Part two of a three-part series

By Joey Rahimi [joey@brandingbrand.com]

According to Alexa.com, the Web information company, The number one most visited site in the United States is … Google! (Duh.) Think to yourself how many times a day you use Google to Google something.

Even though it’s Google’s world (online) and we’re all just living in it, there are other popular Web sites that you might be addicted to that are lower on the totem pole, but still very important to your business. We’ll demystify Google in the next issue, but for now, the latest stats from Alexa.com show that … #3 is MySpace; #4 is YouTube; #5 is Facebook; and #89 is Linkedin.

These are the four most popular social networking sites you need to be on, not only to show that your firm is cutting edge, but also to bring life to your company, which in turn will get you more exposure and bring in more business. Let’s start with the Web site that Rupert Murdoch bought for $580 Million (steal of the century!) …

MySpace.com

Check up on your daughter and make your company cool

Yes, you can check on your kids to see what they’re up to now! You may be too old for a MySpace account, but your company is not. Just hire a freelance designer who knows CSS and pay them $500 to make a nice layout for your profile, incorporating your logo and brand. Now that your profile is “pimped” out … you can use it for a number of things. Just make sure you tell someone at your company to spend an hour a week updating the profile with the company’s latest pictures and videos … and to add your kids as friends. Here’s how you can use MySpace for your business:

Need market research?

Use the browse feature to find the demographic you’re looking for to test your product and provide all the feedback you need. You can search for users based on: age, zip code, income, education, sex, body type (I’m serious), and much more. My latest search reveals: There are 83 female “swingers” between the ages of 30 – 45 within 100 miles of Pittsburgh (15213) who don’t smoke, but enjoy a drink or two.

Show up higher on search results!

Do you suffer from the problem of your company not showing up high enough in search results for your own name because you share your name with other companies around the world? If you create a MySpace profile and put time into it, you can ride off the power of MySpace to show up number one for your company name (which can then link back to your corporate home page). You’ll not only show people how cool your company is by having a MySpace page, but you’ll also be found more online too!

Create buzz and friends!

Setting up a MySpace page isn’t enough, you have to continually add/accept friends, add pictures, comment on other people’s pictures, but most importantly … engage your friends:

• Why not hold a contest to get some buzz going targeted to college students? (There are 3,200 current CMU students on MySpace, 5,600 alumni.)

• Announce a cool party or networking event that someone in your company is attending and invite other people to it with similar interests. (Use the browse feature.)

• Take pictures of “Steeler Friday” at work or a company outing and create a photo gallery for it.

You do this, and you’ll get friends for it … not real friends whose calls you have to answer, but “online” friends that may listen to what you’re saying from time to time and eventually end up becoming “real” friends, business partners or co-workers after they recognize you on the street or at a function due to your new online popularity.

Still think MySpace is nothing but an online “meat fest”? It’s actually a “cheese fest.” Even Kraft Cheese Singles has their own MySpace page … if a piece of cheese can have a MySpace page, so can you. As far as I know, there’s nothing cool about cheese, but Kraft managed to use MySpace to promote their brand through video contests and a really cool, I mean, “pimped out” page. You gotta see this at http://www.myspace.com/haveahappysandwich.

So, the next time you have a grilled cheese craving, maybe you’ll forget about the ingredients in processed cheese (milkfat, sorbic acid, apocarotenal, annatto) and buy some Kraft Singles because, after all, you’d rather buy something from a “friend,” right?

YouTube.com

Laugh at stupid pet tricks and get people to listen

Guess what … most Americans hate to read. That’s why Google bought YouTube for a jillion dollars. The good news is, most of the people who visit your Web site are probably a lot smarter than the average YouTube viewer … but the bad news is that the copy on your Website probably sucks and looks exactly like everyone else’s. You know … you say “targeted, customized solutions with an integrated approach to satisfying client demands beyond expectations to the fullest potential” over and over again.

