Mumbai-based Xpress Compu­ters is also present on various social networking sites. The company considers this media as a premier channel for communicating with customers and the outside world-to announce new products, changes, opinions, reviews, etc.

Chetan Shah, MD, Xpress Computers, opines, “I believe that social networking sites has seen massive acceptance among the corporate world as well as the personal users in the last one year. A business entity should formulate strategies to keep their pages live and updated for the users to keep using them often. Ensuring two-way communication is very important.”

Another systems integrator company, Sam7 India, offers consultancy services to small and medium business, is on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn and its founder, Sampath Iyengar believes that social networking sites are for connecting emotionally as friends first and the business will follow. He has generated more than Rs 1 lakh from social networking contacts, which might not be a huge amount. But having tasted this initial fruit of success, he has plans to start commercial activities in a structured manner.

According to Iyengar, social networking was a linear progression, but now the usage has become exponential.  “I have friends on my Facebook profile who refer me to their friends for various IT services. Incidentally I have crossed 1,000 friends count on Facebook, and quite a few of them are business associates,” says Iyengar.

Putting Your Best Digital Footprint Forward Ameen Khwaja Director Premium Web Services Online Advertising Group Online Advertising Group has acquired 32% of its clients through social networking. Ameen Khwaja, Director of Premium Web Services, and MD of the company, gives tips on how solution providers can use this medium to their advantage a. Many social networking sites offer facilities for creating business pages where you can display news about your company. But make it a point to keep it live with regular updating. Optimize the page with apt keywords so that it shows up faster on a search engine. b. Create special interest forums and groups. Keep answering questions as promptly as possible. Encourage discussions on new topics, not just on business but on other popular and fascinating topics. Make everything interesting enough that will make people re-visiting it. c. Persist in posting blogs and let it surface on profile page with RSS feeds. Also give links to your blogs on these feeds, affix notes and upload videos and key presentations. d.Keep posting information about recent deals and maintain straight communication with probable clients who are part of your network. e. Look up and invite acclaimed experts and veteran specialists. Send a good introduction about yourself and explain your interest in meeting them. Such contacts can give you crucial and valuable clues and advice on significant circumstances and decisions. This can definitely contribute to your success.

Not In It For Money
Strangely very few of the early business adopters of social networ­king did this with a clear plan to monetize their efforts. Most of them look at it as a way to create brand equity for themselves and their companies or to reach out to more business partners.

Chetan Shah said, “I am not looking into monetizing my efforts with my presence on social media. Rather my focus is on stronger bonding, faster interaction and using it as an effective medium to communicate.”

Voicing the same view Iyengar said, “Social media should be used for creating circle of influence and increasing brand awareness and the business will follow.”

Ramani feels that this medium is a sure-fire way to get recommen-dations for good manpower unobtrusively and then hire people. This is why he advocates that users should be discreet when using these sites.

Yet others use these sites just to keep track of the latest happenings in the industry. Gaurang Bhatt, CEO of Ignition Infotech, follows DQ Channels updates on Twitter, as the best way to be updated about news in his domain of interest as other various technology posts on Facebook and participates in discussions and constantly invites his friends and customers to post their views.

“LinkedIn has proved effective for my business of importing third party software and plugins. Though not frequently, I do get leads for business from across the country. Facebook and Twitter helps more when you are posting info about emerging technology and your existing friends and customers contact you for more information,” said Bhatt.

No More Limits
Earlier most users of social networking included only friends to their network. But now this circle has extended itself to include family, colleagues, customers and vendors.

Ascertaining that this medium has no limitations, Bhatt said, “I may tarnish my image by posting frivolous status and comments or strengthen it by posting good informative, humorous and intelligent comments.” Bhatt believes that once the customers know what really you are in life outside business, they start considering you as a friend; they open up and give more honest feedback on your offerings, which will help in fine tuning your business offerings.

This is also why it is very imperative that users are cautious in the content they post, especially on those sites where they have invited people who would have some kind of bearing on their business. “When used selectively, social networking media can be a very powerful tool for identifying new business partners, prospective customers, or simply building your personal or business presence,” said Sanjay Mehta of Maia Intelligence. He started his own company and has since been using social networking extensively to increase technical awareness amongst his customers and channel partners. And unlike other vendors, he does this on his own, without having roped in any expert and is now a self-taught guru on the subject.

If you propose to emulate his example, it would be the best if you first decide on the network which is ideally suited for your business or industry category so that you are in touch with people who have the affinity for the same topic. By doing this, you'll cut through the clutter and clearly establish your niche, keeping the interaction focused on the specific subject matter.

“Once you've selected the networks you want to belong to, begin by filling out your profile page with pertinent information about yourself, your company, and your contacts,” Mehta suggested.

And if you want to learn more from like-minded people then join groups to make new contacts and participate in forum discussions. These discussions give you yet another avenue for displaying your expertise.

“Finally, take advantage of the widgets that networking sites offer. There are widgets that allow you to add virtual fliers and brochures to your page, plug in company news and events, and post videos, for instance,” added Mehta.

But whatever you do, remember that you are joining communities of people and rules of etiquette still apply. Promote your company by
all means, but don't be overly aggressive or invasive about your marketing. Market your business well and you'll get more respect
and probably a lot more serious leads. Social media sites put a humane face on your business and allow people to get an impression of what a relationship with you would be like. And like in any relationship this means you will have to put your best foot forward and be at your best behavior.

Vasudevan N
vasudevann@cybermedia.co.in

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