Going Beyond Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn

Looking to promote your business through social media, but want to get away from the BIG 3? Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn might get all the press, but that doesn’t mean they are the only opportunities for businesses to participate in social networking.

Blogs

Commenting on a blog is a great way to introduce yourself to the blogger and the visitors of that blog. To really foster a relationship, though, you should visit the blog regularly. Don’t just comment for the sake of commenting either. Read a post and leave meaningful thoughts afterward.

Tip: Search for blogs through Blogsearch.Google.com or create an account on MyBlogLog.com to search for blogs by topic.

Bookmarking

If you are still bookmarking your favorite websites to your personal Internet browsing preferences, it’s time to upgrade. Consider bookmarking your favorite URLs to sites such Digg, Delicious, StumbleUpon, and one of the dozens of others that might fit your target readership.

Forums

Search for a forum on a site such as Yuku (ForumFind.com) to find message boards and forums that will ultimately lead you to a network of individuals who share your interests.

Pictures

Photo sharing sites make it easy to connect with other users by commenting on images and by adding individuals as “connections.” Try Google’s Picasa or Yahoo!’s Flickr to see what works best for you.

Questions

Mahalo, WikiAnswers, and Yahoo! Answers are three Q&A sites that offer an excellent way to connect. The trick is to ask reasonable questions and give authoritative answers, otherwise you might just look like spam.

Video

YouTube, MetaCafe, BuzzNet, MySpace, and about 100 other video hosting sites offer an opportunity for small businesses to promote their brand. Just like with other social media sites, most video sharing sites allow you to connect with users and leave comments too.

No. 2 Pen helps small businesses create content for their social media marketing campaigns. Whether you need a video script or ghost Tweeting, we can help. Contact us to find out more.

The No. 2 Pen is a full-service writing and communications company. Contact us to discuss your writing projects and editing needs.