Do You Social Network?

[Lee]

Talking to one of our neew employees who will be starting with us this week, we got on to the topic of Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc and he couldnt understand why i personally dont have an account at any of these places.

I basically told him it was because i work online and dont really want to spend any free time i have updating profiles on the various social networking sites.

Do any of you folks have a MySpace, FaceBook or Twitter account for personal use, nothing to do with your business?

Regards,

l

[attis]

I have a personal profile on GayRomeo which is quite popular in Germany, but it just sits there and isn't well maintained or updated very often. I simply don't have enough time for social networking and I rather spend the time when I'm not sitting in front of the computer outdoors.

[PUMPaul]

I have a personal profile on myspace and facebook. Neither has been updated in over 6 months and facebook only gets checked about every other month. Usually when a friend calls to say why haven't you added me yet.

My website has a profile on gaywatch.com that has been helpful for keeping in touch with interested members and a few guys in the area looking to model for the site.

[accessdenied]

myyearbook, vampirefreaks, imgoth, adultspace, rude, kinkkyspace, and adam4adam

:scissors: :indian:

[Select]

I have MySpace.

[tim460]

I really can't get the hang of or into social networking sites such as Facebook. I'm on Facebook only because, I guess, my relatives put pics of my niece an nephews on it sometimes, or some reason like that, . I check it so I am up to date if they post anything. I do have a personal profile on A4A and Recon, but you know how dumb that is. Just hoping I might find a good friend or husband some day. Hey, that's why there's so many people on there, I figure, despite most are full of it.

[MediaGuy]

I really just started with things like xbiz.net and linkedin and so on, but they've already generated interest, contacts and even sales...

I don't know how much time i'll be able to keep dedicating to them, except for twitter which is a quickie post thing, but I just might since they do seem to obtain results...

[MantraGuy]

I agree with Lee. I've never really maintained many profile on social networks for personal use, for the same reasons. I'm online, IM-ing, posting, emailing, updating all day for work, that usually the last thing I want to do is continue that when I get home. haha I am however a text whore (luvs me my crackberry

As far as the social Networking is concerned, I've found that most companies big and small really aren't utilizing it properly. It's not for lack of knowledge as FB itself is fairly simply to customize from a programmer point of view (from what I've seen, I am not a proggie personally.)

Like absolutely any other method used to market, it first has to start with a strategy. What is your goal? The SN (social networking sites) are not going to be a tool to be monitized, i.e. you're not going to make money from FB, Twitter, etc., You're going to USE them to make money.

I used this example with a new hire we just brought on board. I was trying to quantify or describe FB as I see it for the purposes of business.

Bob is selling buckles. They are the shiniest, prettiest, most tech savvy buckles available. Buckles 2.0 as it were Of course Bob knows everyone would want his buckles, he's just gotta sell it. Now imagine Bob walks into a room full of 2,000 people; be it a trade show, work function, friends b day party or bar. Bob's never been here before, and no one has ever heard of him or his buckels. Upon entering that group of 2,000 people, Bob scans the room and starts shouting that he's arrived and that he has the best buckles anyone could want, and if they buy them right now they even get a discount. When no one responds, Bob again starts shouting to the crowd with his well rehearsed sales pitch.

What do you think would happen? Of course probably no one would respond. In fact they may even purposely ignore him and write him off as some desperate crazy salesperson.

Realistically, what Bob would do upon entering that room, is casually approach people and start a dialogue. They might discuss their cars, the weather, the event, how they know mutual people etc., Bob would then politely excuse himself from that conversation and being another one, and then another and another. Towards the end of the night as he makes his rounds to say his good byes to his new found friends, he casually mentions his Buckles 2.0, and because they hit it off so well, he has a great deal if they want to make a purchase.

Most likely Bob's conversion of those people will be far greater with the second approach.

Social Networking is no different that old school "kissing babies and shakin hands" method.

If you decide to focus on Facebook or any other SN, and think by your presence alone you will see results, you're off the mark. These sites are about creating a relationship. You build a foundation, establish yourself, and then put out the call to action.

This is a silly scenerio of course, but it illustrates a point. With all the immediacy and urgency the SN seem to offer, we forget that its really about the connection and the one on one relationship.

Secondly, you have to intrigue the user. Give them a reason to want to follow you or know what's going on. We know that "content is king" when it comes to our websites / content, however that doesn't necessarily apply here (especially if you're 18+ content).

There's a book called "The World-Wide Rave" that I highly recommend. If nothing else, it helps to shake the cobwebs out a bit and gives a fresh perspective. A lot of us are too inward focused with our Marketing initiatives. It's about what the customer wants, what they are interested in, and how we can relate to that and steer em in our direction. And guess what... ALL that information is right there everyday on the social networks, it's just our job to go get it

[Elias]

Both for fun and for business purposes. Kinda hard not to when you spend all the day working online.

[HB|Sergio]

no at all

[conran]

I use Facebook, both for business and personal. It actually is a great tool for brand development.
If you have a business it's a great place to network and communicate with the right audiences. You know there are groups related to adult subjects on there.

I also use Twitter, though again this isn't so much about creating sales it's about being connected and brand awareness. Only just started this though so I don't really know too much about it.

Interesting perspective here:
In my regular employment we don't have access to email. When Clients call me asking for something to be done I have to ask for a fax, and they ask "can't I email it to you". It makes us look backward and severely behind the times. I hate it but my direct manager is a retard.

Twitter and FB are like this. If you have a site and you don't have Twitter and FB functionality visible for your customers they'll think of you as backward.

It's easy to do an it's actually pretty easy to maintain. Takes a few minutes a day.

For the sake of five minutes on line on FB and a few texts or tweets, you are able to connect with millions of people. That cannot be a bad thing.

I'm also a member of the B8M8 Network, that's an adult male community dedicated to masturbation. So it's perfect fit for my business. I help them out with content and special offers, and they help me out with advertising to their customers. I effectively gained 1200 newsletter subscribers (and growing) for doing very little.