l am marketing director for a local music instruction business.l would love to harness the power of social networking sites to bring in more customers, but from what l understand, those sites are best used for when you have a business for the online community.

(Of course, l understand the HUGE companies using this form of marketing, and those looking for employment... but what about the small, brick and mortar?)

What do you all think?

Its an idea & thought all business holders have & a good one. The problem is that people who r on these sites r only interested in promoting their business & less interested about yours.

A great suggestion is to yes still join those sites, do not psam, follow the rules & BUILD contacts along the way. As u build contacts try to take an interest in u contacts biz & tell them how ur is can help theirs together.

Also do what other business holders do - they do use free sites - make use of them. Many sites ( but not all) allow the advertising of businesses.

Directories:
http://dmoz.com

Free Classifieds Online accepting Biz:
http://sellit-right.com
http://classifieds.com
http://loot.com

Another idea is to create ur own unique social network allowing other businesses to join you- with ur company, content etc beingy at the top obviously because you'd own it.

The key is to never give up & if eBay did not or Facebook did not u should not too! They all started small & probably with people rejecting their services at first lol.

Could u use ur social networking sites on ur business cards or marketing materials? The social networking site would allow ''friends'' of the business to have a fast & easy way to find you. Create social sites everywhere so u appeal to everyone is preference (or at least as many as possible).

Send out weekly bulletins (like on myspace) or emails to ur ''friends'' highlighting the accomplishments of the instructor is students, or something that makes the ''friend'' curious enough to check out the website (make sure u can legally link the website to ur bulletins).

Link ur social networking sites to ur business is web page where u offer a newsletter written by the music instructor so s/he is easily remembered when a friend of ur ''friend'' asks for a reference.

Of course, all of this STILL relies on actual footwork. You've GOT to get ur marketing materials to the LOCAL outlets & people for any type of viral networking to start.

There is my 2cents.

Do not limit yourself to just the social networking sites on line. There r many for both niche groups & business people in general. Join both types & make sure that u r taking the time to answer peoples questions & offer help. Visit them often too. That is how u will get referrals.

What l find is big for me is joining local groups,e.g. the Chamber of Commerce, Leads Group, doing volunteer work.

If u r doing music instructions hit those schools & make an offer to the parents for a discount (sorry, that was a no-brainer), do free events at the public library, get ur name & ur company is name out there. Do not forget that holidays r coming, what a perfect gift to give someone 10 piano lessons for Christmas! People have to see/hear about u at least 7 times before they pick up the phone or come & visit.

Find out what the other local music instruction schools r doing & one-up them. Think outside of the box.

Market, market, market!

People need to know u r there, that u r nice (emotions move everything), & that u have everything that meets their needs.

l hope this helps you.

l am on linkedin.com, u should consider joining that on-line professional networking group. l get about a referral a week & people call/email me all of the time for just information. This keeps me on their list of ''go to'' people. Now, if l knew u l would sell ur services (especially if u were local) because l do not know anyone in music instruction but l know a ton of people with children & adults who have a wish to learn how to play the piano. l do know someone in musical instruments repair though.

l hope l helped u out. Happy Marketing!