Issue link: http://cp.revolio.com/i/142672
tap into social networking By Laura Allen The Internet makes the world a small place; the growing popularity of social and business networks has made it even more so. If you aren't taking advantage of the endless opportunities to promote yourself and your business on the web, why wait? If you have Internet access, you can tell the world about your massage practice, communicate with clients and business contacts and meet new ones, keep up with your professional associations, and advertise your retail products, available appointments, or continuing education classes, all without spending a dime. Most of the Internet networks are similar in many respects. You post a profile of yourself and/or your business, share your calendars, publicize and invite people to events, upload pictures and videos, and post links to blogs and other websites. You can search for people you know or want to meet. Most networks also allow you to connect via the web, mobile phone, or personal digital assistant (PDA). Many include numerous applications such as themed pages, background music, quizzes, games, and other things that are not necessarily business-related, but somehow, it all seems to meld together. People often share how and what they're doing both in and outside of work; you connect to therapists who might be from the other side of the planet. Key Networking Sites Facebook. Many of the sites that started as social networks are popular for business purposes. Facebook (www.facebook.com) is a great example. Facebook states its mission: "to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected." Many massage therapists and bodyworkers on Facebook have formed dozens of special interest groups to share information. Discussion forums abound. Bodhi Haraldsson, research department chair of the Massage Therapists Association of British Columbia (MTABC), doesn't let a day go by without posting links to the latest in massage research on Facebook. "The more people are aware of the work all of us do, the better," says Haraldsson. Joel Tull, a massage therapist and continuing education provider in Greensboro, North Carolina, uses Facebook to post appointment