Tasha Harrison

We’re all busy people, always have been. The most overused excuse in business is that people don’t have time. Which is why social networking seems like it’s going to take too much time to be worth it. Many people read about Twitter and LinkedIn and learn how great they are for their business, which they can be, but, having joined up and filled out their profiles, realise they don’t have enough time to really make the most of them. It can be pretty intimidating when you first get on Twitter and follow a few people. You’re not really sure what you’re supposed to do and you quickly realise that it’s not just a load of people talking about making tea, as many people suppose.

The most important thing when joining an online network is to make sure you’ve got enough time to invest in it and to ensure that it is the right network for you and your business. This can be a matter of trial and error, but if you invest the time at the beginning you will find that the benefits far outweigh the time it costs you.

In essence social media is simply sites that are social.  These include social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, and any kind of online community like a forum or a blog.

The reason social media is so important (and why the media talk about it constantly) is that it enables us to communicate with people who share our interests and passions via the internet. Before the internet people would join clubs and groups in order to meet people with similar interests. For some people this was difficult as there may not have been a group in their area. The internet enables us to meet people online more easily.

Sites like Facebook help you to meet up with old friends and acquaintances. MySpace helps new bands easily showcase their work online. Youtube enables people to share their videos.

There are many more sites that are aimed at smaller communities. LinkedIn is a networking site for business people across the world. It enables you to build a community by connecting with people you already know and their contacts as well. So if you go to a networking event and meet five people, all of whom are on LinkedIn, you can connect with them on the site and then have access to their networks.