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Twitter, Facebook, Orkutthese are names that most urban youth are familiar with. In fact their social lives often depend on them. Making this as the best medium to get in touch with their customers, most companies went headlong into social networking, creating websites, profiles, pageseverything they could think to get closer to their buyers. Some of them even recruited social media gurus to plan these ventures, which were then launched with great fanfare.

Social networking has been around for a while. As Internet started evolving, consumers became more web and market savvy, and email marketing campaigns and bland websites became less effective. Hence, its important for businesses to embrace and leverage new technologies in order to continue reaching their target audiences.

This is relatively a new way to create, publish, and distribute content, photos, audio files, and other relevant information online. This collaborative platform enables users to communicate openly and collaborate on Internet.

Social networking media can provide the possibility of finding not only customers, but also the best deals with suppliers. Facebook was started with teenagers connecting with their friends. Today, it is being used by the working class, business people not only to connect, but also to develop business opportunities.

Another networking site, LinkedIn Groups, has become an efficient medium for connecting with the corporate world, where starting from hiring people, every activity of a company is updated.

Even Bollywood actors and politicians could not stay away from this new-found tool, and tried to use it to promote themselves. Its a well known fact that Barack Obama owed a great degree of his success to presidency for his apt usage of the web 2.0 platform.

Ingenious channel partners in India too decided to dabble with this medium; though their numbers are small, quite a few of them have even been able to use it to generate business for their companies. Thus, social networking has now opened up another stream for lead-generationa welcome sign at a time when traditional ways of doing business are rewritten.

Partners Who Caught on Quick
One solution provider who takes pride on his ability for having used social networking is Mumbai based Techgyans Suresh Ramani. With his presence on most web 2.0 platforms, he has already been able to use it to build his brand recall, and widen its reach by regular updates on various sites.

In the past six months, I have got three projects where the software was sold by some other partner, but the customer came to me for implementation based on the buzz around my companys expertise in SMB space. A good part of this buzz came from my active information feeds on various social networking media, says Ramani.

Ramani uses LinkedIn Groups extensively to facilitate communication between International Association of Microsoft Certified Partners (IAMCP) India members. This way he can touch base with people in an effective and non-intrusive way. In fact, these initiatives got him in touch with people who helped him explore offshore business opportunities, especially in drafting services to architectural companies in the US.

Mumbai based Xpress Computers is also present on various social networking sites. The company considers this media as a premier channel for communicating with customers and the outside worldto announce new products, changes, opinions, reviews, etc.

Chetan Shah, MD, Xpress Computers, opines, I believe that social networking sites have seen massive acceptance in the corporate world as well as among the personal users in the last one year. A business entity should formulate strategies to keep their pages live and updated for users to keep using them often. Ensuring two-way communication is also very important.

Another systems integrator company, is Sam7 India, which offers consultancy services to small and medium business, is on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Its director Sampath Iyengar believes that social networking sites are for connecting emotionally, as friends come first and the business will follow. He has generated more than Rs 1 lakh from social networking contacts, which might not be a huge amount. But having tasted this initial fruit of success, he has plans to start commercial activities in a structured manner.

According to Iyengar, social networking was a linear progression, but now the usage has become exponential. I have friends on my Facebook profile who refer me to their friends for various IT services. Incidentally, I have crossed 1,000 friends count on Facebook, and quite a few of them are business associates, says Iyengar.

Not in It for Money
Strangely very few early business adopters of social networking did this with a clear plan to monetize their efforts. Most of them look at it as a way to create brand equity for themselves and their companies, or to reach out to more business partners.

Shah says, I am not looking into monetizing my efforts with my presence on social media. Rather my focus is on stronger bonding, faster interaction, and using it as an effective medium to communicate.

Voicing the same view Iyengar says, Social media should be used for creating a circle of influence and increasing brand awareness and business will follow.

Ramani feels that this medium is a sure-fire way to get recommendations for good manpower unobtrusively. and then hire people. This is why he advocates that users should be discreet when using these sites.

Yet others use these sites just to keep track of the latest happenings in the industry. Gaurang Bhatt, CEO of Ignition Infotech, follows DQ Channels updates on Twitter, as the best way to be updated about news in his domain of interest. He follows other technology posts on Facebook, participates in discussions, and constantly invites his friends and customers to post their views.

LinkedIn has proved effective for my business of importing third party software and plug-ins. Though not frequently, I do get leads for business from across the country. Facebook and Twitter helps more when you are posting information about emerging technologies, and your existing friends and customers contact you for more information, says Bhatt.

No More Limits
Earlier most users of social networking included only friends to their network. But now this circle has extended itself to include family, colleagues, customers, and vendors.

Ascertaining that this medium has no limitations, Bhatt says, I may tarnish my image by posting frivolous status and comments, or strengthen it by posting good, informative, humorous and intelligent comments. Bhatt believes that once customers know what really you are in life, outside business, they start considering you as a friend; they open up and give more honest feedback on your offerings, that helps in fine tuning your business offerings.

This is also why it is very imperative that users are cautious in the content they post, especially on those sites where they have invited people who would have some kind of bearing on their business. When used selectively, social networking media can be a powerful tool for identifying new business partners, prospective customers, or simply building your personal or business presence, says Sanjay Mehta of Maia Intelligence. He started his own company, and has since then been using social networking extensively to increase technical awareness amongst his customers and channel partners. And unlike other vendors, he does this on his own, without having roped in any expert and is now a self-taught guru on the subject.

If you propose to emulate his example, it would be the best if you first decide on the network which is ideally suited for your business or industry category, so that you are in touch with people who have the affinity for the same topic. By doing this, youll cut through the clutter, and clearly establish your niche, keeping the interaction focused on the specific subject matter.

Once youve selected the networks you want to belong to, begin by filling out your profile page with pertinent information about yourself, your company, and your contacts, Mehta suggests.

And if you want to learn more from like-minded people, then join groups to make new contacts, and participate in forum discussions. These discussions give you yet another avenue for displaying your expertise.

Finally, take advantage of the widgets that networking sites offer. There are widgets that allow you to add virtual fliers and brochures to your page, plug-in company news and events, and post videos, for instance, adds Mehta.

But whatever you do, remember that you are joining communities of people, and rules of etiquette still apply. Promote your company by all means, but dont be overly aggressive or invasive about your marketing. Market your business well and youll get more respect and probably a lot more serious leads. Social media sites put a humane face on your business and allow people to get an impression of what a relationship with you would be like. And like in any relationship this means you will have to put your best foot forward and be at your best behavior.

Vasudevan N/DQ Channels
maildqindia@cybermedia.co.in

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