How to Use Social Networking and Online Collaboration in Your Business

Social Networking-
Corporate blog:
Online Collaboration-
Use program such as GoogleDocs to encourage employees to collaborate online to complete tasks.
Set up wikipedia pages for departmental projects (keeping in mind they'll be visible to the prying public) -- These pages allow for the production of collaborative documents and for the compilation of individuals' contributions to a group's overall task.
Online collaboration sites are also great for compiling employees' position-specific goals with regard to the group as a whole, and for viewing a Project-Manager installed Project schedule with due dates and other deadlines (can include a comprehensive timeline of goals).
Keeps everyone on the same page and keeps each person accountable to the team as a whole. Ex. With an online schedule denoting who owes what and when, team members won't want to see an blank space in the "date completed" field of their task.This, in turn, encourages a proactive work environment (people try to impress their boss, peers) whereby individuals are more likely to complete tasks on time and, since everyone can see the online compilation, team members will likely do a better-quality job.

FIN:
1. Multiple contributors

2. Testimonials of product effectiveness (pharmaceutical industry) -- how its changed peoples' lives.

3. Aesthetically pleasing

4. Detailed functionality of blog: -tags for use with digg/delicious/technorati
-sub-post buttons for adding posts to common ugc compilers (technorati, digg, etc.)
-subscribe feature for users to stay in the loop -- can be 1) used in a reader/rss/atom, 2) blog updates e-mailed to subscribers
-widget features to involve visitors
-widespread advertising of the blog accomplishes 1)obtains visitors who read and contribute ad revenue 2)brand recognition by getting people to see the company name
-advertising -- limited but still present. One 300x300 pixel video ad
-embedded videos that users have made that feature or support our product line

5. Product advertising w/ discounts or coupons... perhaps free trial offers for some otc drugs.

6. Offer link to profile page of CEO. Talk about his impoverished childhood and his commitment to bettering the lives of everyone who uses his company's products. Mention how his morals have contributed to the company's stellar commitment to taking care of people and always being sensitive to their needs.

7. Blog allows for reader feedback as well. Helps the company improve its business by getting feedback and therefore becoming more sensitive to customers' needs.

8. Link up to competitors- Posts can be about employees of all levels praising the company or describing the many facets of their jobs, but the informative posts about company products, development, or releases can link up to competitors pages, as a means of proving betterment.

9. With a large company, it takes only a little time for each employee to make a contribution [send a mass memo requiring all employees to write a post, then stockpile posts and publish periodically, over time], which, over time ends up not harming productivity all that much.

10. To manage the online world, a tech savvy "Technology Manager" would need to be hired (me), who could implement all the features of a blog of this kind, and maintain it. Essentially, once it's set up, only occasional maintenance is required, and a daily/weekly commitment to publishing posts is required. It could be make a routine portion of a tech-savvy PR employee's job.

11. Install visitor tracking and web analytics utilities in the blog to understand where visitors come from. In doing so, the company can create more targeted advertising [cisco is a good example- lots of targeted adword advertising].