Create a Social Networking Site and Monetize it

Google Alerts (www.rsitez.com)

If you have an online business it’s CRITICAL that you know what is being posted about you online as soon as the information is posted.  This includes info posted on blogs, News articles, forums and even social networking sites. 

You want to know if someone posted something positive about you so that you can respond in like to start creating a relationship with the individual or organization that made the post.  These relationships can yield great results as you continue to build your brand.

Likewise, if there was a negative post about you online, you should know about it and respond appropriately to minimize the impact. 

You should also track what your competitors are saying and what is being said about them so that you can react as needed to this type of competative news.

The process of monitoring, tracking, and responding to information that affects your brand is called Brand Management or sometimes Reputation Management.

You can use Google Alert (http://www.google.com/alerts) to monitor and track your online brand. It takes only a minute to configure this and it’s free. 

You can enter any search keywords that affects your business and ask google to monitor it.  This could include your business name, competitors business names, search keywords or other items of interest.  Google will monitor these keywords in news, blogs, videos and discussions and send you an email each time it finds newly posted content regarding this. 

Example: If the Washington Post include your business name in a new article online, Google would send you an email with the link of the article without you having to search for it.  You will be able to click on the article, read it, and post relevant comments.  This enhances your online presence, creates backlinks for Search Engine Optimization, and helps with your ongoing effort to create a solid online brand.

You can configure these email notifications to be received as the news happens, daily, or weekly – depending on your preference.

Once you have turned this feature on you will be able to keep track on your online reputation for your business and continue to build a lasting and powerful online brand.

About the author

Rohan Hall is the Founder/CEO of rSitez, Inc. (www.rsitez.com), a technology firm that helps entrepreneurs create custom, revenue-based social networking sites.  He is the author of Stop Working, a book that teaches entrepreneurs how to use technology, globalization, and networks to build a global business.  He has developed technologies for a wide range of entrepreneurs and Fortune500 clients including HP, Corning, Oracle, Honda and various others.

I had coffee with a couple friends this morning on the beach in Barcelona.  I live only 2 minutes walk from the beach and these guys are my neighbors.  They have an idea for an online business and wanted to get my opinion regarding how to pursue the idea and if the idea was a good business idea.  This is the summary of my response to this question.

I don’t really believe in the concept of a good business idea or a bad business idea.  Every entrepreneur has his own vision of their idea and why the idea would be successful.  I have see what I thought was a good business idea surrounded with great technology fail miserably.  And equally I have seen far fetched ideas become a success.  The main factor in either case has been the founders of the business themselves.

When I think of business ideas, what is really important is how committed and available the founders are to making the idea a success.  In many cases Plan A will fail, simply because it’s often hard to tell how cold the water is until you jump into the lake … so to speak.  At that point it’s really how well can you swim.  Can you come up with a Plan B or even a Plan C if needed?

Entrepreneurs ability to be creative in making their business a success in a difficult time was tested severely in the last 3 years.  Many businesses that seem to be stable fell apart and other businesses flourished.  Last year during the middle of the crisis our business more than doubled revenue and profitability.  I think we were able to do this because we were able to implement Plan B and even Plan C when the getting got rough, and we created opportunity out of chaos. We’re doing the same again this year.

So is this business idea a good idea or a bad idea?  In the end, it really has to do with you the entrepreneur.  Do you have what it takes to make your vision a success?