Now I know you’re used to using YouTube to watch a guy show you dance moves from the ’50s or see cute puppies fight with each other, but you can use YouTube to compliment the boring text on your Web site with compelling video. Here are the real reasons to use YouTube for your business:

Communicate your message to people who hate to read Even though you’re reading this now, chances are, you’d rather be watching a hot babe/dude recite this text. (I prefer to read, because I’d rather read fast than wait to listen to someone get their point across), but you want to satisfy the readers and the watchers so … here’s your to-do list:

• Clean up the copy on your Web site, that’ll be your script.

• Log into your MySpace account and search for students who go to AIP who are interested in videography, animation and editing.

• Break them off some dough to come in and create a couple of company videos about: your history, value proposition, why you should work here and whatever else you can think of … get creative!

Then post your videos on your Web site. When a visitor reaches your site, they’ll have the option to either READ or WATCH! Your innovation will not only differentiate you from your competition, but your conversion of leads will go up, too, because you’ve got more people now paying attention.

Track views and brag about them

After you’ve got that genius from AIP to finish your videos, make sure you tell him/her to upload them to YouTube in the highest quality possible. Don’t forget to include your company name in the YouTube title and also, embed the videos in your Web site. In other words, let YouTube do the hosting of your video, that way, you’ll be able to track how many people have viewed it, and after it reaches a respectable number, you can brag about it at dinner to your family saying something like …“My company history video has reached over 1,000 views on YouTube.”

Give your company a human feel and make people like you

When customers look at your Web site, as well as your competitor’s, they have to make a decision of who they’re going to initiate contact with. Sometimes they’ll call both of you to arrange a meeting, but many times, they’ll just go with who they trust and respect more based on how you present yourself online. A sincere, well-produced (yet still authentic) video can sway customers over to you.

I remember a long time ago, my team and I at Branding Brand produced home tour videos for a local realtor. After putting them on YouTube, she became somewhat of a local celebrity, and people around town automatically trusted her because she put herself out there. In other words, when people met her, they felt like they already “knew her,” which was great to break the ice and eventually seal the deal. Just Google “Lawrenceville Loft” and see for yourself.

Show up higher on search results!

Go back up to this section under the MySpace part of this article, and replace MySpace with YouTube. Your YouTube account (as long as you nurture it) will show up on the first page when you Google your company name.

Still think YouTube is nothing but a place to watch Obama Girl Videos?

Even Zappos, a Web site that sells shoes, has its own YouTube account. Sure, shoes are cool, but shoe salesmen aren’t. Remember Al Bundy? If an online “shoesalescompany” can have their own YouTube account, so can you. Check out http://www.youtube.com/zappos. Zappos uses YouTube to show how cool they are to work for. Oh, and the press they’ve gotten for this initiative continues to roll in.

Facebook

Check on your daughter again and reach smarter people

Yes, Facebook is very similar to MySpace, and chances are, your daughter has a MySpace and a Facebook profile. Side note: Yahoo! tried to buy Facebook for $1 billion. Facebook said no. Microsoft later invested $240 million into Facebook at a $15 billion dollar valuation. Shame on you Yahoo! for your silly lowball offer. See why the MySpace acquisition was the steal of the century? The biggest difference you should care about for your business is that Facebook attracts an older audience, which may be great for finding a date, or to …

Recruit top talent

I’ve asked every college student I’ve met in the area if they use Facebook. Whether I’m at Hemingway’s (across the street from my office, how convenient!) or chillin’ at CMU, everyone’s got a Facebook account and everyone uses it. By “everyone,” I mean 90 percent of people … that’s my own stat, and I’m sticking to it. If we look back at that number I threw out for Carnegie Mellon students who have MySpace accounts, the number was 3,200 undergrads out of 5,758 total student body. That’s about 55 percent. More college students use Facebook and as they turn into young professionals, they continue to use their account, especially at work ;o)

So let’s say you have an opening for a computer programmer and you need one fast! Facebook lets you advertise on their site for cheap and/or free.

