Social Networking Blueprint

There’s no denying that Social Networking is big and it’s only going to get bigger. Social Networking is all about people connecting with people, and the Social Web Applications are the tools they’re using to do it. Social Marketing is when you apply these same tools to build your brand, expand your web network and promote your business. This ebook was originally written for 'photographers' but the Social Websites offer fantastic opportunities that can be used by any online business, so we decided to write this special edition for 'everyone'. You’ve probably heard of a lot of these social web applications … Blogs, Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, Digg, Squidoo ... and a whole lot more. There are literally hundreds of them, and each of then offer a different means of communicating with your audience.At OzImages we’d been using a number of Social Networking sites & services for quite a
while and the results just keep getting better and better, so it seemed a good time to share some of what we’ve learned with our Member photographers.
As soon as we did that, we started getting feedback from people using the same techniques to promote other websites and business, so it made sense to publish a more
generalised version. You'll probably still find plenty of mentions of photography and photos, but if you use your imagination I think you'll find plenty of ways to apply these same strategies to your own business, whatever that might be!
What we've tried to do here is to put together a simple step-by-step process that anyone can use to promote any webpage, without having to become an expert on each individual
service or function, and without having to spend too long doing it.
I believe these Social Networks are going to become more and more important to ANY business operating on the internet. This is simply the way the web is going … it’s getting
extremely fast and very personal … and if we don't keep up we're going to left behind.
Hopefully this guide will show you how to put some of these great new tools to work and really take full advantage of the changes rather than just try and keep up.
This ebook is not going to teach you everything there is to know about the Web 2.0 Applications themselves, Bookmarking services or other Social Marketing tools. Instead
we’re aiming for a step-by-step process that anyone can follow, to use these new tools to promote themselves and their work more effectively.
What I will suggest is that you give it a complete read-through BEFORE you start trying to set everything up. Partly because it will make more sense when you’ve got ‘the big picture’, but also because it will save you going back to make changes when you realise how the various parts interconnect.
Once you do start, please don't skip over the preparation steps.
You might be tempted to jump right in on the Promotion Cycle, but you'll find it easier and a lot more efficient if you do the 'chores' first. Once you've completed the Set Up though, I'm sure you'll find it's an easy process to keep working these networks and growing your network, increasing your exposure and building your business.