When contemplating how many sites on which you need to be active to successfully promote your brand or business, there are several factors to consider.
Some of these factors concern the kind of business that you have. If, for example, you have a very select business, such as people who are candidates for a very specific cosmetic surgery, you probably don’t need to be on that many sites. You may simply have to find the one or two sites where these people congregate online.
On the other hand, if you have an online fruit basket business that ships anywhere in the U.S., you may be better served being on as many social networking sites as you can realistically handle by following a well-defined online marketing plan.
A different question arises as to whether you should start your own social networking site. Here there are other considerations.
The first one is that you or someone else has to monitor such a site if it is an open forum. No matter how clearly you make the rules, such as no swearing on the site, people are going to break the rules. And you need monitors to jump on the offending comments and get those acts cleaned up asap.
The second consideration is whether there is really a need for the specific-focused site you have in mind or is there already an existing social media platform that you can enthusiastically join? If, for example, there is a very large and very active Facebook group of the type of people you plan to target with your own group, do you want to compete with that Facebook group or join it and reap the existing benefits?
Before you decide to reinvent the wheel on your own site, check out what other wheels already exist. If there’s one in your size and shape that is doing a good job, think twice before starting your own social networking site.
Learn more about Internet marketing with “What You Should Know About Marketing on the Internet”
© 2009 Miller Mosaic, LLC
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