by Boruch Chai Akbosh
December 2, 2009 01:17
Promoting your business in today's world of fast paced technology seems like it shouldn't be a very difficult thing to do. But in truth, there are plenty of things you need to learn about using that technology to expand your marketing efforts. One of the most popular marketing tools in today's technology is social bookmarking. If you're interested in using social bookmarking sites to promote your business, there are a few things you need to know.
- You should choose one site to start with and make sure it's a popular one. There are plenty of social bookmarking sites on the internet, dozens in fact. But not all of them are popular or useful and depending on the type of business you have, you may be limited to just a couple of the popular ones, even. The most popular sites are Digg, Del.icio.us, Riddit and Stumble Upon. Choosing one at a time will help you better manage your time and your marketing efforts by being able to focus on just one medium.
- Get to know the site and make sure that it will work well with your products and services, especially if you are running a niche business. Just like every social networking site, each social bookmarking site attracts different types of users and you'll want to make sure that your social bookmarking sites are attracting the right audience.
- Get to know the types of content that are bookmarked the most on each social bookmarking site. Just because people on a social bookmarking site are in your target audience doesn't mean they'll want to read about your products and services. Take a look at the materials-blogs, web sites, articles-that are frequently bookmarked and receive the highest ratings (in your market of course) to get an idea of what content your audience wants to see the most.
- Consult someone who knows. When you think of getting a consultation, you may think of having to hire a professional and that can literally make your skin crawl. Just the thought of spending so much money is enough to cause a heart attack. But did you know that someone the best "professionals" at social bookmarking are your teenage children? Your nieces and nephews? Your little sister? You need only ask someone who participates daily or hourly in these activities to find out how they may best suit your needs.
- Submit useful content. All of the content you bookmark or place on social bookmarking sites should be newsworthy and it shouldn't all be about you. Become a true expert in your field to push people to your thoughts, your content, your site and your products organically.
Remember, using social bookmarking sites to promote your business can help boost you to the top of your field-but be responsible and never open more than one account just to vote for yourself. Your reputation is on the line when you go online.