Social Networking

Facebook is growing around the world and has overtaken Yahoo as the
third most visited UK site according to ComScore. Jamie Gavin, a
ComScore marketing communications analyst, said, “It’s
by far the most successful social network. The others may have to
become more niche to survive, such as MySpace focusing on
music.” According to the research, Google remained the most
visited site with UK users followed by Microsoft sites.

I have heard of businesses using social networking sites as a type
of a background check for prospective hires (since many posting
with friends and pictures can be viewed). You can tell a lot about
a person this way. Smart.

the point about social networking is just that - networking (and as
i read it - through not so obvious means). having a company
presence on a networking site is about building community and
engaging your potential customers. i've seen plenty of "pages" on
facebook that are geared to promoting a business - which attract an
emerging demographic in an different way. adding value to your
business may not just be about spending money, but maybe about
creating community.

Beware of the Doghouse A wonderful example of social networking is
JCPenny’s interactive viral marketing campaign “Beware
of the Doghouse” which was offered last Christmas as a
humorous video presenting men’s gift-giving failures. The
campaign used Facefook Connect and a micro web site. Men could only
be released from the doghouse by purchasing the diamond jewelry
gift selected on the site by the women in their lives or through a
click of a button. I learned of the video from one of my daughters
who sent me the website URL and suggested I would really like it.
That is the beauty of social networking. Others are promoting the
product and company for the company. I not only like it,I sent
suggested the video to many other folks in the jewelry industry and
friends outside the industry. JCPenny’s won the 2009 World
Retail Award for Best Digital Retail Advertising Campaign. at the
World Retail Congress in Barcelona in May 2009. Check it out. It is
a great example of how to use social networking.

Thanks for your thoughtful posting Luis. Linkedin is an excellent
resource for business professionals looking to network. YouTube is
a social network that is attracting more and more commercial
postings. A recent search using the term jewelry produced over
38,400 listings. Consider how a jewelry company can create some
buzz using YouTube postings.

The search percentage figure is consistent with job candidate
Googling and social networking site checking by CEOs. If CEO
participation in social networking seems low, it’s likely due
to the sites noted. MySpace just isn’t the place CEOs
typically wish to appear. Their social network of choice by far is
Linkedin. Second Life is a very different animal. As a place to
build business, Linkedin can be useful; however, using it with that
intention is missing the point. It’s not a place to make
money, but a place to offer your help to others. The idea is to
serve as a helping hand, and become established as a go to person
and expert in a field. Become a recognized technical or thought
leader and business opportunities may develop. Probably the largest
use of Linkedin is job search. Before having to use it for that
(which for most people is about hoping others will help them),
establish yourself as someone who people can connect with as the
person to help them gratis and with pleasure. Additionally,
Linkedin offers thousands of professional and social groups to
affiliate with. These include many in the jewelry industry,
including educational organizations related groups. Like networking
in person, actively relating to the members of groups provides
introduction to business ideas immediately or in the future.
Anyway, this is all pretty basic. But the idea remains that you
should give before attempting to receive. Luis de Agustin

As we are working with exclusive manufacturers, we are really not
using the social networking websites, as our target market may
perceive this as a low end segment, for commercial goods that we do
not carry... What we are doing on the other hand, is preparing a
brand new website that we believe may become preferred among our
client database which is our prime market.