Social networking software has grown in popularity with individuals over the years and recently many companies have started to take advantage of the corporate social networking software that developers have made available. These software programs make it easy for businesses to take advantage of the social networking craze with little or no networking experience. With the help of social networking software corporations can reach their target audience in larger numbers than ever before. These different programs are designed to work with various, popular, social networking websites.

Corporate social networking software is designed to be used by professionals that are using social networks solely for business. These software programs allow corporations to promote their various products or services to casual users who have expressed an interest in their company’s services. They also let businesses build mailing or contact lists so that they can send out mass communications to interested users. Many corporate social networking software programs will even promote blog feeds from outside websites keeping social network users updated on information being posted on other websites.

Corporate social networking software also gives businesses the chance to connect with other companies.  This networking can be extremely valuable especially if the company runs another website or blog that needs to be promoted. Some software programs even allow corporations to recommend specific products and services to other users on the networks. By building contacts with other businesses a company can set up profitable link exchanges or cross promotions with companies that target a similar audience.

When choosing your corporate social network software it is important that you or your marketing experts identify the needs of your business. For example, if you’re primary goal is to use a social network to promote a blog then pick out a software program that will make it easy to showcase your blogs RSS feed. Also, be sure that your social networking software includes customer support. Even though must corporate social networking software programs are designed to be used by people with limited experiences it is always helpful to have support available. Purchasing a software program that allows for telephone or online customer service support will help your company get the most use out of its new program.

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If you’re going to create your own social networking site you will have to decide what features you want to offer on the site so that you can choose the right networking software that has those particular features built into it. There are hundreds of different features that are common social networking sites, so how do you know which ones to use and which ones not to use? The trick to picking the best social networking features for your company’s networking site is to make sure that each feature you pick has a functional aspect as well as a fun aspect. You also need to keep in mind the purpose of your networking site when you’re choosing the software that will give you the features that you want for your site.

For example, look at one of the most commonly found features in social networking software, the ability to post videos online. Does your networking site need that feature? If your social networking site is just an in-house site to help the members of the company get to know one another more and stay connected then you might not need to have that feature. But, if your site is designed to help clients stay in touch with their account managers or customer service reps then having a video feature on the site would allow the account mangers or customer service reps to post videos and tutorials about how to use the products that you sell, and that could be extremely helpful and beneficial for customers.

Ultimately only you can decide what the best features are for your custom social networking site and which features you really want to have but when you’re buying networking website software it’s better to buy software that has more features then you think you will need because you might decide later on that you need different features than the ones that you want to have now. If you buy software that already has all the additional features that you might want in the future you won’t need to buy software when you want to add more features to your custom social networking site.

Irina Ivanova is a marketing consultant for MegaStar Media. For more information about MegaStar Media visit the MegaStar Media website at: http://www.MegaStarMedia.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?The-Best-Social-Networking-Software-Features&id=1266150

If you want to build a custom corporate social networking site that your company can use either for communicating with each other or communicating with customers and the corporate headquarters you’re probably wondering what best social networking software is. It’s actually hard to pick one brand of software that is used by businesses to build a networking site and claim it’s the best one because every company has different needs, making it quite possible that every company will find a different type of business networking software suits their particular needs.

In order to pick the best social networking software for your company you need to identify what features you want your online community site to have. If you want just a basic networking site then you probably want to choose networking business software that doesn’t have a lot of bells and whistles because you’d end up paying a lot more for features that you don’t need. If your business networking site has to look like all the other company social networking sites that are going to be under one large company umbrella then you will have to use the same social networking software that all the other companies that do business that corporate umbrella are going to use for their sites. And if you want a custom online networking site that has all the bells and whistles that a site like MySpace has then you’ll have to get top of the line corporate social networking software.

Once you have identified what type of features you want your custom social networking site to have you should try out a few different corporate social networking software packages to see what each one offers and how each one is to use. Most social networking software companies will give you a 30 or 60 day free trial of their software to make sure that the software fits your needs before they require you to buy it. Take advantage of the free trials of corporate social networking software so that you can compare different brands and see which one will give you the type of corporate social networking site that you want.

