As you can see, social networking sites cater to a diverse audience. This is why some specialize in business, religion, sex and a few other things. Each one allows you to post blogs, photos and videos. At the same time, your friends can post comments.

This begins by becoming a member. Each person has to fill up the form and answer a few questions. This normally includes what will be your username, age, gender, location, interests and an “about me” section. You are not required but encouraged to upload a photo so people will be able to put a face to the name.

When it is finished, you get to choose the visibility of your profile. Can anyone see it or will this be limited only to your friends. The social networking site will ensure that your decision in this matter is respected.

Eventually your list of contacts will grow and this in essence is what social networking is all about. Some of those individuals are people you really know while the rest are acquaintances which could develop into something more in the future. You can leave messages when your contact is offline similar to webmail which many of us are already used to.

But not social networking sites started this way. This just evolved later on and one good example is Classmates which was initially designed to help you find old colleagues from secondary school and college.

In order to compete with other social networking sites, developers have to come up with better features which the others don’t offer. Some examples of these include built-blogging, mobile interactions, RSS feeds, URL blocklist, application sharing, multiple language support, smarty templates, article rating, multiple authors and a lot more.

You just have to try each one to see if you are happy with their service. If you are not, then you can always close your account and open a new one somewhere else.

Despite all the fanfare, one thing that social networking sites are greatly concerned about is privacy primarily concerning the usage of the younger users. This is because they may be naïve enough to meet people on the net and sadly they become victims of a heinous crime. While most developers have taken steps to try and prevent this, the parents of those who use it need to do their share as well by monitoring how their kids use it and activating the security settings.

Social networking sites regardless of how big or small they are now have a lot in common. What distinguishes them is their target audience and what other features they may offer that will make you decide to sign up with them.

You can also read reviews or ask your friends about what social networking sites are they members of since you want to be in the same group. If you can’t decide, you can open several accounts and just take time to update and use them.

Here are the advantages that can be more than enough for you to want to join in.

Low Costs

Definitely, it’s cheaper to use online social networking for both personal and business use because most of it is usually free. While personal use is rather simple for anyone, the business functions are underestimated by many. In a social networking site, you can scout out potential customers and target markets with just a few clicks and keystrokes, adding a boost to your usual advertisements and promotional strategies. It lets you learn about their likes and dislikes, which is tremendous. If you want to fine tune your business, then this is the way to go, whether on a budget or not.

Builds Credibility

You definitely can gain the customers’ confidence if you can connect to them on both a personal and professional level. Despite having to do a bit of work, it definitely pays off as you can be tapped for an offer if someone catches wind of your products or services. As long as you don’t pursue them too aggressively, you will do well here.

Connections

You are friends with people who have other friends, and so on. There is potential in such a common situation. By using a social networking site, you can do what you can and get connected with these people to form a web of connections that can give you leverage if you play your cards right. As long as you give as well as you recieve, then they will most likely stick with you. These connections are definitely valuable in the long run.

That definitely sounds enticing. However, what about the disadvantages though?

Lack of Anonymity

You are putting out information about your name, location, age, gender, and many other types of information that you may not want to let others know. Most people would say be careful, but no one can be certain at any given time. As long as people can know who you exactly are, then some can find ways to do you in.

Scams and Harassment

There is a potential for failure of security in both personal and business context. While many sites apply certain measures to keep any of these cases of harassment, cyber-stalking, online scams, and identity theft to an absolute minimum, you still may never know.

Time Consuming

If this is not your kind of thing, that it would just be a waste of time for you. The key to social networking is that it is supposed to be fun, whether you are just doing it for kicks or clicking around for business purposes. That should be reasonable enough for anyone, but there are those people who don’t see the point. For them, it can be a disadvantage.

Now there’s something to really think about. Nothing is without a blemish, but those of social networking shouldn’t really be that much of a concern regarding your safety. As long as you go along without making big mistakes, then it is all good. You can take advantage of the Internet phenomenon that continues up to this day.

Once you understand the advantages and disadvantages of social networking, then you can cruise through without fail.

This makes the job of people involved in viral marketing and word of mouth much easier because you are not necessarily making money from them but getting referrals which helps in promoting your business.

As you can see, there is a startling difference between the traditional search engine and social networking. The first one uses keywords in the hopes that people who use a search engine will be able to find you. The second is a platform because members will not only see your profile but be able to click on a link to go to your site.

When members like what you have done to your webpage, they will most likely save it, store it and even share it with others so you are able to advertise your product or service without even paying for advertising.

But social networking is just one of the tools that are used these days by most businesses. They also rely on blogs, podcasts and RSS feeds to reach a larger audience. Although it does not reach a specific market, it makes social networking the ideal choice when promoting a product or service.

Just to give you an idea, companies spent $525 million in 2007 using a social networking to advertise their products. Estimates show that this figure could increase up to $810 million by 2008 and this is done not by just signing up as a member. Some have used banner or display ads so this can be featured in other sites.

Some within the social networking site have established their own groups so they are able to share their knowledge and experience in their area of business. You can even create profiles with the purpose of sharing knowledge which are very similar to blogs that brings a real person in the forefront to add a more personal touch.

Which one should you use? Some people use one while others use both. To maximize the use banners and pop up ads, it is best to put it in more than one social network. As for those who will be creating groups, you must make sure there is time to update the information there. Ideally, this should be one using one or two social networks.

After all the work is done, you will now have to measure its effectiveness by counting how much money is coming in. Is this going according to your expectations? If it is, then you are on the right track but if things are not going as planned, then that means that there is room for improvement.

Social networking can indeed get your message across so people will become aware of your products and services. With so many sites to choose from, it won’t be hard for you to get sign up with one and then do the same with another. This can only be achieved of course by making a first time buyer a regular customer who will spread your business by word of mouth.

Fuzzy Blue Slippers is part of the Divapreneur organization I mentioned on the air on Tuesday! They will be launching their first Magazine issue in January and yours truly is delighted to be an editor this great new Magazine for Wahm’s! Their other networking site Fuzzy Blue Slippers offers storefronts similia

r to Ebay for only $20 a year! And if you would like to take a test drive of a storefront to see if it something you would like they offer a two month FREE trial! Now it does not get much better than that! You can list as many products as you want and try it out for FREE!

FuzzB is a networking community, and online marketplace offering FREE and affordable advertising, marketing and networking! Some of the great options of your store fronts is that you have the options of using a BUY IT NOW service for FREE or their latest great thing  is you can add SWAP link to your auctions meaning you are willing to swap products with other WAHM’s! Now Ebay doesnt even do this! And all this for $20 a year when Ebay charges you $15 per ebay store per month!

Some of the other great features is they have a coupon section where you can offer members of FuzzyB a special discount coupon especially to your site which in return means FREE advertising for you! They are also going to be adding diffrent groups you can join to network with and a forum to meet other WAHM’s! So if you are looking for an affordable to make some extra Christmas spending cash this year I highly suggest you look into to the FuzzyB site where you will meet some wonderful WAHM’s just like yourself!

Angie