ICM - Leeds Design Agency

1. Learn from others. Invest time to read what your peers, competitors and business contacts are saying – and how they are interacting with each other. This will give you an idea of the etiquette and language that is expected.

2. Find the network that is right for your business. Just like face-to-face networking, trial different networks to find the most appropriate and beneficial for your business.
A good starting point is LinkedIn, which enables you to communicate with existing colleagues and track down contacts from previous jobs and university.

3. Set up your own blog, and position yourself as an expert. Blogs are an ideal platform around which to build an online personality, brand and reputation.
Post regularly on selected issues and build reciprocal relationships with others blogging on your topics. This will draw target audiences to you.
You can set up your own blog with free templates from sites like Blogger or Wordpress.

4. Sign up to Twitter. Twitter is a free, simple-to-use micro-blogging site which enables you to network with like-minded people about issues and topics that interest you and affect your business.

5. The best way to build up a reputation for your brand online is to operate across a number of platforms and cross-communicate.
Comment on other people’s blogs, linking back to your own, then write about their blog on yours.
Tweet about your latest blog post or let your followers know about an interesting article online that you’ve read and comment upon it. By constantly referring to other bloggers, people and networks you will begin to command an audience, with others recognising your expertise and insight.

6. Connect with peers and clients alike. While your customer base isn’t within your industry, it is always good to raise your profile with peers and potential employees. The savviest people will be using social networking as part of their everyday lives.

7. Align your online and offline messages and marketing to ensure your brand is clear.
Social networking should form a strategic part of your overall marketing strategy and it’s important you convert the social connections into face-to-face meetings and conversations.

8. Decide who within your team will be engaged in social networking on behalf of the company and set parameters.
Ensure that each person understands the limitations and framework and that it mirrors the behaviour expected while at work.

9. Monitor your online reputation. Find out who is saying what about your business and its products and services. Google offers a free “alert” service which emails you whenever it picks up articles or sites that mention your keywords.

10. Be prepared for honest feedback.