take place. Don't be afraid to jump into a conversation.”

Clearly, we live in a technology driven society. We’re always on our laptops, BlackBerry’s and other devices; always sending emails, text and instant messages. If we can use the Internet to conduct research, exchange information, shop and even date on-line, then why not use social networking sites to promote our businesses, programs and services. If you’re not utilizing the powerful tools that are out there, you could be missing out on ways to retain your audience and attract new ones. So, we encourage you to take the plunge and select a social networking site that meets your needs.  

Click here to see our LinkedIn profile.

© 2007 Projects Unlimited, Inc. All Rights Reserved.