50 Social Media Sites Your Business Must Use

Social media sites have become strategic tools for businesses—and whether you’re working from home, the office, the local Starbucks, or even in the airport, social media sites will always be at the tip of your fingers.  In fact, social media sites are so abundant on the Internet, that many entrepreneurs have trouble deciding which ones to use.  Here is our list of the Top 54 best social media sites.  Utilize any of these sites and your business is sure to gain more exposure, and therefore, more success.

Social Media Sites

1. Wikipedia:  Create your own business reference page on Wikipedia and connect with others with Wikipedia’s Community Portal.
2. Twitter: Use Twitter for social networking and microblogging.  Inform people about what your business is up to in 140 characters or less.
3. YouTube:  Produce videos (it doesn’t have to be professional!) and upload them to YouTube for more business exposure.
4. WikiHow: Create how-to-guides or tutorials on WikiHow to share your company’s services with the public.
5. Yahoo! Answers: Search for questions in your field and answer them pertaining to your business.  Be sure to link your answers to your company’s webpage.
6. StumbleUpon: Add the StumbleUpon toolbar to your browser and channel surf the Web!
7. Ning: Create your own social media site where you can bring together clients, vendors, customers and co-workers.
8. 43 Things: As “the world’s most popular online goal-setting community”, 43 Things publicizes your company’s goals and can help you gain some customers.
9. Newsvine: Feature your top employees by uploading their articles, studies or other news-related items.
10. Helium: Write news articles and words of wisdom about your business and its industry.
11. Reddit: Reddit allows you to upload stories and articles to drive traffic to your site or blog.
12. Digg: Visit Digg and you can submit and browse articles in categories like business, technology, entertainment, sports and more.
13. Del.icio.us: Del.icio.us allows you to invite users to organize and publicize interesting items through tagging and networking.
14. eZine: Make a professional name for yourself by writing your own business-related articles.  Direct people to visit your company’s website within each article.
15. Squidoo: Share your industry’s secrets by answering questions.
16. Technorati: This social site allows you to increase your blog’s readership.
17. Wetpaint: Tired of the same old blogs?  Create your own wiki with Wetpaint!
18. Furl: Furl can become “your personal Web file” when you bookmark great sites and share them with others.
19. Examiner: If your city has an Examiner page, apply to become and expert writer and provide articles with your own personal category.
20. BrooWaha: Post articles, discussions, and more on BrooWaha to get your name out there.

Professional Networking Sites

1. Facebook: As one of the most powerful social tools on the Internet today, Facebook can be used by businesses for advertising opportunities, event promotion and much more.
2. LinkedIn: Use LinkedIn and connect with alumni, business associates, recent graduates and other professionals.
3. Ecademy: Ecademy will help you connect with business people through its online network, blog and message-board chats.
4. Xing: Use the professional contact manager on Xing to organize your new friends and colleagues.  Also, use the Business Accelerator application to find experts.
5. Focus: Business professionals help one another on Focus by providing their expertise.
6. Gather: For members who think, Gather ignites discussions on politics, business and entertainment.
7. Care2: This social site is “the global network for organizations and people who Care2 make a difference.”
8. MEETin.org: This site allows you to organize events and meet face-to-face with contacts.
9. Ziggs: Join groups and make contacts through your Ziggs account to increase your company’s presence online.
10. Plaxo: Plaxo organizes your contacts and stays updated from Digg and Amazon.
11. Tribe: For the entrepreneur who likes to have a little fun, search for favorite restaurants, events and clubs on Tribe.
12. Networking For Professionals: Another online community that combines the Internet with special events happening in the real world.

Niche Social Media Sites

1. Foursquare: Foursquare is a location-based social networking site primarily used on mobile devices.  Feel free to “check in” at venues with Foursquare.
2. Hubspot: Another news site aimed at connecting business professionals.
3. SEO TAGG: SEO is important! Stay on top of news from Web marketing and SEO by joining SEO TAGG.
4. Mixx: Submit and rate stories, photos and news to drive traffic to your own site.
5. Pixel Groovy: Pixel Groovy is an open-source site that lets members submit and rate tutorials.
6. Sphinn: An online forum and networking site for Internet marketers.
7. Small Business Brief: Entrepreneur-related articles, photos, and links galore!
8. Tweako: For technology-driven people, network on Tweako.

Job Searching Sites

1. CareerBulider.com: Find the perfect candidate by reaching millions on CareerBuilder.com.
2. Monster: Post to separate your business from all other big companies.
3. Yahoo! Careers: This site is often one of the first places that job-seekers visit.
4. The Wall Street Journal’s CareerJournal: This site attracts well-educated professionals.
5. CollegeRecruiter.com: To hire great entry-level employees, try out CollegeRecruiter.com.
6. AllFreelance.com: Looking for a self-employed small business owner?  Be sure to check out this site.
7. eLance: Another site full of freelancers.
8. Sologig: To find the top freelancers, check out Sologig.
9. GoFreelance: To boost your vendor base, post your writings, designs, editing and websites to GoFreelance.
10. Guru.com: To build your company’s repertoire, search Guru.com for the top freelancing professionals.

So of the thousands of social media sites out there—these are the 54 sites to pay attention to…for now!  You never know when another great tool will pop up to improve your business!

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