To join or not to join? That is the (silly) question.

Posted by Courtney E. Howard

If you are on the fence about joining the Military & Aerospace Electronics Command Post online community...jump off that fence, and jump into conversations with your industry peers. Why, you ask? Well, I will tell you -- with thanks and evidence courtesy of Dotster.

"The Benefits of Business Social Networking -- How Businesses Can Thrive and Profit from Social Networking

Social networking is becoming a major communication medium -- not just for consumers, but for businesses as well. With such a rapidly growing force exploding into the cultural mainstream, it is essential for companies of all sizes to capitalize and harness the power of business social networking.

Businesses today need to understand how to use social networking to increase revenue, engage customers, and stay ahead of the competition. There are many benefits and advantages for companies that incorporate a social networking platform into their business marketing plan.

Several benefits of business social networking include the ability to:

- Develop and build your reputation with a branded Web site, differentiated from the competition.
- Improve brand image by increasing your accessibility to customers
- Grow customer loyalty by providing a voice of expertise and experience through discussion groups, weekly polls, etc.
- Keep up and stay ahead of industry trends through posted articles and customer feedback.
- Improve your products and services to increase revenue.
- Increase word-of-mouth marketing and buzz.
- Promote special events, new plans and price breaks.
- Cut costs (such as customer service) via forums.
- Reduce attrition and retain customers.
- Reduce employee training time.
- And much, much more."

Join the Command Post online at http://community.milaero.com/.

Information courtesy Dotster Inc., a provider of enterprise Internet businesses services.