How social networking could save your business
by Denis A. Baldwin

An old saying that holds true to some of the greatest ideas I've ever (and never) seen goes like this:

"The blessing is that we have this great idea and the curse is that no one knows about it."

Social networking can change that. What is social networking? It's the democratic super society that the internet has spawned over the last couple of years. It gives everyone a voice, and en masse, a collective scream. It can make or break an idea because it's an unabated celebrity contest. If your idea is weak or unnecessary, it will be cut from the herd quickly and without mercy. If your idea is intriguing or useful or otherwise popular, it will be accepted by the masses and transformed into a living, breathing, self sustaining entity with cult followers and advocates abound.

Sound exciting? It is. Social networks grow every second of every day. Every time a connection is made, there is a new opportunity to share your point of view, get your idea heard, expose some of your perspective and get noticed. New social networks are popping up at an alarming rate.

Some of my favorites are:

http://www.myspace.com - The grand daddy of them all. Gigantic and sometimes confusing, this evolving ball of people tends to cater to everyone from bands to brands, but offers a lot of control over content for the business minded among us.

http://www.facebook.com - My personal favorite. Aimed more towards people and their relationships than products, this is a great way to interact with like minded individuals.

http://www.linkedin.com - An up and coming mix of facebook and the yellow pages. The idea is that everyone is connected somehow, and this allows you to "link in" to everyone else. Very interesting idea, and it's building on what makes facebook so popular.

http://www.43things.com - Imagine a to-do list for your life that you can compare with everyone else. Another great way to find people, share ideas and find similarly minded netizens.

There are hundreds more, but getting involved in those will propel you and your business forward. Start a profile with any of them.. it's free. Get out there. Make some contacts. You'll be happy you did.