Puget Sound Business

Copyright (c) 2009 Chuck W

Social media networks are shaping a new era in the online community. The number of visitors and subscribers are increasing tremendously as we speak. A perfect example of the success of the social networks was Facebook’s increase in the number of visits by 50% during the last year.

The reason behind the success of these websites is due to the human touch they add to the digital world . Everybody is looking for old buddies from school , a friend they haven’t seen for a while or even get to know new people in their same profession or share the same passion .

Many charities and fundraisers have realized the unbeatable effect of social media as compared to any other online or offline marketing tool. Many have started to build their own websites and started to build social presence in the major social sites , build groups , post articles and become active members in these sites.

“Too poor to donate? Digg to help sick kids! Let’s raise Awareness!” http://digg.com/odd_stuff/Too_poor_to_donate_Digg_to_help_sick_kids_Let_s_raise_Awareness caught my attention while I was using digg.com a social media site . This charity project used digg to promote their Christmas campaign for gift donations for sick children. They were asking for the visitor help to digg their post to reach as many people as they can and a generous contribution will be appreciated .

On Facebook you can easily find hundreds of charities building their groups to raise awareness of the visitors and invite them to contribute. These groups are at finger tips away from you , All what you need to do is search the groups for charity or fundraising and then the decision is up to you.

Social websites were also built with the sole intention of funding charities and raising the awareness of online visitors of the importance of the social contribution to the success of any charity project. Squidoo is a social network that came to existence with thoughtful understanding of the commitment of any business to their community while maintaining the limit of profits to maintain their on going activities. They provide a mutual interest for the visitors and the charity projects. Squidoo enables anyone to build a page on a subject that they have passion about ,write as many pages as they like, then Squidoo uses advertising on these pages. The revenue is these advertisements is shared between the page creator and a charity project. They also offer the choice of donating all your income to the charity you choose from a list of charities that they sponsor.

Donations are the back bone of any charity and fundraising which originate from the social contribution to the mission and the work of the volunteers dedicating their time and effort to its success. No doubt that social media networks made it easier for them to reach people at the ease of their homes. They can easily add a smile on a sleepy face feeling that they did their dues to the society.

Virtually every family has at least one appliance that requires some sort of battery to be used. Some appliances solely depend on batteries while others may use electrical energy as well. Incase of emergencies such as power outages, portable appliances that require batteries such as flashlights are extremely helpful. Each and everyday more products are being produced that need batteries to be useful. While becoming more popular in our daily life, the problems of pollution and many other hazards come into effect.

Have you ever wondered what was inside a battery? Each battery contains a certain metals such as lead and zinc. When not recycled correctly our environment can suffer greatly. If one leaves a battery on the ground, it may leak into the ground causing corrosion of the soil and put nearby wildlife in danger. If recycled correctly these environmental problems won’t be encountered.

There are basically two classifications of batteries. Non-chargeable which cannot be recycled and chargeable which can be reused again and recycled. A vast amount of materials such as lead, nickel-cadmium, nickel hydride, and mercury are contained in chargeable batteries. All of these are recyclable so that they may form raw materials for manufacturing industries. To get a final product, the batteries must first be separated from their plastics and insulation material using gas-fired thermal oxidizers. Then each battery is processed by using heat treatment furnaces using a great amount of energy to end up with the final product.

Certain rules and standard procedures have been made by the American government which is to be followed for recycling battery purposes. Nearly all recycling locations in America contain a section for battery recycling. Each location must follow the government’s standards and principles correctly. Millions of batteries are recycled at these locations per year and recharged batteries are often offered at a minimal cost. Each rechargeable battery eventually can’t “recharge” any longer so there is a service provided for those batteries as well.

By recycling batteries the environment is not being polluted nearly as much, many natural resources are saved due to the rechargeable batteries also. There is a large variety of websites on the Internet with more quality information on recycling batteries.

With Facebook recently overtaking MySpace as the number one social networking site, it is definitely worth taking a look at if you are in business.

According to a study done recently by the Aberdeen Group companies are using sites like Facebook to improve the interactions they have with their customers. The study showed that companies that use social networking sites are 17 times more likely to improve customer satisfaction than companies that don’t use them.

If you already have a profile on the site but aren’t sure how to leverage it for networking, brand visibility and gaining feedback–check out these top tips for boosting your reach through this hot social tool.

1) Take special care in filling out your profile: You will want to take the time to thoroughly fill out your profile, especially making sure to include your website address and your interests and activities. People appreciate this type of insight into the person behind the business.

2) Join and contribute to groups: Joining groups relevant to your niche is a good way to reach your target market and share your knowledge. Be sure to comment in the discussions and post helpful tips and links.

3) Start your own group: Taking the group idea up a notch, why not create your own group? Be seen as an authority while forming relationships with other members you have invited. Encourage conversation and participation and include a way for others to find out more about your business when you fill in your info as the administrator for the group.

4) Update often: This doesn’t mean you need to spend hours on the site, but for the time you do carve out, update your status and add relevant, helpful links, photos or information to your profile. Because these types of updates show up through the News Feed function for others, you are creating a viral spread of information that helps build your brand and create familiarity.

5) Suggest, recommend and introduce: If you know people you think should be introduced, then facilitate that. Recommend and suggest resources to others. All of these activities create community and contribute to the awareness of both you and what you have to offer.

6) Import your blog posts: You can use the Notes application to pull your blog posts into your profile. NetworkedBlogs is another application that is great for giving your blog exposure.  The posts you import with this app appear in others’ news feeds, adding to your expert status and credibility in your particular niche.

7) Create a Page for your business: Facebook Pages are a nice option because it allows you to have a whole separate profile for your business. You can invite others to join the page, post relevant items, hold discussions and “naturally” promote your services or products. The best thing about it? Facebook is ranked so highly in the search engines that by giving your business a page, it helps your business rank highly as well!

Personalize your friend requests: It is a good idea to add a friendly message when you are making a friend request. People are more likely to remember you and it’s just a good relationship-building practice.

9) Promote your events: If you are holding sales, teleseminars, courses, live events or anything of the like, you can create invites for your friends to receive with all the relevant information included. This is great for increasing participation and driving traffic.

10) Place targeted ads: “Social Ads” as they are called on Facebook are another option. This can be a powerful way to increase brand awareness. With these ads you are able to select targeted demographics for your campaigns.

Remember, it is about relationship building, not “push” marketing. A few cautions: make sure you never do anything that could be seen as spam. Take time to explore the privacy options on your profile and keep in mind how all of your Facebook activities may be perceived by your potential clients and customers.

Once you really jump in and get involved I think you will find Facebook to be a fabulous tool for both networking and visibility. If it is overwhelming, take it one step at a time–but don’t stand on the sidelines any longer. After all, it’s not just for college kids anymore!