A friend of mine made a big name for herself in the cake making business. She went from a small time once-in-a-while baking job to a full-fledged creative business of cakes and muffins. The best part of it was that she spent nothing on advertisements and yet managed to attract a huge fan base. The smart move she made was making a Facebook page and putting up photographs of her work.
This is one in an endless list of success stories. Think of the money saved on marketing! And the sure shot target audience reading the content. It is revolutionary and here to stay. Below is a list of must-have online social tools for any budding entrepreneur:
Online Networking Profiles
Facebook, Twitter & LinkedIn. It’s magical, addictive and crazy. Everything, from religion to sports, clothes to food, personalities to toys; there are takers for it all on these sites. It has over-taken every realm of imagination and practically defines the way the urban world lives. You would be pretty silly to think of starting a business and not have a Faceb
ook Page ready yet.
Another friend managed to make his book a bestseller by marketing hard and campaigning fast via his social network page. Twitter allows direct contact between writer and follower. No middle-man and no misinterpretation possible. And LinkedIn is the site for all working individuals to network and develop a professional circle.
Video Advertising
From a specific sports segment in basketball to a speech made by a politician. Music video, goof-ups, funny stuff, knowledge based uploads, sermons, and so much more; YouTube has got it all. If it was recorded, there is a 
9 on 10 chance of viewing it with the correct key words. Another video sharing site which is taking the world by storm is ‘Vine’. It allows 6 seconds of video uploading, but that hasn’t stopped some brands from using it to show small, highly creative bursts of their products.
If you are contemplating a business enterprise, you could hit a master-stroke by making a video recording and uploading it on such a site. It has a powerful impact. You can drive viewers to your own content website by adding links to it and ensure you add engaging information as well.
Information via Images
Close on the heels of Facebook and Twitter, are image sharing sites like Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest etc. They are also great ways to up your marketing tactics. By adding hashtags (#) to the descriptions of image uploaded, all relevant information to the image is just a click away. It is an amazing way for brands to follow world-wide trends on their own 
or their competitors’ products.
Some famous brands which have managed to utilize these sites for global marketing include Elle Magazine, Huffington Post, the New York Times Style Magazine etc. IBM has three blogs on Tumblr as well. After capturing the interest of readers via Tumblr or Instagram, these companies usually reroute them to finish the rest of the article on their main page.
These propositions are a win-win situation for everyone. Have you tried them yet?
