How to promote a business using social networks: basic concepts

One of the best ways to promote your business and gain a target audience is to use social media. Social networks are methods of interacting with people or groups over the Internet. The principles are basically the same whether you use blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Squidoo, Digg, YouTube, Reddit, etc.

Here are 5 basic steps to promote your business using social media:

Step 1 – Find a Hot Topic to Promote The hot topic is the things that are on everyone’s mind and everyone is talking about today, but they fizzle out after a period of time. Take the time to surf the internet and see what kinds of topics most people are talking about. Alexa, eBay, eHow, Yahoo Answers, EzineArticles, Google Trends are places on the Internet that you can use.

Step 2 Find keywords Attach at least 5 good keywords to the topic you have chosen. This will automatically help maximize conversations. If you find keywords that are searched for a lot, but the competition for that keyword isn’t used as much, you’ll rank higher more easily in the search engine. Popular keyword tools that you can use are the Google Keyword Tool, which is free to use, and Keyword Spy.

Step 3 – Affiliate Product Once you have chosen the topic of interest, see what types of affiliate products are available for the topic. There are many affiliate networks on the Internet that you can use. Among the most popular are ClickBank, LinkShare, and Commission Junction.

Step 4 – Social Network Site Choose one of the social networking sites, as mentioned in step 1, from which you want to promote your business. Create a persona for your experience. This is based on your true self or your currency for online sales. Be sure to include a photo, backstory, etc.

Step 5 – Promote your business Tell people about your business experience, journey, and aspirations. People who are interested in what they see on your profile and like how it interacts with you will visit your site and also recommend it to others. This is helpful in generating more traffic and more business and even a stronger personality that will set you apart as an internet marketing expert.