You’ve heard it a hundred times: “I just don’t get Facebook and Twitter. They are massive time wasters.”
But the fact is, if you are active on social media you can greatly expand your circle of acquaintances, become known to more people, and increase your opportunities to make contact for business purposes.
One way of looking at a social media network like Facebook is to think of it as if you were joining a church or service club. I am not suggesting that the only reason you join these groups is to gain a business advantage. But it certainly doesn’t hurt. If you approach your membership in those groups strategically, and if you use your common sense in a tactful way, they can be the source of many fruitful business contacts.
The same goes for social networks like Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin.
From the business point of view you join social media networks to expand your circle of contacts, which in turn expands your sphere of influence and increases the total number of people likely to do business with you. In other words, every time you add a friend or connection to one of these networks you are expanding your pool of prospects.
Of course not all friends are potential customers or business associates. But many of them will be – either directly or indirectly. This obviously depends on what kind of business you have. Many businesses cater to consumers. These are often referred to as “b2c” businesses (business to consumer), and for these just about anybody they connect with on social media is a prospect.
Other companies deal primarily with other businesses (b2b), so the pool of prospects is smaller and more finely targeted. However, even people who are not directly in business or in management positions can be valuable connections. Many of them will know other business people, or be employees of companies you may be interested in reaching. So they may be in a position to connect you with or refer you to others who are more directly looking for your kind of products or services.
It is just a fact of life that the larger your network of friends and contacts, the more beneficial that network will be for your business activities. That is the primary reason for constantly working at expanding your network of contacts.
