Social networking sites Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn are fantastic places for finding new prospects and doing business online, but you must always remember that these sites are not yours. What I mean by this is that the goal should be to find people who are interested in what you are doing on these sites, and then ask them to visit your blog or website and join your list for you to stay in contact with them in the future.
The way I describe it to my students is by saying that Twitter is someone else’s playground. You can have fun there, make friends, and share information, but if you want to continue the relationship you must invite them over to your house to play. Your house refers to your site, where you have control over what happens there.
In the meantime, we must learn to deal with the ups and downs of social networking sites, and hope that our last tweet was something we are proud to have typed.
Connie,
Good information and instruction. The analogy of the playground/house is an excellent one for us to remember to bring people “home” (to our website).
Thank you,
Gary
Love the analogy, Connie – best one I’ve ever seen and easiest one to understand. Everyone always describes social media as a “party” and I get their drift, but from someone who’s not a party goer, your explanation is much better.
With all the ongoing technical difficulties and glitches at social media sites, I’m starting to really see how vital it is to have your own “house” where folks can come over and play.
Thanks!
One more thing, Connie …
Hackers, spammers, hijackers, and all the other unsavory sort will get their “come-up-ence” some day. That’s a word my dad coined many years ago and I’m sure your readers don’t need a definition.
With your help and expertise, I’m learning about business building tools and techniques that won’t leave me totally dependent on social media sites to grow my business.
You rock!