The Truth About Profiting from Social Networking

Chapter 20. The right kind of “socializing” can lead to big profits

The huge traffic that social networking sites generate makes many marketers see equally huge dollar signs. To be sure, any site that draws in hundreds of millions of visitors on a regular basis has the potential to bring big profits to savvy marketers. The key is understanding the right way—and the wrong way—to make “socializing for profit” a viable business model.

There are two main ways to use social networking as a business development tool. First is the advertising and sponsorship model. For certain businesses, this can be a good way to generate awareness and drive traffic to their site. Advertising on the major sites can work well if the goal is to attract a large, general ...