The internet is a necessity now. Only a tiny percentage of the developed world’s population are still conducting life and business away from the World Wide Web. People understand the potential the internet has created for mass marketing, massive sales and almost instant fame. So why do some businesses still struggle? That’s a difficult question to answer, and we believe the nature of online commerce means that there will always be competition, and winners and losers. As SEO professionals, we believe that using as many tactics as possible to increase visibility and build a brand, can reduce the chances of failing online, and increase the opportunities for success. The internet has become a global platform where anyone, anywhere can access any company, almost any person, and find all the information they could ever want on any subject. It has directly influenced our methods and frequency of communicating with people. And it has also changed the way we do business. Businesses that do not fully appreciate this are the ones who do not succeed. Think about how social media has changed us all. It has made it easy for us to stay in touch, make friends, and even form lasting relationships. From a business perspective social media has help companies do exactly the same with their customers. The ability to engage people and to ‘make friends’ with them has changed how we can promote ourselves. We tap into their interests, hobbies, conversations, likes, and dislikes as a way of engaging with them and aligning our brands with them. By making sure our messages are effective, and by getting our content right, we are able to promote ourselves in a much more targeted way. Now social media has changed the way we do all our selling. Even high street stores use social media as a hook. Make sure you are using the social networking philosophy in all your communications so that you do not miss out on the opportunities that are there for the taking. Every type of marketing communication can be made more effective by approaching it in a social networking way. Think about mobile technology, it is putting businesses right into the hands of the people who have buying power. But more than that, it is making it easy for them to share their constant online activity. Look at how you market and sell. Are you being social enough with your customers?