If you operate a smaller business, you may well be sick to death of hearing about this thing called “social networking”.
Facebook, MySpace, Youtube et al, they’re now the stuff of even the least tech-savvy dinner party conversations.
Because if they’re not doing it (and in many cases they won’t be), you can bet your bottom dollar that their kids or anyone else in their circle younger than 25 spends a fair whack of their time on these ubiquitous social networks.
And what’s becoming clear is that even the smallest business needs to be not only aware of how social networks work, but should be participating in them in some shape or form.
A toe in the water for small business
But how can the time-poor smaller business operator participate in something that by its nature, requires constant watering and fertilising – thereby taking up even more of the valuable time they have so little of?
A great place to start is at the foot of most online articles or blogs that you read, including this one.
Because the majority of this content now has the capacity for you to participate in the discussion by leaving your own comment on the piece.
And by doing so you stand to gain a range of benefits with the only investment being a few minutes of your time.
Getting your name out there
Most obviously, adding a comment promotes you and your business for free.
Most blog comments allow you to add your name and a link to your website – keeping your name out there in the blogosphere and a potential visit to your website.
As they say, all publicity is good publicity and featuring in the comments of online articles is among the easier ways of achieving it.
But the link to your website also carries another significant benefit – an extra reason for Google to promote your website in its rankings.
A valuable inbound link
As readers of this and other SmartCompany blogs would be aware, a link from a relevant and prominent website is gold as far as search engines are concerned.
In fact, much of Google’s much-vaunted ranking algorithm is based on quality links to your website.
The equation is – the more quality links you have to your site, the higher your site will rank for relevant search terms.
So adding comments to the blogs you read provides a brilliant way of getting into social networking without a significant investment in your time.
Your mission then, is to comment on as many blogs or articles as you can.
But like anything in the online world, there are tricks of the trade.
Avoid blatant self-promotion
One of the most important things to avoid is being too self-promotional in your comments. By all means promote yourself if it is relevant to the piece, but your comment will be taken far more seriously if it is a genuine and useful response.
It’s also important to have a genuine opinion on the topic and ideally a different perspective on it.
This approach makes you (and your business) appear intelligent and articulate.
So why hesitate? Start commenting on blogs you come across, including the one you are reading right now!
For more Internet Secrets, click here.
Craig Reardon is a leading eBusiness educator and founder and director of independent web services firm The E Team which provide the gamut of ‘pre-built’ website solutions, technologies and services to SMEs in Melbourne and beyond.
Smart Company is the leading online publication in Australia for free news, information and resources catering to Australia’s entrepreneurs, small and medium business owners and business managers.
