Online social networking may be good for business

Editor’s note: Michelle Stockman works with Little Rock-based Arkansas Capital Corp. to promote entrepreneurship development around the state. Stockman earned a bachelor’s degree from Loyola University-Chicago in communications and fine arts, and earned a master’s in entrepreneurship from Western Carolina University. Her thoughts on business success appear each week on The City Wire.



You’ve probably heard a buzz around you for at least the last year or more. That buzz is the growing popularity of social networking Web sites. Many have shrugged this trend off as something for the kids, but more adults are jumping online to find old friends, family members, classmates, coworkers and more. This trend has grown so much, the number one growing demographic for one site is 55+ year-olds.

Social networking is a system of connections between similar sources. Social networking on the Internet is a connection of people, places, products or topics brought together through a common vehicle such as a website.

Some adults have ignored the popularity of such sites, while others have embraced its potential. In business, social networking is a great tool to utilize in marketing and advertising. Like all marketing tools, the more you understand your target audience, the more you can focus your business message in the media in which your audience utilizes.

In addition to understanding where your target audience is, your business needs to understand the differences between the popular networking sites. While the concept behind Facebook and MySpace are similar, the users between the two are growing into two very distinct demographics. Also consider LinkedIn, Twitter, Delicious and other popular sites as places to use for your business.

Whether your interest is putting a Facebook page together, using LinkedIn to find your next employee or sharing industry expertise on Twitter, the tools are available, many of them are still free, and all of them are ways to reach out to others that did not exist before. Where else can you be friends with Lance Armstrong, John Boozman, Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Zappos and more?

Stockman can be reached at [email protected]