Social Networking vs Online Advertising

Social Networking vs Online Advertising Trina L.C. Sonnenberg

Social networking is hot right now. How many people do you know that have a MySpace page? I'm not talking about the kids that have memberships to social networking groups, or dating sites, but real networking groups for business people, like Bizpreneur Network, for example.

The great thing about some social networking groups geared toward business minded people, is that not everyone in the membership has an MLM to promote. You know... the typical place where all anyone does is advertise to everyone else. For example: I have met people of a variety of talents from painters, soap makers, printers, artists of all sorts, to name a few, at Bizpreneur. There are ways to optimize your social networking experience, to make the best relationships you can. When you design your personal home page, you should remember that not everyone sees their computer screen as you see yours. Try to make your fonts a color that is readable, for everyone. Remember too, not everyone has perfect eyesight, so blaring colors may drive someone away and colors that are too muted just won't be seen. Keep the sounds and artwork/banners rather toned down. If you have to much going on, it will distract visitors from reading your message. Don't make your page a banner farm. This page offers the opportunity for people to get to know you, what you do, etc... Use words. People will visit your page and stay there longer, if you have something to say, rather than something to show Let your visitors get to know who YOU are, not just everything you're promoting. Do post your photo on your page. Let people see who you are; put a face to the information. Don't post a picture of your product as a profile picture. Like I keep saying... People want to know you, not what you sell. (That comes later.) When visiting others' pages, be polite. By this I mean, don't go posting advertisements, text or otherwise, or warp their pages by adding cutsy graphics. It is rude to post images and advertisements to someone elses web space without permission. And, did you know that when you post an image that you picked up from some freebie web site, that you are placing an advertisement and click through link on their site, which like stealing their space. Not to mention the those images are usually large enough to distort the page. Post comments, but not ads. Social networking communities are awesome! They are one of the best Internet business resources going. Bizpreneur Network is my recommendation. Networking and advertising ARE NOT synonymous. Networking is about building relationships with other people, not handing them a bill o' goods. Copyright © 2007 The Trii-Zine Ezine www.ezines1.com About the Author: Trina L.C. Sonnenberg Publisher - The Trii-Zine Ezine - Your Trusted Source for Internet Business and Marketing Information. Serving online professionals since 2001. ISSN# 1555-2276 http://www.ezines1.com/triizine http://www.ads-on-q.com/intro Keywords: social networking, online advertising, Internet marketing