To put it bluntly, the concept of a social networking site is not very complicated, since every person in the world likes to share and manage information to some capacity. Social networks are also not a new thing any more, and most Internet users have at least delved into the fray by signing on and registering with any one of the dozens of hot social sites like facebook, Twitter, MySpace , LinkedIn, Ning, Last.fm, and Xanga — just to name a few — in an effort to stay on top of news as it develops. It’s become a great way for advertisers to find their markets, and an even better way for sellers to find their buyers.

If you are one of those sellers looking for the right place to get the notice you deserve, you should pay particularly close attention to the fact that the three most popular site configurations (general purpose, specific theme-driven niche sites, and international sites) are closing the gap between all virtual borders, and creating a truly global community of buyers that are becoming less patient with sellers who aren’t putting themselves in front of their audiences… by the minute.

Let’s take a look at the latest power play from Sprint, in which the US-based communications network made a very open attempt to establish a branded image connection with a 30-second commercial spot that ostensibly featured facebook, as seen through the eyes of a rocker-on-the-go, and her shiny new Palm Pre phone. After watching the video, one can only wonder why Sprint didn’t decide to go all the way by promoting a Sprint page on facebook, through this advert? This would have closed the loop, and made for some very strategic marketing to curious consumers. Sprint’s apparent blunder is to your advantage, perhaps. Look around for more examples like the one I just gave, as Volkswagen is also pushing the envelope, but it looks like there are still some opportunities to be explored. You should be exploring them.

Next comes the idea of getting people’s attention through their personal networks. There was once a time when cold-calling and pounding the pavement was the de facto way of building up your sales territory, and from there, sheer activity was tantamount to your successes or failures in whatever industry you happened to be in. Well, one part of this is still true… activity is probably more important now than it ever was, but the truth about cold-calling is that the territory has expanded to cover parts of the world you may never even set foot in. This is where social networking sites come in awfully handy. Instead of spinning one yarn in an executive office, hoping to get closer to the resident decision-maker, you are able to present yourself to those elusive dm’s, most likely when they are at leisure, and when they are not necessarily in the frame of mind they would normally be in during a traditional sales call.

Taking a minute to connect with sites that give you direct access to a vast sea of social networking resources in the wholesale business would be a great move, too. Some links you may want to click are:

- JP Communications on facebook

- TopTenWholesale on Twitter

These will give you access to an online community that specializes in your industry, and there are a number of other more specific product-driven sites that will give you a warm welcome as well:

- Shop For Bags on MySpace

- Apparel Candy Blog

- Off-Price Specialist Show

It’s starting to make sense now, right? Everyone in the world is going to stop telemarketing and driving around town to make deals, opting instead to sit on the couch and munch on chips while making money. Well, not exactly… with the amount of paid advertising that is choking bandwidth, the smart sites are being a little picky about who they allow onto their platform.

That brings us to the last point in this article… the advent of mashups. Remember the days when white-label merchandise was all the rage? Now there are many sites offering a sort of ‘white-label social networking solution’, or more precisely one that is tailored to fit your target audience, while retaining the look and feel that the developer was successful with in the first place. It’s a fairly new thing to emerge, and I suspect it will become a mainstay in web design and hosting before too long. Here’s an analogy: think about all those factories in China that were cranking out simple plastic buckets for the world… and still are for many resellers. This product wasn’t ever necessarily branded as a ‘Chinese plastic bucket’, but instead many of them carried a simple label that made it more acceptable to the community they would be presented to. Essentially, those themed niche-oriented social networking sites I mentioned will most likely become a tightly-knit, organised, and well-educated loyal customer base that doesn’t bother too much with looking further for a better deal, as long as they see value in the one they are getting.

It all comes down to human nature, no matter how wired we become. People are inexorably drawn to that which breeds familiarity, and it’s something you should be thinking about as it becomes easier every day to simply roll up the tent and move on to the next virtual spot. Creating an online community — or just making use of an existing one — will make it more profitable for the ones who can contribute to a harmonious online environment, and offer value-added messages any time their audience looks your way.

To give one more analogy; when I was in college, I used to buy late-night snack foods and other goodies from a very friendly Korean guy who ran a small shop near my cramped apartment. There was a huge supermarket nearby, but since the man with the shop was always receptive to my needs — and he seemed to always carry the things I needed — I had no desire to see if the grass was greener on the other side.

However, I have done my share of hopping around from MySpace to facebook to Twitter… and who knows where I’ll end up spending more of my time in the future? If you have any suggestions, I’m open to them. Just add, poke, or tweet me.