If you want to promote yourself or your business, find key connections within the business world or meet professionals in your local business community, a B2B online social networking directory can help you quickly expand your network.

Once considered the domain of students or twenty-somethings, social networking sites have expanded to include small and large businesses, entrepreneurs and executives. Use online social networking to:

1. Showcase your company and its products or services.
2. Raise your profile and meet other professionals or potential clients, associates or employers.
3. Help people inside and outside your company stay connected by creating your own online social networking site.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Use an online social networking site to promote your business

The earliest social networking sites started out as a venue for musicians, as with MySpace, or as a way for classmates to connect, as with FaceBook. However, entrepreneurs and small business owners are discovering their potential for creating awareness and exposure for their companies. Even many small, neighborhood coffee houses have their own pages, where they promote their services and special events like poetry readings and open mic nights.

I recommend: Many small businesses turn to the original online social networking sites, MySpace and FaceBook, because they're easy to use and have millions of members worldwide. A profile at one of these sites is a free and simple way to reach a wide audience.

Elevate your professional profile through online social networking

Some of the newest additions to the social networking community are sites designed specifically for professionals. With these sites, you not only post your work experience or awards, for example, but also your connections with other people in that community. If you'd like to meet an important business connection, you can contact them directly through their personal page, or through a shared connection. This can open doors for you that might otherwise remain closed.

I recommend: Use a business directory for online social networking to find sites designed specifically for professional networking, such as LinkedIn or Xing. Most professional networking sites offer both free and paid options; while you can post your profile for free, you may have to pay to access full profiles for other members.

Find local connections through an online social networking list

One of the greatest advantages of online social networking is the ease of meeting people from all over the world. However, these sites are also valuable ways to connect with local professionals. Some sites focus specifically on connecting people within a city or state, while others are general networking sites that allow you to search for people with shared interests within a geographic region.

I recommend: MeetUp is a site designed to connect people in a city or state who have similar interests, hobbies or careers. Or, search for people in your city or state at general networking sites like ZoomInfo.

Build your own online social networking directory

You can also use online social networking sites to help your employees stay connected, and to maintain strong relationships with people outside the company, such as prospects, clients and associates. By building your own community, you foster increased interaction and communication between people inside and outside your company.

I recommend: Awareness specializes in both internal and external networks, so you can build a social networking site either only for your employees, or for anyone with an interest in the company. Software from Relenet is designed to help you quickly set up a social networking site.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  When you join an online social networking site, take as much care creating your profile as you did when you created your company's website--it may be your first, and perhaps only, introduction to potential clients or employers.