e-Networking: Myths and Hearsay

The first thing you usually hear of the negative side of Facebook is that “people spam my updates with so many pointless updates.” And the same for Twitter, as the prospect of being able to send updates about where you are/what you’re doing is an exciting one.

However, in light of these changes it’s not all doom and gloom.
In fact, in recent years many of these sites have added features to stop things like this happening and to reduce the amount of spam that you get, if any, and the ability to moderate your own comments etc.

Concerning spam- it happens, you can’t really get away from that, but on these sites there has been a great deal of time reducing the amount you receive. These days there’s much less than there was- and if you feel like someone is spamming you can simply remove them. If you find someone is eating up your Twitter feed with a continual pointless/uninteresting update then you can simply ignore that by not following them anymore.
Despite what some people will tell you, the internet is not a place where spam is as common as it used to be and it’s actually quite pleasant.

Concerning the numbers game- we all experience some people, sometimes, that just want to have as many friends as possible even if they don’t physically know them but again there’s a few ways to stop this happening. Privacy controls, for one. Blocking/reporting the user in question or taking them off of your list, for another.

Concerning privacy- there’s a lot of horror stories about ID theft on the internet and there’s even more stories about how someone found out something, from a page, on the internet, they were browsing. This is why privacy controls were invented!

Most, if not all, sites have these controls now and they can practically make you invisible for all intents and purposes. For example, on Facebook you can list yourself as omitted from the search. Even if they search for you by name, school, friends, interests or anything else they know about you- they’ll never find you.
Equally, you can set all of your updates to “Friends Only” meaning only those you’ve accepted requests from, or sent to, can see your updates. Although, setting yourself as nigh on impossible to find would be a bad idea for the purposes of networking but you can set your profile information to “Friends Only”. That way, people can still search you but they can’t read your

information unless you say they can.

Above all things, be sensible! They can’t take what isn’t there and if you don’t list everything about yourself from shoe size to last dental check up- they can’t see it.
Thereby the greatest lesson is to be ever vigilant with what you share, so that you share enough that people can find you but you’re not leaking inside information with people not privileged to view it.

Thank you for reading- as always!
We hope this has been an insightful look into social media and online networking.

All information presented here is © copyright Carkean Solutions Ltd., 2010 - Not to be used without our permission - The views expressed here are the views of an individual not the corporation

Online Promotion.

Kind of a lighthearted post today, we're looking at a few of the ways that any size business can improve their online promotion. It's more a brief checklist than a comprehensive exploration.

Make constructive connections between your e-Networking resources. If your Twitter is used to deliver Blogger content, then connect those two when viewers visit pages but leave your Facebook to develop its own connections. Doing this shows new users that you’re conscious of their needs and that you are making it easier for them, most of all, to connect with you.

Use adverts and other promotional tools as sparingly as possible. Adding just a few adverts or banners here or there not only helps site load time, but equally doesn’t annoy users no end when they visit. It also shows you’re not a spammer as only spammers will shove adverts down your throat.

Take feedback to heart and really care about your users. This shows everyone from users to people who end up on your page for some reason that you, above all else, want your site to be as functional as possible. And functional = excellent. After, you would never ignore your customers if they said one of your products were faulty- would you?

Invite people to say a few words about you/your service/your site and let them link back to it not only to help generate traffic, but to let fair and honest opinions get out. Most users respect sites/services that can take necessary criticism and shun those who try to make themselves look like the best thing since sliced bread.

Try and build up affiliate services with people who provide complementary products to your service. Amazon.co.uk (and in general) have a great service for this, allowing you to make a small percentage commission but provide utility. If you’re a moving company for instance, you may want to advertise cheap home wares for the transition period from house to house.

And there we have it- a few ways to promote yourself online that you might not (or might) have known. They're all good and most of them are free or not very expensive.
Connecting with others is always a nice idea, however, so that may be useful to use as well.

Thank you for reading, as always, any comments you wish to leave would be much appreciated.

All information presented here is © copyright Carkean Solutions Ltd., 2010 - Not to be used without our permission - The views expressed here are the views of an individual not the corporation

e-Networking: Not a Replacement.

