With the advent of media and the revolution in the world today, the social media has become a very vital and important tool for any business man or woman who wants to make the best out of his/her business.

Here in this article, I have highlighted the necessary tips for you to build a profitable and lasting social network.

What is Social Networking?
A social networking is a platform to build social networks or social relations among people who share interests, activities, backgrounds or real-life connections. A social network service consists of a representation of each user (often a profile), his or her social links, and a variety of additional services. Social networks are web-based services that allow individuals to create a public profile, to create a list of users with whom to share connections, and view and cross the connections within the system. Most social network services are web-based and provide means for users to interact over the Internet, such as e-mail and instant messaging.
- Wikipedia

Social networking is the grouping of individuals into specific groups, like small rural communities or a neighborhood subdivision, if you will. Although social networking is possible in person, especially in the workplace, universities, and high schools, it is most popular online.
Building a Profitable Social Network

1. The first step in building a profitable social network is choosing the right place, build your social network around a focused topic or theme. You need an audience with knowledge of what the network is all about in order for the network to be interesting. Provide useful and relevant content. For example, if you know everything there is to know about dogs and enjoy socializing and networking with others who are interested in dogs, you might choose to build a dog-focused social networking site.
How to Build a Profitable Social Network

2. Give the members of your network contents and services of value and trust Network with relevant websites. Link to other websites that focus on the same topic as your site. If you mention a particular specialist in the field in a blog post on your site, link to the specialist's website. Develop relationships with industry leaders and position yourself as an expert in their eyes so they will link to your site from theirs. Also create profile pages for your website on other sites like Facebook, Foresquare, YouTube, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Linking to relevant websites, in addition to being linked to from multiple social media websites, will help drive traffic back to your site, potentially increasing profits.

3. Develop multiple revenue streams. Remember the old adage, “Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket.” Instead, develop several income generators such as selling products related to your main topic, offering premium content for paid subscriptions, hosting banner ads and marketing licensing agreements.” -

4. Optimize your website. Google recommends implementing a variety of optimization techniques to increase the relevancy of your site, improving your search engine rank. These include conducting keyword and marketing research as well as structuring your site so it is easier for search engines to crawl. Also include such elements as “About Us” and “Contact” pages to improve your website’s legitimacy.

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is it easy to build it myself with some features like advert space and payment integration or i should hire somebody to it for me.