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WhatsApp can be far more than just a text messaging service. It can also be a highly effective business communications and marketing tool.

In fact, WhatsApp is such an effective means of communication that it can actually be used as the basis for certain businesses. Some entrepreneurs are designing and creating companies based on the kind of instant connectivity between customers and companies that WhatsApp can provide.

News stories indicate that successful WhatsApp-based businesses are now operating in countries such as India and the United Kingdom. It might only be a matter of time before such enterprises start appearing the United States and Canada.

Some Examples of Successful WhatsApp–Based Businesses

Service businesses are among the best WhatsApp-oriented enterprises because the solution improves contact between the business and the customer. It can increase the level of customer contact and enhance customer service.

Successful WhatsApp service businesses include:

• Concierge services. In Mumbai, India, a company called Russsh bills itself as “your personal assistant.” Russsh allows people to book a wide variety of tasks directly on WhatsApp. For example, a person could use it to hire a babysitter or to contact somebody that would pick up laundry or do simple tasks such as grocery shopping, assistance for senior citizens, and almost anything else you need done. A person can use WhatsApp to instantly contact an assistant, who will come to perform the service.

• One variation on this service would be to offer handyman, house cleaning, and other services on an emergency basis over WhatsApp. A person that needed help around the house immediately, such as somebody to clean up a mess, could send out a message for help.

• Courier and delivery services. In today’s hectic world, a lot of people simply do not have the time to pick stuff up. Russsh lets people contact a driver or a bicyclist, who will pick up flowers, baked goods, flowers, food, documents, or anything else. For example, a lawyer could contact a person with a motorcycle to take a document that needs to be signed across town. Small businesses such as bakeries and restaurants could use the service to reach new customers.

• Custom jewelry and tailoring. In London, jeweler Rare Pink has successfully sold expensive, custom diamond rings by putting videos of them on WhatsApp, The Telegraph reported. High-end tailor Robert Revilla also uses WhatsApp to keep in contact with clients. Any business that does custom work could use WhatsApp to send pictures or videos of the work to its customers and potential customers.

A tailor could use WhatsApp to send video of the alterations she was making to a customer. A cake decorator could send pictures of a cake and so on. That way the client could know that the job was going properly.

• Driving. Many people are familiar with apps like Uber and Lyft that allow a person to summon a vehicle and driver on demand. A driver could cut out the middle man—Uber and Lyft take a percentage of the fare—and maintain direct contact with passengers via WhatsApp. A person could advertise specialized driving services such as hauling children to school, transporting senior citizens, or delivering documents on WhatsApp.

• Food delivery. Fewer and fewer people are cooking for themselves these days, which is greatly increasing the demand for takeout. Many people want something besides pizza or Chinese. A person could contract with local restaurants to deliver food directly to customers’ homes.

• Marketing. Not everybody likes to market or promote their products. A person that is proficient at marketing could set up a WhatsApp marketing agency to promote businesses or services directly over the app.

• Personal shopper. Not everybody likes to shop, and some people do not have the time. You could organize a personal shopping service in which customers send shopping lists to you via WhatsApp. You would then buy the items or pick them up from the store and take them to the customer. Some major retailers like Walmart and the Kroger supermarkets are making this business easier by offering click n’ pull services in which a customer sends in an order that one of their employees pulls off the shelves and prepares. The personal shopper could simply pick up such orders and take them to the customer.

• Dog walker/pet sitter. Dogs need to be walked all the time. One way to distinguish yourself from the crowd is to become an on-demand dog walker that comes anytime Fido needs to take a walk. WhatsApp could let pet owners call you anytime.

• Repair and service businesses. People often need repair services such as plumbing on a moment’s notice. The instant communication provided by WhatsApp can enable a person to summon a professional such as a plumber or a computer technician at a moment’s notice.

• Hauling. A person that owns a truck or van could start a hauling service, for example, to come to haul heavy items such as furniture or to get rid of junk quickly.

