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Social marketing for solo-preneurs
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Dan McComb
If you 're one of the 20 million Americans who operate a one-person business, then you may want to check out Biznik.com, a social networking site created just for you.
According to co-founder Dan McComb, individuals who run such businesses have the most to gain from social networking. "They have a lot of challenges with thriving and surviving. Whether small businesses succeed or fail is because of connections and relationships they establish or fail to establish," he said.
Although geared for solo operators, Biznik is different from such sites as MySpace and Facebook in another important way: members can interact online and in person. Biznik is organized by geographical areas, though members can connect with any of the members nationwide. They can hold their own face-to-face events that anyone can sponsor.
"In the world we're moving into, participation equals marketing. People don't want to be sold to and a lot of businesses can't afford to advertise. Biznik is a hybrid between being purely online, as in Facebook, and face-to-face trade organizations," McComb said.
But being successful on Biznik, or any other social networking site, requires interaction with the other members.
"If you think you can just create a profile [on a network] and put your name out, it won't work. You have to interact with people," McComb said. "If you just try to sell things on social media, you will fail. But once you've established a relationship with someone, you've earned the right to market to them."
One concern that some people have is the time commitment. McComb said that you can network in as little as 10 minutes per day. "Read an article and post a comment," he said.
There are at least three common types of comments, according to McComb:
1. You can extend what the author said. If they list 10 things, add number 11.
2. Pose a question to the author.
3. Challenge the author. You may agree with some points but disagree with others.
"What you are doing in this process is that you can really start to get known for something. That's at the heart of networking. You reveal something about yourself so people can decide if they want to connect with you," McComb said.
Doing this type of interaction takes advantage of another, little-known aspect of business networking. It's called the Power of Weak Connections.
"Most people don't get jobs through friends, they get them through acquaintances," McComb said. "You need a stream of fresh faces. That's where the growth can occur, at the edge of your network, rather than at the center. It's great to have close friends, but they tend to have the same interests. They don't know of any new opportunities."
There is one other aspect to social networking. "Have fun," McComb said. "If you're not having fun, you won't keep at it,
Danek S. Kaus is a member of Biznik.
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