Irina Ivanova is a marketing consultant for MegaStar Media. For more information about MegaStar Media visit the MegaStar Media website at: http://www.MegaStarMedia.com

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One day he called me and told me he wanted me to speak with his new national VP of sales – that he wanted my ideas and methods to be used in his company. Wonderful. Especially since it all came from him.

The VP called me days later at my friend’s request, and we had a great phone contact: he said he was familiar with my concepts and was interested in a conversation, and he invited me to his office to spend some time. It was one of the only times in my life I flew to a client site for a face-to-face prospecting visit. In my mind, this was a very hot lead indeed.

When I got there, it became apparent he was setting me up to show the COO that he didn’t need me, didn’t need my material, and was fine, thank you very much. He was curt, rude, and, frankly between us, rather stupid in his remarks.

When I spoke with my friend, he grumbled and hung up. Next week, he called me back with the name of the VP of training. The man called me, had a lively, exciting conversation with me, sent me a check for the next public training so that he could attend himself, and I never heard from him again.

IT’S NOT ABOUT WHO YOU KNOW
I knew the right guy. It doesn’t get any better – COO of a Fortune 50 company, close friend. But in the end, it had nothing to do with what I was selling, or who I knew – it had to do with how the buyers were buying.

There is a whole burgeoning field of software that will help sellers find people who they know in a company. Then you can call that person, or have one of your friends call that person – all in hopes that this connection will give you a leg up. Let’s take a look at the presuppositions inherent in the concept of social networking:

1. that the person you know within a company has the clout to have some say within the company;

2. that the person you know is on a decision team (or knows someone on a decision team) that is ready to make a decision to bring in a new product or service;

3. that the person you know will know how to say what you need him/her to say to get you the exposure you seek;

4. that bringing you into the company – even if the person has the clout to get you into the company – will influence a decision;

5. that the company is ready to make a change;

6. that the person bringing you in can help the company understand they need to change;

7. that the company will know how to line up it’s decision criteria just because you know the right person, and you can show up with your great product and presentation material.

Let’s take a look again at what’s happening at this point in history. Sales people are not needed to offer information: buyers can get more information about a seller’s product than they have to offer, more about their product andthe competition, the good points and bad, the industry successes and failures, the price points – sellers are just not needed to push product any more.

Because this historic sales function has been superseded by a computer, sellers don’t know what their jobs are anymore. Sellers are attempting to add new functions to their role so they can offer some value: they are making themselves ‘trusted advisors’; becoming ‘true consultants’; demonstrating some sort of ‘value add’- either through product or service or technology.

IMPEDITMENTS TO SALES
But the problems with sales continue: the same problems that have existed within the sales function since its inception continue to be impediments to sales. There remains a void in the sales process in that space between how sellers sell and how buyers buy.

Since its inception, the dichotomy between the product/seller/sale and the buyer’s environment/buyer/buying process has been met with fallacious assumptions, including:

* if you get in the door and have a face-to-face meeting, the buyer will know how to buy.

* if you pitch/present/promote/advertise your product effectively, the buyer will know how to buy.

* if you give clients great prices, they will choose your product;

* if you give clients great service, they will know how to choose you;

* if you are the brand leader…

* if you have the best product…

* if the buyer needs your product…

* if you have the best software…

* if you know someone…

A few years ago – about 5, I’m guessing – we came to the realization that ‘sales’ wasn’t working. What did we do? Point our resources to the new-new thing – technology. Since then, we’ve attempted to try to use technology to overcome all of the inherent problems sales creates. We’ve tried SFA, CRM, and now Social Network Software. And all they do is continue to operate on the same beliefs that sales has always worked from: people will buy if they like/understand/need/recognize the product, or like the sales person. And that’s patently untrue. We’ve just not known what else to do. And the gulf between the sales end and the buyer’s end keeps widening.

In the December 2003 issue of Inc. Magazine, Michael Fitzgeral says in ‘Internet Icebreakers’, an article on Social Network Software:

‘It’s not a slam dunk–the contact might not care that your brother’s partner’s wife just happens to be a member of his homeowners’ association.’

