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| Meetup's online events - https://www.meetup.com |
Hello again, readers! Today I've researched business-specific online tools. Out of the list, my go-tos for Revolution are LinkedIn, Meetup, Google My Business and Yelp.
For now, music and streaming sites don't seem to work. I would purposefully avoid Tik Tok because I *imagine* it uses algorithms that instigate, influence and impact emotional responses. As a human who's lived a while, I am aware that it's unethical. It's also a precarious and probably impossible balancing act to continually trigger people and hope they'll feel what you want them to feel. It probably takes AI...
LinkedIn is considered to be the most widely used professional networking social media in use in the U.S. Since I'm looking at it through my personal account, the Groups option lists three of my major interests. Since I and my imaginary business are one in ethos, Revolution gets recommended: Software & Tech Professionals..., Harvard Business Review..., and Digital Marketing. If my business were real, I would jump in all three to start trying to connect. I might do anyway.
Meetup! Why haven't I thought of that in forever? I used it all the time in Shanghai - whenever my VPN felt like connecting and breaching the Great Firewall. This is the best part of social interaction for me: being in groups creates so much stress that I go into survival mode, get focused, and kill it socially. So Meetup would be a fun opportunity to find professional connections. It would also give me access to extended networks and events related to tech. I see they now have a lot more online connection options as well.
Google My Business is low-hanging fruit as far as choices go. Businesses want potential customers to see them when their service or product is searched, and that's the biggest benefit to this online tool. But as I looked into it, I found some compelling reasons. It's got an option to create a free business profile. Businesses can manage that profile in Search and in Maps, and customize the information that displays.
Getting in with Yelp and managing responses to customer reviews is a challenging but effective way to keep a business relevant. Responding to customer comments quickly is huge. One person's bad experience can make a big impact on the number of people who will give a business a chance. How a company responds matters too - it always has to be factual and respectful, even if the customer is not. Like Google My Business, Yelp offers a free listing and self-touts that 97% make a purchase after visiting Yelp. It seems extreme. It's not representative of my purchasing experience.
That was my investigatory journey into online tools for business. I hope you all enjoyed and learned a little something along the way!
Hi Daphne! I like how you had such a detailed yet simply put writeup! It was so easy for me to understand exactly what you wanted to share about each one. I really hadn't thought of using Meetup either...I tend to think of that being for more "fun" activities like hikes or sports or book clubs. But I can also see the value of it now for networking!
ReplyDeleteHi Daphne,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing what works for your business! I found your information about LinkedIn and Meetup the most helpful to me, as I do not have a ton of experience on either of those. Great Job!
Really interesting Daphe! I love when you can relate your personal experience from your travels to the content of our research! Nice Job
ReplyDeleteHi Daphne!
ReplyDeleteI think you searched a lot. That's so nice to learn! Thanks to you, I learned another information that I didn't know.
Hi Daphne
ReplyDeleteYour thoughts on TikTok are very interesting and are the first I have heard of the idea myself.
Daphne,
ReplyDeleteYour assessment of Yelp is spot on. I think it is challenging for small businesses to stay up to date and reply to reviews. But I think that is what makes the platform so effective is that you can interact with customers and solve issues in near real-time.