• Catering. Many people need custom meals or food prepared quickly and delivered. A caterer could use WhatsApp to instantly receive menu requests, prepare the food, and have it delivered fast via a driver. A variation on this could be a personal chef that prepares meals for a number of customers in a particular area and has them delivered.

The number of potential businesses that could leverage the power of solutions like WhatsApp is incredible. Instant messaging allows instant communication, which can create a wide variety of moneymaking skills.

If you want to start such a business, sit and brainstorm then try to think of something that you like to do. If you enjoy shopping, cooking, walking dogs, or driving, why not try to make some money while having fun at that activity?

The main ingredient needed for a successful WhatsApp business is imagination. If you can be the first to think up such an enterprise and implement it in your area, you could give yourself a new stream of income. New communications such as WhatsApp are always business opportunities for those willing to take advantage of them.

WhatsApp’s biggest competitor is a solution that you may have never heard of: WeChat. WeChat, offered by a company called Tencent Holding (HKG: 0700), is the most popular messaging solution in China.

Currently, WeChat , or Weixin in Mandarin, has around 600 million users around the world, while WhatsApp has around 900 million . It is also easy to see why news reports indicate that WeChat is much more versatile, user friendly, and fun to use than WhatsApp.

Another reason why WeChat is so successful is that it is far more than just a messaging service. The best way to think of Weixin is as Uber, WhatsApp, PayPal’s Venmo, and Apple Pay all rolled into one.

So What Is WeChat Anyway?

Using WeChat, a Chinese person can send money to her family, call for a cab, send a message to her boyfriend, send a video to her girlfriend, and pay for a drink from a vending machine. Users can also post news stories, read the latest news, and play mobile games.

Many American companies, including PayPal, Apple, Facebook, and Google, are trying to copy some of WeChat’s capabilities because of the money it makes. Apple has brought out its own payment solution called Apple Pay, PayPal now owns the popular money transfer app Venmo , Google has launched its own messaging service and payment solution, and Facebook bought WhatsApp for $19 billion. Not to be outdone, the Korean electronics giant Samsung has released its own product, called Samsung Pay.

The reason these companies are so interested in copying WeChat is obvious: It makes a lot of money. Business Insider reported that Tencent made $1.1 billion in a year by processing WeChat money transfers. Foreign Policy reported that Tencent values WeChat at $30 billion and estimates that it makes up to $95 off of every customer, while Facebook only makes $42 off of every user.

WeChat vs. WhatsApp

Another good way to think of WeChat is like Google—a platform that allows a user to do a lot of things through a phone, just as Google lets you perform many different tasks through its search engine.

WeChat can also be viewed as the future of WhatsApp; it is what solutions like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger will look like in a few years. It is obvious that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg would like to transform WhatsApp into something like WeChat. Something to remember is that Zuckerberg, whose wife is of Chinese descent, spends a lot of time in China and even speaks Mandarin, so he is very familiar with WeChat and its capabilities.

Observers have noted that WeChat has some other advantages over WhatsApp; it appears to be more private than the American service. A popular feature is WeChat privacy circles that allow people to chat only with those they want, such as friends or business partners. Unfortunately, it is easy to gain access to circles by impersonating somebody.

Yet another popular feature on WeChat is its restrictions; a WeChat user can only be messaged by people he or she has invited. Unfortunately, cybercriminals can easily circumvent that security measure by impersonation.

Finally, many people prefer WeChat because it is simpler than WhatsApp and easy to use. WhatsApp, like a lot of American solutions, is needlessly complex. It sometimes betrays its roots as the creation of Silicon Valley math geniuses.

WeChat’s Achilles Heel—Security

Despite its popularity, WeChat has some serious weaknesses that could make it less popular around the world. The biggest of these is the Chinese government, which could be using it as a surveillance tool.

According to some online conspiracy theories, China’s security services are monitoring WeChat conversations. A few observers even think that Chinese and other WeChat users outside the country could be under surveillance.

