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How to Use Reddit for Business Intel If you're using Reddit

only to kill time and look at memes, you're doing it wrong.

BY CHRISTINE LAGORIO-CHAFKIN, SENIOR WRITER, INC. @LAGORIO

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ickr/evablue

Reddit has been in the news nearly every week of 2016. The social
news aggregation, ranking, and discussion site has this year proved
itself to be a massive force online, undoubtedly playing some role in this
year's presidential election, and surfacing countless cultural phenomena
along the way. It's the seventh-most popular website in the United States,
according to Alexa, Amazon's web-tra c ranking.

But there's a lot to learn to actually become a real Redditor, as the site calls
its users. Even the company's own co-founder and chief executive, Steve
Hu man, has admitted that its site-design and homepage is clunky (it's
being reworked, most likely in both algorithm and aesthetics) and that the
site isn't intuitive for outsiders to navigate.

So, how does a newbie gure out how to tap this rich information
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resource?
Learn about our personalIt helps tocollection
information get familiar
practiceswith
here. the site's subreddits--what the
 company calls its user-created, volunteer-moderated sections--each
referenced with its own "r" label.

The most popular topics on Reddit might not actually be relevant to you.
(Sorry, r/trees, those who don't consume a lot of cannabis might not be that
into you.) And just because a subreddit has "business" in its title, doesn't
mean it's going to be helpful on any given day in the business world, either.

What is useful? Knowing inside tips and life hacks that can actually make
your days smoother. Knowing what consumers really think of your product-
-or that of your competitors. And being on top of what's actually in the
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zeitgeist--before it hits the mainstream media.

What follows is a list of some of the most fascinating and in uential

subreddits of the past year, with an eye toward what's useful to the business
owner.

The Bread and Butter

Here's the easy part. Dive into the straightforward world of discussions of
the concept of running a business on Reddit. Reddit.com/r/businesshub is a
good starting point, as it aggregates some of the best links from around the
internet on all things business, nance, and economics. (It's stu you read
anyway; why not nd it in one place?)

The other basic subreddits with content, stories, and questions about
starting a business are r/entrepreneur and r/startups. R/smallbusiness is less
popular, but can be useful to gain a handle on the basics of getting a new
venture o the ground, such as setting up an LLC.

Find Your Niche (and Research Your Competition)

You've probably already gone down several rabbit holes on Reddit. Now
nd one you want to come back to again and again because it's speci cally
relevant to you. Looking for funding? There's r/venturecapital. Have two X
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 chromosomes? Try r/ladybusiness. If your startup is in the nance industry,
try r/ nance.

If your industry is one that nurtures hobbyists, you are very much in luck.
Video games, for instance, have a massive presence on Reddit--and one lled
with rabid fans who are some of the most loyal redditors. They give the
subreddits they frequent not just popularity in terms of subscriber
numbers, but create very active communities (meaning they vote and post
a lot, which are keys to virality on Reddit). If you're a game-maker, by all
means lurk on your competition! More than 400,000 people subscribe to
the HearthStone subreddit, and nearly a million love League of Legends.
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Is your product itself on Reddit? A simple search will tell you. It's not
extraordinarily common, but certain brands do attract organic love from
individuals (see r/cocacola, for instance).

Search more broadly for a community that might love your product or
service. Starting a T-shirt printing operation? Check out r/streetwear to get
a feel for what customers love, dislike, and want to hear about. Recently, an
entrepreneur posted about his festival-based clothing business on that
particular subreddit, and even though such a topic might be construed as
self-promotional (a big no-no on Reddit), the individual got a lot of
feedback.

Gain Insight About Your Employees and Departments

Wild guess: The accounting department is a little bit of a foreign territory

to you. Snoop on what kinds of questions your team members there puzzle
over, and laugh at the in-jokes while you're at it at r/accountingdepartment.

There's a community on Reddit for just about every genre of job--so some
other helpful communities to get to know include:

r/accounting

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r/bookkeeping
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 r/marketing

r/sales

r/socialmedia

Be a Better Leader

If inspiration is your thing, there's no shortage of links and rst-person

stories in a multitude of places on Reddit. Check out the ideas, stories, and
inspiration on r/growmybusiness for starters. And if you're into life-hacks,
try r/productivity.
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Other Uses to Consider

Share your story. Who's the most fascinating person in your company or
industry? You? Participate in an Ask Me Anything forum. Yes, this
especially goes for you if you're in an industry that makes people raise an
eyebrow, or that attracts hobbyists. Recent popular casual business AMAs
were hosted by a cybersecurity professional and a Disney animator. Bill
Gates and Donald Trump have both done AMAs. (Gates has actually done
four!) Don't think you're too niche to nd an audience: AMAs with
plumbers and vacuum-repair specialists are consistently popular.

Find new fans by giving stu away. It might be a lifesaver. Entrepreneur

Sue Sullivan ran a chipotle-sauce company dubbed Hot Squeeze, but
wanted to take over distribution after feeling squeezed by distributors. She
turned to Reddit, giving away $8,000 in free samples. It was a hit--and her
new fans helped out, by calling up their local stores to request her hot
sauce. It worked.

Get inspiration to start something new. People share information on a lot

of cool new stu on Reddit. It might just spark an idea for you.
R/inventions is a nice starting point, or one of the current fastest-growing
subreddits is r/futurology. There's also the classic r/shutupandtakemymoney
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for
Learn about ourcoveted products,
personal information or r/buyitforlife
collection practices here. for the timeless. Ask a question or
 search out previous ones, such as "Reddit, What Is One Product Under $20
That You Recommend Everyone to Buy?"

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