It was not so long ago when I was watching my nephews
eagerly upload their MySpace pictures and create their profiles. All
the rave with teenagers and music bands, MySpace has becomeso much more!
It is now the mecca of small business owners and networkers the world over!
MySpace,
like Ryze.com and others,allows you to create a profile, share some
pictures and add a bit about your interests. You can even post to your
own blog and upload music for "your sound" when people click on your
home page.
Now I konw some of you are already shaking your head
"no" because you’ve heard some of the negative publicity surrounding
MySpace, or you think it’s just for fun.
I would counter with the
simple, yet sad, truth that you can meet unsavory characters anywhere
and, with a few precautions, the benefits far outweigh the risks!
Here’s just a few of the ways you can use MySpace for your business:
1. Networking.
Once
you set up a home page and profile (it took me THREE minutes!), you can
start meeting "friends" and inviting them to join your network. You
will soon notice that others will also invite you to join their
networks as well.
MySpace will put a notice on your private page
letting you know that someone wants to be your friend — YOU then have
the power to accept or deny them based on their profile. The more
friends you have, the larger your network. You can also choose to keep
your network small and focused only on those people who fit in your
target audience.
2. Share a little more.
While you
want to remain professional and not share things you wouldn’t share in
a face-to-face networking environment, your MySpace page gives you the
ability to share a little more about yourself than you would on your
standard website home page.
I, for example, put up some photos of
our "children" (dogs and cats) as well as pictures from recent trips —
not things you will see on my usual site.
3. Cross-polination for increased traffic.
You
can increase your website traffic by referring readers of your MySpace
to your website and vice versa. You can also post your standard blog
posts onto your MySpace blog — it takes about 30 seconds and will
further help to drive traffic.
4. Sell your stuff.
Do
you have an e-book, regular book or other item to sell? If so, you can
include them on your MySpace home page and capture some sales that you
otherwise may have missed.
5. Send an announcement.
MySpace lets you send announcements to your friends — the announcements appear in their private inboxes.
Are you offering a new teleclass? Selling a new product? Hosting a workshop? Send an announcement and let your friends know!
It’s
quick and painless to set up an account. You don’t need anything fancy
and can add to it anytime you wish. This is a great task for your
virtual assistant! Don’t have one? Don’t despair — any kid on the
block will be happy to do it for you! 🙂
While you may not have
a thousand friends or make a million dollars overnight, MySpace is yet
another great (and free!) way you can market yourself AND your business.
So what you are waiting for?
Sandra P. Martini, the
Automatic Business Coach ™, is creator of the “9 Simple Steps to Creating an
Automatic Business” system. To learn
more about this step-by-step program for small business success, and to receive
her FREE “5 Simple Steps to Putting Your Marketing on Autopilot” e-course/audio
mini-series and how-to articles and teleseminars, please visit www.SandraMartini.com.