If these claims are true, WeChat has serious privacy and security problems. The same features used by Chinese security services could be used by other nations’ spy agencies, particularly the American National Security Agency, or NSA, and the British Government Communications Headquarters, or GCHQ.

To make matters worse, it would be a simple matter for hackers and other cybercriminals to commandeer the surveillance tools in WeChat for their own nefarious purposes, such as blackmail. The amount of money moved through WeChat will certainly attract criminals.

Beyond surveillance, the Chinese government blocks Facebook use in that country. That creates a sort of captive market for WeChat, which means it does not compete directly with its biggest rival on its home turf.

Is WeChat WhatsApp’s Future?

Those that want to see what WhatsApp might look like in the near future need to take a close look at WeChat. Facebook is trying to mimic many of the Chinese solution’s capabilities.

As noted above, Facebook is working to commercialize WhatsApp. One of the best ways to achieve that would be to add a money transfer service similar to PayPal or Apple Pay to it.

WeChat has already demonstrated the power of such an app. There are now videos online that show people buying snacks from vending machines using WeChat. Some Coca-Cola vending machines in the United States now take Apple Pay.

Another U.S. payment app called Current C , which is being developed by large retailers, including Walmart, Costco, and Kroger, could allow users the ability to pay for fuel directly at the pump with an app. Current C is presently being tested at a number of retail stores in Columbus, Ohio.

Both Current C and Apple Pay have another feature that could be added to WhatsApp at some point in the future. Both apps can be integrated with the popular loyalty card programs offered by many American retailers. Kroger , which operates several large supermarket chains in the U.S., including Ralph’s, Harris Teeter, and King Soopers, gives customer one point for every $1 worth of groceries they buy.

Every 100 points a customer accumulates gives her a 10¢ a gallon discount on fuel at a Kroger-owned filling station. In addition to supermarkets, Kroger now owns and operates 2,000 filling stations in the United States.

One strong possibility is that people will be able to access loyalty points and make payments through WhatsApp at some point. Another is that they will be able to order products directly through WhatsApp much as they can order products through Amazon.

If you are interested in seeing WeChat for yourself, it is available at the Apple App Store , Google Play , and the Windows Store .

The most astounding thing about WhatsApp is the numbers associated with it. The statistics prove that WhatsApp is far more than just a messaging solution; it is a potent social media force and a growing platform that reaches hundreds of millions of people.

One reason why the numbers are mind blowing is that many people simply do not know how big WhatsApp really is. The app’s simplicity and ease of use are highly deceptive. Since it is so basic, many people underestimate WhatsApp’s power and influence. The best way to counter this misapprehension and understand just how important WhatsApp has become is to crunch a few numbers.

Ten Incredible WhatsApp Statistics

These statistics demonstrate just how valuable WhatsApp really is and show us why it could become the Google of media at some point in the future:

1. More people use WhatsApp than live on the entire continent of Europe. In October 2015 there were 900 million—nearly one billon—active WhatsApp users. The population of Europe in 2013 was estimated at 742.5 million. That number includes several large nations, including Great Britain, Germany, France, Spain, and Italy.

1. If WhatsApp’s active users were a nation, that country would have nearly three times the population of the United States of America. The estimated population of the United States in 2014 was 318.9 million, while the number of WhatsApp users was estimated at 900 million as we noted above.

1. WhatsApp added 200 million new active users in just nine months. According to Statista, there were 700 million WhatsApp users in January 2015 and 900 million in October 2015. That means 200 million people signed up for the service in just nine months. That means around 22 million people a month are joining WhatsApp and more people sign up for WhatsApp each month than live in the nation of Romania, which has a population of 22 million people.

1. WhatsApp apparently owns the Indian market for messaging services. There were around 70 million active users in the nation of India, WhatsApp’s vice president for global business revealed at a conference in Mumbai. Since the population of India is around 1.252 billion, that means around 6% of the country’s population are WhatsApp users.

1. Nearly one out of seven people in the world could be using WhatsApp. If there really are 900 million WhatsApp users, that means almost one billion people are now using the solution. Since the globe’s population is now estimated at around seven billion people, that means one out of seven people in the world is using WhatsApp. That could make WhatsApp the most successful brand in human history.