THE SOLUTION

For those of you who have been reading my newsletters for years, you are going to have to hear me rant about this just one more time.

-Buyers live in an idiosyncratic buying environment.

-The buyer’s network of decision factors includes an interesting network of people, rules, collaborations, initiatives, budget issues, and human fallacies.

-The buyer’s environment is a complete system that they are comfortable with.

-Systems face chaos when something new gets added.
-Buyer’s systems won’t add anything new until they understand how to manage any chaos to return to some form of stasis.

In other words, no matter how good your product is, how well you pitch/present/promote/propose it, or who you know, the buyer won’t make a purchasing decision until they line up all of their decision variables so they can manage the disruption a new purchase will create within their system.

If you are eager to use Social Network Software, at least use Buying Facilitation® as the front end: help this person navigate their internal variables so they can learn with you how to bring you in the most effective way.

Remember that Buying Facilitation® uses the buyer’s decisioning sequence to: lead them through a good look at where they are at (all of their company’s norms, rules, values, initiatives, and subjective criteria); notice if anything is missing; understand how to fix it with familiar resources; address all of the internal systems they need to manage prior to bringing in a solution that will possibly create chaos.

The above is the sequence buyers go through anyway, and that the time it takes them to do the above is the length of the sales cycle: they are going to do it with you, or without you. If you can use your new-found relationship to get you into a close range with the prospect, make sure you take the opportunity to lead them through this process and become a true Trusted Advisor.

Once you are ‘in’ and getting a chance to have your time in the sun, use Buying Facilitation® again to help them line up their decision factors. That will not only make you their true Trusted Advisor, it will also make the person you know look good. It will increase your sales over 200% (that’s right – there is not an extra zero there), reduce your sales cycle by 75%, and get you on the decision team.

Getting into the prospect’s space, knowing someone who can bring you in, or having a great product remain the outer edge – the selling edge – of sales. It’s time in our history to use the job of ‘sales’ to help buyers make their best buying decisions. Social Network Software can play a part: it’s just the front end, however. There’s still plenty of work to be done to help buyers buy.

My tag line remains: do you want to sell? Or have someone buy?

Sharon Drew Morgen is the author of NYTimes Best Seller Selling with Integrity. She speaks, teaches and consults globally around her visionary sales method, Buying Facilitation. http://www.newsalesparadigm.com http://www.sharondrewmorgen.com 512-457-0246 Morgen Facilitations, Inc. Austin, TX

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?Social-Network-Software&id=27338

Online business and website owners often spend a good deal of time trying to find new ways to increase sales and traffic. Until recently these methods have often been time consuming and not always successful. Now, with the growth of social networking sites, business owners can contact millions of potential customers at little or no cost by using social networking software. This software makes it easy for users to interact with customers, other professionals, and anyone else of interest.

Social networking software has become extremely affordable and requires only a one time investment. There are no monthly fees and usually upgrades come with no additional charge. This lack of additional charges makes social networking software a much better investment than most other forms of online advertising. Along with being affordable social networking software is very easy to install and use.

The software that is designed to be used with social networking websites must be installed and registered with an existing social networking account. Once the software is ready for use it can be used to send mass messages, leave comments, and much more. This will allow business owners to communicate with their customers and associates quickly and efficiently. Other forms of social networking software can be used directly on a company’s website or profile page allowing users to interact with each other or the corporation.

Once the software is installed on the chosen website or webpage all visitors will be invited to register for a free membership. This membership will allow them to be updated about discounts, company news, and other events. By remaining in touch with visitors thanks to this software traffic will grow and revenue will also start to increase. The traffic increases because constant contact encourages visitors to return to the site and refer to friends or family. Revenue will increase because of more sales and, in some instances, more advertising revenue.

Investing in social networking software will help increase your businesses popularity with consumers and visitors. There are many different types of software available that will help suit all of your business needs. By using this software you will be encouraging users to remain loyal to your website, product, or services.

For more information on social networking solutions visit http://www.MegaStarMedia.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?Online-Promotion—The-Benefits-of-Social-Networking-Software&id=1259240