Contrary to popular belief, social networking is not something new.  It did not begin with the advent of MySpace, Facebook and 43things.

Chambers of Commerce, Bible study groups, book clubs, and myriad other organizations come together to help each other and network in a social setting, and have done so for hundreds – if not thousands – of years.

Social networking is nothing more than a group of like-minded people come together to share their interests, challenges and knowledge.  It is the formation of a community within a community – or, with the growing population of social networking sites on the internet, it’s a community across communities.

Many business owners have discovered the power available to them when they participate in social networking on the internet.

These sites let the people in your target market get to know you in a safe, neutral, and informal atmosphere.  When you join a social network, you’re able to seek out other members who share your interests.  Then you can participate in groups with those members and exchange information and ideas.

Additionally, social networks are a great place to meet potential joint venture partners.  Many business owners have established a social networking presence, and it’s fairly easy to start building a relationship with them by participating in their social networking activities – respond to their posts, comment on their pages, and promote their pages to your own mailing list.

Social networking sites are also an excellent resource for researching your market.  Instead of conducting a time-consuming market survey, you can spend some time looking through the content on social networking sites to find out what people are concerned with right now.

Finally, participating in social networking allows you to increase your visibility in other areas because many of the popular sites provide you with your own blog, and good blogs rank high in the search engines.  Use this blog to post helpful information and link the posts to related pages on your main website.  The more high-quality content you post, the more visible you’ll be.

Most of the popular social networking sites are free for users to join.  If you haven’t already done so, join one today and get involved.  Just remember, you’re there to network, not to advertise.