1. Despite its success, WhatsApp only has around 80 employees, The Times of India reported. That means around 80 people in an office in San Jose, California, are in charge of the information flow and communications for nearly one billion individuals around the world.

1. WhatsApp is worth around $22 billion; that is how much Facebook Inc. paid for the messaging solution in February 2014. WhatsApp is so valuable that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was willing to give WhatsApp creators Jan Koum and Brian Acton 116 million shares of Facebook stock worth $9 billion to get control of the application.

1. WhatsApp has already created at least one billionaire. Jan Koum, an impoverished immigrant whose family was on welfare when he was a boy, received 76.4 million shares of Facebook worth around $5.8 billion. Since Facebook stock was trading at $101.9 a share on October 23, 2015, Koum’s payment for WhatsApp was worth around $7 billion on that day.

1. The $22 billion may have been money well spent for Zuckerberg because Facebook is now the largest messaging solution in the world. Facebook’s two messaging services, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, could reach 1.6 billion people. In addition to 900 million WhatsApp users, Facebook Messenger has around 700 million users, according to London’s Daily Express. Basic math tells us that when 700 million is added to 900 million, the result is 1.6 billion.

1. Facebook and WhatsApp can now reach more people than any other media in human history. The two social media organizations can now reach more people than newspapers, television, or possibly even radio. Zuckerberg can now reach more people than media tycoons like William Randolph Hearst, Rupert P. Murdoch, or Lord Northcliffe could have ever dreamed of reaching. For example, there were around 86 million cable and satellite TV subscribers in the United States and around 94 million pay television subscribers in India. That means WhatsApp already reaches more people around the world than pay television does.

These numbers tell us that Mr. Zuckerberg may have gotten one of the greatest bargains in history when he purchased WhatsApp. For $22 billion, Facebook may have gotten control of one of the world’s most popular and potent communications mediums—a medium that could be growing faster than any other in history.

Television, for example, only reaches around 60% of the people in India even though it has existed in one form or another since the 1930s. Actually, it took television nearly thirty years to reach most communities in the United States, the world’s most technologically advanced nation.

WhatsApp has only existed since 2009—the year President Obama took office. Yet it has already reached nearly one seventh of the world’s population. That makes WhatsApp far more than a mere smartphone application; it could be the most effective communications solution in history.

One has to wonder what will happen when WhatsApp is combined with other technologies such as money transfer services, streaming video, and audio. It could be used to disrupt the music, television, movies, and even financial services industries. The application could also be used to reach people in the real world, for example, to spread a political message.

The statistics show us that WhatsApp has the potential to become one of the most disruptive communications technologies in human history. Like earlier communications technologies, it could spark a revolution much as the printing press launched the Reformation, which turned Europe upside down in the 16^th century. It is easy to see why WhatsApp’s numbers are mind blowing.

Even though it is an American app created and owned by a U.S.-based company, WhatsApp has had its biggest success in India. There are currently over 70 million WhatsApp users in that nation, according to the Times of India.

The app has become far more than just a messaging solution in India; in fact, it has become a part of everyday life. People on the subcontinent are using it for virtually everything from ordering food to ending an unwanted marriage. Unlike Americans, who think of WhatsApp as just a messaging option, Indians are using it for virtually everything.

Divorce by WhatsApp

Some Muslim men are actually using WhatsApp to divorce their wives, The International Business Times reported . The unfaithful husbands were taking advantage of a loophole in Islamic law that allows a verbal divorce based on the word Talaq, which means “I divorce you” in Arabic. The men tried sending their wives a Talaq over WhatsApp rather than facing them directly.

The use of WhatsApp for divorce has created a controversy because most Islamic lawyers and scholars think the WhatsApp Talaqs are not valid. Unfortunately, the practice seems to be growing and has even led to public protests.

