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The Business Guide to Social Networking Tools

With so many different tools and options available for social networking, it's easy to get confused. Really, when it comes down to it, there's no right or wrong way to do anything. More so, social networking is driven on a trial and error base. Whatever works best for you is key. In this article I'll try to give a condensed list of different useful websites and what they can do for you.

5 Networking Sites (In no particular order):

Facebook
- Can be used for professional or business use
  - A way to network with other people
  - A way to list your business for others to see
  - A way to share media
  - A way to post events
  - Free advertising
- Specific examples where Facebook could be useful
  - A web developer could search for others in their profession
  - A company can create a fan page then link their blog to it
    - Blog posts can automatically be updated
  - With a fan page a company can have contests or other incentives
  - With a large enough network, you can use Facebook to get information and perform your own market research on connections.
Myspace
- Another Networking tool
  - A way to network with other people
  - A way to list your business for others to see
  - A way to share media
  - A way to post events
  - Free advertising
- Specific examples where Myspace could be useful
  - A great way to reach a certain audience
  - A company can create a page and list all their business information
  - With a fan page a company an have contests or other incentives
  - Although Myspace is a great social networking tool, I wouldn't necessarily recommended for a lot of businesses
    - Myspace is REALLY good for music and bands
Twitter
- Micro Blog
  - By building a follower list you can network with others
  - Also can broadcast your business to a specific audience
  - Also can research trends on what people are talking about
  - An easy way to get the most up-to-date information
- Some ways Twitter can be useful:
  - A way to research if anything is being said about your company and/or competition
  - A way to keep people up-to-date on company's goings-on
  - A way to find and meet up with other people
LinkedIn
- Another Networking Tool
  - A way to network with other professionals
  - A way to get your business listed
  - Great way to find answers to questions
  - Great way to discreetly promote your blog
- Some ways LinkedIn can be useful:
  - Can have your blog linked to post automatically to your profile
  - With LinkedIn Polls, you'll be able to find answers to your research questions by asking your network and other professionals
Sphinn
- Internet Marketing news forums and discussions
  - A way to find out hot topics, share news and start discussions
  - Specifically geared toward online marketers
  - A way to find out upcoming events and meet networking friends in person
- Some specific examples of Sphinn uses:
  - Great way to keep up with the on-goings on the web
  - Great way to meet other social networkers online
  - Could be a great source of inspiration for blog articles and discussions on forums

3 Social Bookmarking Sites

Del.ic.ious
- Delicious is the biggest collection of bookmarks online, and can point you to high quality resources for just about anything.
  - A good way to share your bookmarks with people and get bookmarks in return
  - Discover useful and interesting things on the web
  - Can bookmark any site
- Good things about Delicious
  - You can upload all your bookmarks already in your browser
  - Toolbars are also available to bookmark sites as you find and not have to go directly to delicious
  - Easy way to share and network sites on the web
StumbleUpon
- Similar to Delicious
  - Alternative way to search for web pages
  - Community based searching
- Good things about StumbleUpon
  - Rating system on whether or not you liked a page
  - Can write reviews of a page for other people to see
  - Also has a browser toolbar for easy marking
Digg
- Another social bookmarking website much more similar to StumbleUpon
  - Great way to see top stories and breaking news across the web and share them
  - Community based searching
- Things that are good about Digg
  - Has a browser toolbar
    - I REALLY enjoy this toolbar, it shows you stats on the certain item before you "digg" it
  - Also has a rating and review system
  - Enjoyable interface

5 Useful Social Networking Tools

TwitterGrader
- Check out Twitter Grader to learn more about a Twitter user
- A great way to monitor yourself as you move forward with a twitter profile
Wikipedia
- Excellent online encyclopedia offering information on just about anything you'd like to know
- Also a good way to put links back to yourself in the resource portions of articles
Technorati
- Gear towards blogs
- Advertising network to enable blog and social media publishers at every level to maximize online advertising revenues
TwitterSearch
- Great way to see what the tweet trends are on Twitter
- Can specifically search for a specific word
Google Reader
- Great way to collaboratively follow different blogs that interest you
- Also gives you organizing tools for your RSS feeds

For a more extensive list try Sociable Blog's 100 Tips and Tools to Research the Social Web

So go on, try some tools out see what works for you. If you find another great tool please feel free to comment back.

Liz Koller is an honors graduate of the Bradford School, where she graduated at the top of her class with a specialized business degree in Graphic Design Management. Liz has extensive experience in Website Design and Development, Graphic Design, Typography, and Online Social Networking. She is an accomplished musician, and has worked in theater. In a prior position she worked as a set designer for a well known theatrical group. Liz currently works as the Social Networking Manager for NuRelm, a PA-based Internet technology firm that specializes in high-traffic interactive websites, online marketing, and editable website hosting.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com