Think You Have Exhausted All Your Social Networking? Think Again.
Recently, our web developer Kyle Taylor, asked what he could do further his networking for his start-up community. Marketing outside of your targeted community can seem like a daunting task to embark.
Fortunately, many social media sites help spread the word of a company, brand, product, or interest. Most if not all of the before mentioned are on Facebook and Twitter. Printerest on the other hand keeps growing although it's a very niche network for crafters. It's time to step out of your social networking comfort zone.
You might be thinking that this is an obvious place to network, right? Professionals and businesses all have LinkedIn profiles, if not, then they should. There's more to the professional "Facebook-like" networking. Try joining LinkedIn Groups if you haven't done so already. If you do a search for a group with keywords of your current community chances are you'll find an active group that will allow you to promote your events or general information that my interest like-minded individuals.
Google+ Communities
Google+ Communities are Google's version of a group or forum, built to bring people together around particular topics. The Communities available to the Google+ has 20+ different interests genres, which then you can find groups to join.
Communities are places where users can share specific questions, comments or content relating to a particular topic with other users with similar interests. Can't find a group you want to join? You can always make one of your own and make it either private or public.
Reddit is a 3 in 1 website (entertainment, social media network and news) where registered community members can submit content, such as text posts or website links. Only registered users can then vote submissions "up" or "down" to organize the posts and determine their position on the site's pages.
When you submit a link or discussion others can comment on the posts, so this is a great way to engage and meet new people that can help you with your networking.
MeetUP
This one is the only one that will actually get you face-to-face communication. There are plenty of groups with similar interest around you. Registration is really easy and the website will locate groups around your zip code. Sometimes there's small fee to pay if the Meetup is at a restaurant, however being able to network with someone that could give you a lead or customer is worth the small price.
What are some ways you network outside your already familiar circle of friends or colleagues? Let me know in the comments
