If you are in business today, you have to communicate with your customers and prospective customers.  It use to be enough for a business to participate in advertising via email, online advertising and press releases.  Today, an increasing number of customers are turning to social networking tools to find out about businesses they deal with.  Should you be involved in social networking sites?

To help you decide, here is a small guide to social networking sites as they relate to your business.

Twitter

Twitter is the Internets most popular social networking right now (2009).  It allows for a business to send out very short “tweets”  (limited to 140 characters) to keep your name in front of perspective customers.  This is a great tool to keep your name in front of people who have an interest in you or your business.  Your business should be tweeting about things that your customers would find interesting or something amusing.

LinkedIn

Unlike all of the other social networking sites, this is the only social networking site aimed at businesses.  LinkedIn should be used to help you find consultants or contractors that you will need for your business.  Additionally, you should use it to find people in companies that you would like to do business with in the future.  This is a must for any business that is in consulting, headhunting, or sells any kind of business services.

Facebook

Facebook is the heavyweight of all social networking sites in the US today. Facebook is great for staying in touch with people your care about family or friends and finding people you are out of touch with.  It does have a business presence with the ability to create a much smaller business profile than a normal profile. Facebook is a great way to allow your customers to see more personal information about yourself and your business leadership team.  People buy from people they know, they like, and they trust!

MySpace

Once the leading social networking site, MySpace has now become very popular among teenagers.  It is good for building support for certain types of businesses, such as music, bands, and teenage related products.  If your business caters to teenagers, MySpace is a must for your business.

YouTube

All businesses have discovered this is a great way to provide information to prospects and customers.  Why not make a video of products you sell or you describing your services (video testimonials).  It is very easy to upload your videos and once uploaded, you simply direct your customers and prospects to YouTube to check them out.

In closing, there is one that is for sure, social networking is here to stay!  Get connected.  Let the world know about your company and see what it can do for your bottom line!