The POWER of ONLINE Social Media

"You gotta keep up!

You can't just ignore the fact that Facebook has over 400 million users worldwide!"

That's right. How about these other ones? Twitter? MySpace? Then, there are those called Orkut, Hi5, Delicious, Flickr....What in the ONLINE world IS all of THAT? StumbleUpon? Digg?

Well, let's welcome ourselves to the ONLINE SOCIAL MEDIA ERA.

Nowadays, an online presence is not a real online presence if you only have a web site. Work hard, at least, so your web site can be found through the main search engines. Nowadays, you need to create a different type of online presence. One that identifies your brand, one that allows for different means of communication. One that brings alive a more personal, maybe even humorous side of your company's brand identity that others can easily connect with.

We decided to be on Facebook and Twitter. We decided to have a Blog (this one!). Is it enough? No. We're continuously learning more and more about online social media in order to increase our online presence. It's a VAST virtual world, this online world. There's a lot of "land" available, but we gotta know where the best real estate is.

Our industry is so different, in so many senses, than other industries. It's a very secretive industry. People don't just go around telling others "Hey, guess what a great private investigations agency I just found!?", like they were to say in reference to a good restaurant they ate at. Most clients don't want to make others aware they have hired an investigator. Of course, we all understand this.

Nevertheless, being a part of and an active member of the online social world, is almost like being part of a few "social clubs" here and there. The difference is that you are meeting in a virtual place and time, even, and you might never really meet in person. The online world is instant, it's fast and it's very competitive. BUT, don't let that scare you off. Online Social Media is extremely powerful in spreading word-of-mouth, whether negative or positive, and depending on your behavior online, things can work out very well or not so well for you. Watch your language and your manners. Watch the links and pictures you post and share with others in this never ending online world, and stay active.

Start conversations, join special groups and forums within the online networks such as Facebook and Twitter and build a MUCH better and stronger online presence.

It TAKES TIME. You will probably not have 1000 fans on Facebook overnight, unless you are Carmen Electra or Lebron James. However, your active participation and consistent behavior in what you do and say (write), will get you there. This, on the other hand, can get you a good presence in the real life community in your town, city or home community as well, and certainly can get you future fans and ultimately, business.

Believe in the power of online social media. It has come to stay. Be an active part of it. If we can do it, you can do it too! In fact, let's build our own group, our own shared-interests online group, invite many others and we can start a very strong and cool network! Just an idea...

Remember:

"You gotta keep up!

You can't just ignore the fact that Facebook has over 400 million users worldwide!"

Are you IN or will you just be watching and missing out?!