Suicide Prevention by WhatsApp

A more positive use of WhatsApp is being undertaken by farmers in a very poor region called Maharashtra. Around a hundred farmers formed a group called Baliraja to share information about agriculture and organize themselves for political action over WhatsApp, The Better India reported .

The farmers are trying to learn and share agricultural practices and improve their business. They are also trying to create a more supportive community because the region has a very high suicide rate.

Some of the farmers are so desperate that they choose to kill themselves rather than to go into debt or face low prices for crops. Some of the farmers are also trying to organize a cooperative and a warehouse in an attempt to get around unscrupulous middlemen.

Future plans include setting up an insurance plan for farmers, organizing a better marketing system to raise crop prices, and lobbying the local government for better roads and schools. The idea is to use WhatsApp to organize farmers into a political force and hopefully prevent the desperate economic conditions that are driving some of the farmers to kill themselves.

Dates and Dinner from WhatsApp

If you live in Mumbai, the city formerly known as Bombay, you can arrange dinner, a ride to the airport, or even a date via WhatsApp. A group of students from a local technical college have organized a WhatsApp-based concierge or personal assistant service that is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, DNAIndia reported .

The service, called Tathastu, means amen or so be it. Customers use the service to contact a concierge or dog robber, a personal assistant that will do anything for them. For example, the assistant might go out and find you a pizza at 3 a.m. in the morning or pick up your prescription from the local pharmacy.

Other services arranged have been a helicopter ride, organizing a party, assembling a desktop computer, arranging a dinner date on a cruise, creating face masks, and processing a passport. The idea is to provide everyday people with the kind of personal assistants currently available to high-ranking military officers or wealthy celebrities.

If you want to live like Kim Kardashian but you lack the money, this could be your chance. At least you could have a personal assistant to run out and get a cup of coffee for you at 4 a.m. Unfortunately, you will have to pay a very large tip for the service, which is obviously not cheap.

Internet Expansion via WhatsApp

WhatsApp and its parent company Facebook are the driving force behind a massive internet expansion in India, Vikas Jain, the co-founder of Micromax Informatics Ltd, a major smartphone maker in India, told The Wall Street Journal.

Jain described WhatsApp as the two biggest drivers of Internet use in China at a conference in Laguna Beach, California. Jain’s company builds smartphones that are specifically designed to be used with solutions such as WhatsApp. He retails the phones through brick-and-mortar stores that reach average people where they live.

Unlike major companies such as Apple and Samsung, Jain has no plans to create his own operating system or apps, because WhatsApp is the driving force in the market. Instead, he simply provides Android devices that are designed to make it easy for average people to utilize WhatsApp.

WhatsApp as a Political Issue

WhatsApp is so popular in India that it is now a major political issue in the country. When the nation’s security agencies proposed changes to the law that would ban WhatsApp’s encryption technology, a political firestorm ensued.

Social media users became angry at proposals that would have required them to store all of their online communication for 90 days, CNN reported . The users flooded India’s parliament with complaints, and telecommunications minister Ravi Shankar Prashad listened; he quickly withdrew the plan.

Many of the users criticized the measure as undemocratic and contrary to India’s political traditions of personal freedom. Others were simply unhappy at the government’s plans to spy on them.

It is hard to imagine Americans getting up in arms over a social messaging service, but Indians did because for many of them, WhatsApp is now their principal means of communication. It is how they stay in touch with their friends, family, and business associates. Not surprisingly, they do not like the idea of the government monitoring those communications.

India Is the Future of WhatsApp

It looks as if India could be WhatsApp’s most important market, and India could be the future of the app. The way people in that nation utilize this simple messaging solution could shape the future of Internet telecommunications.

If you want to see the future of WhatsApp and messaging, India is the place to look. The many innovative uses being found for WhatsApp on the subcontinent will be copied all over the world, making India the future of WhatsApp and the place where this messaging solution could be transformed into a powerful communications platform.

WhatsApp could become an incredibly disruptive force in politics because it is so cheap and readily accessible. The qualities that have made WhatsApp one of the world’s most successful messaging solutions and communications platforms also make it a potent political weapon.

