Build a network of connections

Small businesses cannot survive on their own. In every business, most sales are done through word of mouth or referrals from people who have established trust in the business or the owner of the business. Building a network of connections results in getting leads that may turn into customers or that may send customers to a business. Being a part of a business community will help expand the reach and, with that, increase leads.

Learn Best Practices

Business community websites are filled with information that can be of importance to small businesses. Starting from how to start a business to the latest business trends, business communities are a great resource to gain knowledge about how to’s and where to’s for growing a business. Whether it be through forums, group discussions, or just postings on a profile timeline, there is always something to learn and gain knowledge from.

Stay Motivated

Being a part of a network will definitely help motivate a business owner. Entrepreneurs tend to lack motivation at times as they are responsible for all business tasks. At times they get overwhelmed with tasks and lose motivation, and at other times they may feel they have run out of ideas and lose motivation to continue. A good way to stay motivated is to find a professional business community and stay active there. Stay connected with business owners on the network, attend community networking events, stay visible by placing ads or taking up speaking engagements during events, and always offer to help. That will not only keep a business owner motivated, but it will also increase business visibility within the community.

Generate Leads

Business leads come from knowing people. Meeting people requires a community. Loos for business communities that have a virtual platform and that also run events. That way, one will get to meet people and then stay connected over the internet to send leads and referrals. One thing business owners have to remember, in a community, one has to give in order to take. Give leads, and others will send you leads. Give referrals to other business members, and others will send you referrals.

Enjoy Benefits

Business community websites usually offer benefits to their members. Benefits may vary from free services to discounts and offers to access to business resources and more. Make use of these benefits! Many businesses register at business community websites and forget about their accounts. It’s good to visit business community websites often to explore new benefits added to members.

An Analysis of 3 Major Social Media Platforms

There are different factors that determine which social media platform should be used for a business. However, depending on the business type and the target audience one may come up with a good social media marketing strategy. This strategy may incorporate a presence on all social media platforms. However, the focus will be on where your audience is. A business may get thousands of likes on Facebook but may fail to develop engagement. This is an indicator that it is not the right platform to invest time in. However, it does not imply taking Facebook out of the equation. A business still needs to create visibility for its brand, but it will be a better investment to spend time on a platform that allows an active forum with its audience.

Twitter is an amazing tool for branding a business. However, with specific types of businesses, it may not create engagement. It may create a lot of discussions about pop culture and breaking news, but for a business that sells products and/or services, it mostly helps in highlighting the brand.

As a business owner that caters to small businesses, I found that spending time on Instagram is worthwhile. It is easy to interact and build hype for my business at the same time. Adding hashtags to posts on Instagram actually brings in an interested audience.

Experiment and test different methods like this to find out what works best for your business in order to build a strong Social Media marketing strategy.

[1]http://www.pewinternet.org/2016/11/11/social-media-update-2016/