Should Your Company Have a myspace Page?

If you have never heard of myspace.com, I am sorry to inform you that you have your head in the sand. But, if your familiarity only extends to what we see on the news, you probably think myspace is a cyber gathering of preteens and those pretending to be preteens. I, myself, was reluctant to create a page, as I thought being 27 years old would make me a myspace senior citizen.

But the truth is that on myspace, you only have to associate with whom you want to associate, and you can reconnect with all of your old buddies and even find some new ones. And the possibilities don't end there.

So you have a small business with a small budget and a small to nonexistent marketing department - why not utilize probably the world's biggest online networking community to promote your company? It doesn't cost anything, and - done correctly - your page can give you instant access to your client base.

Here are some ways you can utilize a company myspace page:

1. On myspace, you can create a network of "friends". Anyone on the site can be your friend - customers, potential customers, family, and (of course) your friends. The advantage to adding friends to your page is that you can send out bulletins that will instantly be transmitted to every friend. So if you're having a sale or promotion, or if you want to send a press release of sorts, you have your database in place.
2. You can upload pictures to your page. Use this feature to show off your work, like a business portfolio. For instance, if you're a wedding make-up artist, upload pictures of the beautiful brides you have assisted (with their permission preferably.) If you landscape, show before or after photos. Let everyone check out your work before they decide to contact you.
3. You have ample space to talk about your services. Write about the company, owners, services, and pricing. And don't forget to include a link to your website.
4. You have a messaging feature - like email - where people who are interested can contact you to ask about your products or services.

If you like what you're reading, and you think you could be down with a company myspace page - KEEP READING. There are some guidelines you should use, which can be summed up in three words - Keep It Professional. How do you accomplish this?

1. Don't include personal pictures. If you are the owner of a family-oriented business, it's fine to include a shot of you and the fam. But don't get any more personal than that. You instantly lose credibility when potential customers see the shot of the keg stand you did back in college.
2. Don't forward personal surveys, jokes, or social awareness issues via myspace bulletins. Especially avoid anything political or distasteful. You want people to judge your business, not you as a person.
3. If you choose to use the blog feature, limit your blogs to issues pertaining to your line of work. Going back to landscaping, a landscaper could blog on what time of year to plant bushes. That kind of thing. Nobody comes to your company's page to read about your weekend, your breakup, or your deep-seated philosophies. However, if your blogs are professionally-written and insightful on a specific work-related topic, you could have people frequenting your page to read the latest.
4. Avoid the trap of wanting to be original with your myspace layout. If you think the default myspace layout is boring, you can easily download a different layout from sites that count on you wanting to be unique. Caution - these layouts are often tacky, hard to read, take a long time to load, and hardly, in my opinion, professional. Be very careful if you choose to go a different route other than the default layout. Keep it clean and simple. It's your message that is important.
5. Finally - don't add music to your page. Everybody has different taste in music. I happen to hate country music. If I open your company's page and it sounds like I just stepped into a honky-tonk, my first instinct is to shut ‘er down. Same could go for any type of music - rap, new age, soft rock, polka - you name it.

If the rules listed above have just taken the wind out of your sails regarding creating a myspace page, remember this - You can always create a personal page (I would, however, keep it listed as "private" if you plan on linking it to your company page).

As long as you don't misuse it, a company myspace page is a good free way to promote your business. The available features give you ample opportunity to tout your services, and you can network like crazy. Just always remember to keep it professional, as it is a representation of your company.