I've found that in the last few weeks we've been talking about e-Networking and using the internet as some kind of online networking tool, people have become increasingly concerned with it replacement for traditional networking/marketing- but this is not the case!

e-Networking is simply another way to do things that you can do any other way.
For instance, the use of Twitter and Facebook is not an exclusive marketing strategy and will replace the traditional marketing methods- it's an augmented method- to be done as well as all the other things you're already doing.
While blogging and even customisable platforms like WordPress are no replacement whatsoever for an actual corporate website with all of your information on it.
All in all these things are nothing more than an extra method, a new idea or something different you could try to generate some more traffic and some more business. They're not designed to replace anything- in fact, if anything there's simply not enough available that you could.

They're just something new.
Well, new for the older generation who probably grew up more akin to a pen and paper than a keyboard and monitor. But they're also something new in terms of business and corporate activity.

Also, while we're at it- let's dispel a few other myths about e-Networking in general.

• There's no way someone could access your information from it. Not a one. Other than what you upload on profiles all of your other information (IP addresses, e-mail addresses and so on) are all safe and held by the parent site- not the networker.
• Privacy is a big issue. In the days where people spend more time online than they do in their everyday lives there's a big issue of privacy- do we have it? How do we get it? Are we secure? The answer to these questions and many more is: there are easy-to-use privacy settings on each of these sites. They take minutes to set up.
• Spam is not something you'll get a lot of. We all hate spam (though some like the tinned variety) and it's a big issue, as much as privacy, on the internet. Mostly because spam becomes scams and then all sorts of disagreeable things happen. These days many sites are committed to lowering how much spam is recieved and overall it's a lot safer experience than before.
• Opt in, opt out- whatever you prefer. Most sites are free and do not force you to be on them for a "trial period" or something of the sort, you can join them and leave them as easy as you can open a web browser. Deleting your account is always an option and you have no obligations to stay if you'd rather not.

And that concludes this post! We hope it has been informative and helped to show a few of the better sides of e-Networking that otherwise might have been confused. Understandably so, as this is a new and exciting form of technology and there's all sort of myths and horror stories around the internet- but it really is all good. For the most part!

Got any e-Networking stories you'd like to share? Feel free to comment and let us know what you have to say.

All information presented here is © copyright Carkean Solutions Ltd., 2010 - Not to be used without our permission - The views expressed here are the views of an individual not the corporation

An Online Existence.

The modern world is full of useful online widgets, constant online integration and a range of online retail options for customers of all tastes and preferences. This has been a growing trend for several years and if anything it's becoming more apparent in recent years.

Largely due to the fact that this is where your customers are these days!

• Numerous large supermarkets have provided an online grocery delivery service.
• Many retail outlets have provided a reserve and pick up service.
• Home delivery on just about anything and everything is often available.
• Car insurance, credit card and other applications are easily done online.
• Many banks, loyalty card and cash card services have online account functionality.
• And this just highlights a few of the many things out there.

As an organisation what does this tell us?
Well, in the last five years or so it has become an increasingly popular idea to interact with customers where they already are. Long gone are the days of trawling high street stores for hours at a time or looking for a store that sells what you want- it's all digital. It's all accesible. And there's a lot of money in it.

In fact, the entire principle of online networking comes from the fact that your consumers are online and that's a good place to talk to them. Or network, as the case may be.
But why? Why would someone want to go online rather than in the stores?

• Prices are often lower or comparitive to the high street.
• Some items are only available online where they aren't otherwise.
• Rare, imported or specialist items are not so hard to get.
• The ease of use factor where you don't need to do much to buy items.
• Delivery is often as cheap, if not cheaper, than going via transport or car to pick the items up.

Although, on the other hand- there's a number of disadvantages to it as well.

• You can't preview items before purchase (wear clothes, check mobile phones etc.)
• Online information can be purposely or accidentaly limited.
• Even the internet sells out of products sometimes.
• There's a high risk of impulse buying addiction where it's so easy you do it repeatedly.

Now the point of all this is to highlight a few things about what online consumers will expect from you as an organisation and how best you can serve them.
Knowing what they want and how to give it to them goes a long way in sales.
Not to mention with so many consumers online there's no better way, especially in combination with other services, such as online networking and so on, to reach these consumers and deliver information straight to them. Not that it poses much of a problem these days.
Many online services have adjusted to make sure that it's as easy to use and as simple as possible as is humanly possibly. So that everyone may benefit from this range of opportunities.

What are your best online experiences? Do you have a winning strategy? Or are you an organisation looking to break into the online market?

Thank you for reading!

All information presented here is © copyright Carkean Solutions Ltd., 2010 - Not to be used without our permission - The views expressed here are the views of an individual not the corporation