Enterprise Nation

Home business owners are quick to recognise the power of social networking. I'm sure there are homeworkers amongst social media guide, Mashable's '12 Inspiring Stories of Successful Social Networkers'. Here are just a few (warning: this article may contain valuable lessons):

Let art become life

Barret Swatek is the star of the online comedy series, “My Two Fans,” about an average single girl who rebounds from a broken heart with the help of her two fans. Having blown all their budget on production, “My Two Fans” had no money for advertising, so off a friend’s recommendation, Swatek decided to start Twittering as her character, Kate Maxwell (@KateMaxwell). To get some fodder for Twittering and to find her audience, Swatek began following businesses and people that could relate to her show, such as dating sites, single women, girl power groups, fan clubs, etc.

Offer advice

Questions are asked to be answered. And sometimes we can offer advice, thus answering questions that have yet to be formed.

Gary Unger, author of “How to Be a Creative Genius (in five minutes or less)”, began searching forum postings and Q&A on LinkedIn for ways he could help. Asking for nothing in return, he provided unique advice for many people such as Francisco Hurtado of Spain who publicly asked in LinkedIn’s Q&A forum, “How would you promote welding products?” Unger answered, “Build some structure like a really cool art piece at your facility using all your equipment and welding types. Take photos of the process. Put it in a brochure. Mail it out. Also, do a miniature one of that idea that can travel to trade shows.” Hurtado and many others have been so appreciative of Unger taking the initiative to offer such thoughtful advice that Unger has received many connection requests and recommendations to connect.

Julie Isaac is also an advice maven. When she joined Twitter (@WritingSpirit) she realized she needed to give people a reason to start following her, so she started tweeting daily creativity tips for writers. With more than 15,000 followers, many of whom retweet her advice every day, Isaac’s parlayed that popularity into a larger mailing list, an upcoming ebook, and a live weekly writing salon called #writechat (Sundays 12p -3p PST). For Isaac’s personal life, the Twitter interaction has resulted in an evolutionary leap. “Twitter hasn’t just helped me connect with other people, it’s helped me connect more deeply with myself. I’m not the same shy and quiet woman I was when I first tiptoed onto Twitter. I’m more confident. I’m more me,” Isaac said.

Parlay your hobby into a business opportunity

Any good salesman will tell you the trick to getting trust is to get the potential client to like you first. Life sciences attorney Libby Baney of B&D Consulting decided to build that trust by joining a dog lovers’ group on Facebook. She became involved in the group by posting pictures of her dog and commenting on other users’ photos. While she did enjoy participating in the group, she wanted Facebook to help her develop professional opportunities.

Baney mined users’ profiles and found many were in the fields of medical technology and pharmaceuticals. Not wanting to infiltrate the dog related group with business pitches, Baney friended these people and then used her Facebook status update to let people know about her work as a life sciences attorney. The updates seen by these new dog loving friends has resulted in more than ten different professional conversations. One dog lover in particular turned out to be the CEO of a medical device company. He saw her status update, asked to meet with her, and now her firm is representing his company.

• 12 Inspiring Stories of Successful Social Networkers - Mashable