Avoid the Pitfalls of Social Networking

By Lesley Spencer Pyle of Entrepreneur.com



The Internet provides an impressive way to connect with people (in essence leveling the playing field for home-based business owners). Incorporating social networking into your business' marketing plan will pay off tremendously.

Many entrepreneurs participate in socially geared networking forums as well as business networking forums; the caveat is both reflect heavily on you and, by association, your business. Therefore, it's important to realize the potential impact of your online activity on your business.

Social networking sites are a great way to stay in touch with family and friends, but remember the content published here is accessible by others. This includes people with whom you do business. Even though you may have separate sites/accounts that seemingly split your business and personal online personas, anybody could easily access the information on your personal site prior to doing business with you.

For example, many HR departments Google candidates' names to obtain additional information about them during the hiring process. So why wouldn't a CEO turn to Google before entering into a business relationship with a person or company?

Keep anything you write on the Web professional. Someone wanting to do business with you doesn't want to witness you using vulgar language or discrediting another person or business on an online forum. Once it's out there, it's hard to take it back.

Also, any pictures posted should be kept to those you'd feel comfortable sharing with your grandmother. Log-in names should also be kept professional; don't use names or terms that might hurt your image.