1. THE CHEAP WAY! Targeted Advertisement Want to hire a CSS programmer who’s favorite book is Moby Dick? Now it’s possible.

• Just create a targeted ad that will pop up to users who have “Moby Dick” and “CSS” listed in their profile. This is as targeted as it gets.

• If you’ve got a product or service to sell, just think about what your target demographic would have listed in their profile … and hit them up!

• Make sure that when the user clicks your ad, they are taken to a landing page on your Web site that is specific to your advertisement.

2. THE FREE WAY! Fan Pages

• You can represent your business or product by creating a customized profile for free!

• Check out how other businesses, Presidential candidates and nonprofits are using Facebook fan pages@ http://www.new.facebook.com/pages

• As users interact with your page, viral distribution naturally occurs since their friends are notified with the interaction on their “feeds” when they log in.

Network

So you’re out at an event, cocktail party, “Stiller” game, airport, wherever, and you meet someone and forget to get their business card (or are too embarrassed to ask). The first thing you should do when you’re in front of the computer is to Facebook them! Just log into your Facebook account and in the search bar, type in the first and last name of the person you met, along with their city. If they’re hip and innovative go-getters like yourself, then you’ll definitely find them on Facebook.

For proper “NETiquette” when adding Facebook friends – before you go adding random people you’ve met throughout time or want to meet – make sure you send a personalized message that goes along with your “friend request.”

Remember, just because it’s called “online social networking,” doesn’t mean they’re at the same cocktail party as you. Translation – only add friends where you have some sort of realistic connection with them, or you’ll look stupid.

Proper messages to send to a potential new friend:

• “We went to high school together! How are ya?”

• “You’re my fourth cousin! Can you believe it?”

• “Our mutual friend Jim asked me to say hi. He thought you’d be interested in…”

Not so Proper Ways:

•“You don’t know me, but …”

•“Are you paying too much for your life insurance?”

•“Will you be my friend?”

•“I’ve always had a crush on you …”

Post stuff and show up on other people’s feeds!

What’s a feed? Well, Facebook has two cool features:

1. News Feed – highlights what’s happening in your social circle, so you’ll know when Mark adds Billy as a friend or when Megan breaks up with Bobby. When you log into Facebook, the news feed is what currently shows up first, showing you what’s going on around you.

2. Mini-Feed – this centers around one person. If you want to see what one person has been up to (stalk them), you can view their page and look at their mini-feed to see the latest pictures they’ve posted, who they’ve added as friends, what stories they are sharing, etc.

So how can you use this for your business? Simple! After you create your FAN page, just start interacting with people and your actions will start showing up on people’s feeds, giving you some awesome viral exposure. Here are some cool things you can do to show up on other people’s radars: (as I log into my Facebook account now, I’ll give you an example of what my friends are doing – sorry guys!)

• Post an interesting video: My friend, Lani, loves posting videos bashing Republicans.

• Post an interesting article: Christina just shared an article about a client she just got on USA Today. • Change your default picture to something cool/funny! Kellee just changed her picture to a shot of herself rapping on stage.

Your interactions with Facebook get shared with your immediate circle. Keep in mind that there are so many things you can share, just don’t abuse it, or you’ll have your own friends blocking you ‘cus you’re so annoying … Show up higher on search results! Go back up to this section under the MySpace part of this article, and replace MySpace with Facebook. Eventually, you’ll cover the entire first page of Google Search Results with your company name. Wouldn’t that be awesome to brag about at the dinner table? “Just Google me and see what comes up!”

Linkedin

Professional (boring) social networking

We’ll talk about Linkedin next time … you’re overwhelmed right now. We’ll also talk about:

•How to really write a blog

•Making love to Google

•Not wasting your time with Twitter

Oh, and if you have any questions, email me at joey@brandingbrand.com and I’ll reply, I promise. ■