Facebucks - Using Online Networks

to Grow Business

Think back 10 years ago to a period that, for many of us, was still a getting-to-know-you phase with the Internet. Sure, the virtual world had been around for a few years already, but very few businesses were fully adept at properly setting up shop along the information highway.

At the time, the common theme was that every business needed a website to act as a storefront, make online purchases (for those who were brave enough to put their credit card numbers through keystrokes), or as a way to direct customers to contact them via email or one of the new instant messaging programs (ICQ anyone?).

Those who were in the know excelled, while anyone who didn’t register their URL were viewed as being behind the times. Soon, websites, as crude as they were at times, were being swept up quicker than domain registrars could handle orders as the Internet became the “it” business tool.

Flash forward to today, where a whole other boom period for the Internet and business is taking off. Whereas websites were the must-haves of the 1990s, today it’s a menagerie of online tools that are considered essential for success in business. Between social networking sites like Facebook, update and commentary hits like Twitter and blogs, and an endless stream of business indexes, the Internet of today offers more capabilities to any organization to give full service to its clients. But why is this all necessary? After all, a website with a sharp design and the necessary information and functions can essentially carry the same information as a LinkedIn profile.

The key, it seems, comes down to the very basics of business–that, as the old principle dictates, the three most important aspects of any company are location, location, location.

These online communities have millions of users and are receiving countless hits per day. According to Alexa.com, Facebook is the second most visited site in Canada (trailing only behind Google Canada), while Blogger (10th) and Twitter (18th) rank ahead of sites such as CBC.ca (30th) and Canoe.ca (33rd). That equates to a major opportunity for a business to promote itself, either through purchased ad space or, more simply, though an account which its clients,