Giving your online business a social angle, you will need to create profiles of your business on some of the most popular social media (SM) platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Digg, and LinkedIn. It will take a little study to see where the intended audience of your business can be found, so take the time to study the different platforms!

• Use Social Media to create and foster relationships with your customers. People are more likely to trust a personal business if it has a face, and it’s extremely easy to show your company logo — and a good shot of you, the owner — on your SM profiles.
• The benefits of a good SM presence are tremendous. Your customers will be more likely to buy from you again, since you have established that all-important element of trust. It will also give you some special insight on your market’s needs — often better than what Google could ever give you.
• The time to establish your SM presence is now. Facebook and Twitter are two of the biggest SM platforms today, and Digg and LinkedIn are growing at a very fast pace, as well. And yes, it’s only going to be a bigger, more integral part of everyday life as time marches on.

Let’s face it — without a social angle, your personal business is losing customers and missing out on sales! Do yourself a favor and get familiar with social media soon, otherwise you will be left behind — and it will be much, much harder to gain a footing in a market that’s getting more competitive by the day.