Online accessibility works for businesses of all sizes
Virtual networking is big, and getting bigger. Many of us got a hint of what was to come in 1962 with the debut of the futuristic cartoon show, The Jetsons. The Hanna-Barbera produced cartoon featured George Jetson and his family in the year 2062 and the advanced technology that plagued George’s life.
One of the show’s gadgets was a telephone with a television monitor that projects the image of the callers to each other. Cartoon mom Judy frequently used a hand-held mask to camouflage curlers and face cream. Hello—Skype™, video teleconferencing and Internet connectivity!
How many of us knew we were receiving a glimpse of how technology would change our lives? And, the Internet has more than met its promise of automating our lives to the point of super-efficiency and connectivity.
The age of accessibility
In April 2009, 91% of our households had Internet access, and along with it a new way to do virtually everything. Today, acquiring an education, shopping, being entertained, doing business and connecting with friends and family can be accomplished with the touch of a mouse. Online communities have sprung up to provide a virtual meeting place for people with common interests or purpose—all without leaving their homes.
All this accessibility is making it faster and easier to reach the people, products, services or information important to us. Not only that, it has given us ways to form communities that allow us to form loyal relationships based on information, causes and ideas.
Get ready to engage …
Loyalty is prized by businesses of all sizes. If virtual networks encourage loyalty for schools and large businesses, small business should take advantage of this tool also.
The purpose of using social networking is to engage people with useful information and encourage them to use and share your information with a broad range of people. To help you utilize this online tool, here are a few ideas on how to maximize your reach and create loyalty among new and existing clients.
- Facebook™ fan page—Establish a fan page for you or your business and invite current clients and prospects to join. This platform allows you to share information that’s relevant to your clients.
For instance, an interior design company might share the latest information from the industry, provide ideas on how to spruce up an outdated bathroom or helps clients choose a paint brand that provides the best coverage. This information builds credibility for your company, helps Facebook subscribers manage small home improvement projects and keeps the designer at the top of their members’ minds should larger projects become necessary. - Tweet regularly—Set up a Twitter® account and “tweet” about virtually anything. One idea is to place links to articles that followers may find interesting. For instance, an appliance store might post a link to an article about which brand of dishwasher is the best value. Clients can reply to the Tweet. If the information is useful enough, your clients may repost a link to your message so people in their network, not directly connected to you, will become aware of you. It also keeps you in front of your clients.
- Blog—Write short original articles about subjects that are related to your business and use keywords that are used on your website landing pages. For instance, an attorney may use the name of the city where the practice is, their specialty and the words “attorney” on their home page as words that shoppers are likely to use when they conduct online searches for a new attorney. Two to three uses of your top two keywords for a 200- to 300-word article should work fine.
Most blogs have a feature that allows visitors to leave comments. Post a question to engage your readers at the end of your blog post to encourage comments. Feedback allows you the opportunity to engage with the person who left the comment and may encourage other readers to share their thoughts, which helps deepen the interaction.
Your business as community
Virtual networking can help you and your customers become more connected, enriching your business in more way than one. And, your clients may feel as if they are part of something bigger—a community of like-minded people who appreciate the information you provide.
So, The Jetsons got one right and we’re fortunate to be living in a world where we can engage and connect with virtually anyone, anywhere. But there’s still one problem—Hanna-Barbera, when will we get our flying cars?
All trademarks, registered trademarks, product names and company names or logos mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners. The use or display of any third party trademark, product name, company name or logo does not imply endorsement, sponsorship, affiliation or recommendation.
Resources
Hubpages, Television Families: The Jetsons.
Nielsen (2009, April). Consumer Insight. Nielsen.com.
WebVisible (2009, February). WebVisible/Nielsen Online study identifies disconnect between online consumer behavior and small business marketing. WebVisible.com.