Those that want to see how WhatsApp could affect the political process should take a look at the September general election in the Eastern African nation of Tanzania. During that contest, WhatsApp became the principal means of political communication because it is the most accessible social media in Tanzania, Quartz reported . Tanzanian politicians turned to WhatsApp there for the same reason American politicians go to county fairs and pancake breakfasts; it’s where the voters are.

“WhatsApp is a preferred tool of choice for propaganda, mudslinging, and negative messaging,” an unidentified digital media analyst in Tanzania told Quartz. The analyst described WhatsApp as a go-to communication platform for political messaging.

One reason why WhatsApp can reach so many people in Tanzania is that it is the cheapest and easiest means of reaching the Internet for many of that nation’s people. Smartphones sold in the country have the app preinstalled, and Tanzanians can purchase 60 megabytes of data for around $1, making it easy for even the poorest person to access it.

How WhatsApp Disrupts Politics

WhatsApp has disrupted politics in Tanzania by enabling average people to create networks of activists for or against a candidate. The networks often operate like the Political Action Committees, or PACs, that play such an important role in American politics.

Politicians love PACs because they can do things that a candidate on the stump cannot. For example, a PAC can call an opponent names or spread questionable rumors about that individual.

In Tanzania, surrogates or fronts for the candidates used WhatsApp for mudslinging. One popular tactic is to share pictures that show an opponent in an unflattering light. An even more disturbing tactic is to play to prejudices.

Opponents of presidential candidate Edward Lowassa obtained clip of him telling a group of Lutherans to pray for him to win because Tanzania needs a Lutheran president. The idea, of course, was to make Lowassa look prejudiced against people of other faiths.

That clip bounced around WhatsApp and eventually made it into the mainstream media. Apparently, the church a candidate attends is an important issue in Tanzanian politics.

One of the major hopes of political activists in Tanzania was to get a rumor or an image to go viral on WhatsApp in order to reach as many voters as possible. That tactic apparently worked with the Lowassa clip.

Dumbing Down Politics

A major danger with media like WhatsApp is that it can dumb down politics. People that dislike the simplicity and sheer stupidity of present-day politics will not like WhatsApp politics very much.

“This is a social media driven election, where people want easy to consume content that doesn’t make us think a lot,” the digital media strategist told Quartz. “It’s like Arsenal versus Chelsea rather than about issues.”

Arsenal and Chelsea are two famous soccer teams that play in the British Premier League. Not surprisingly, many Americans and others will wonder if WhatsApp will have a similar impact on politics elsewhere.

WhatsApp and the News

WhatsApp apparently played a role in the recent British general election. A number of major London newspapers, including The Telegraph and The Daily Mirror, created special feeds to spread political news via WhatsApp. Similar political newsfeeds on WhatsApp also exist in India.

The danger with such feeds is that they could be used to send out news that only comes from one party’s perspective. Only stories that show the party’s candidates in a positive light and its opponents in a negative manner would be sent out. Any information counter to the party line would be ignored.

WhatsApp in American Politics

Social media is having a major impact on American politics. One insurgent candidate, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), has managed to leverage social media to issue a credible challenge to frontrunner Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary.

One of Sanders’ biggest successes has been with fundraising over social media. During the Democratic debate on October 14, 2015, Sanders was able to raise $1.4 million, The Huffington Post reported . Most of the money came from small donors that sent increments of around $31.54 through social media.

Social media has helped Sanders, a socialist who has refused to take money from large donors and big corporations, bypass traditional fundraising and collect tens of millions of dollars. This has helped Sanders completely disrupt the campaign without using traditional methods such as television advertising.

Another way social media has helped Sanders is that many of his supporters sent clips of his debate performance to others that were not watching the debate. Sanders’ message got out even to large numbers of people that did not watch the debate and possibly reached people that normally do not pay attention to politics.

Some observers in the United States now think that social media could become the principal media that decides the U.S. election. A few have even compared it to the presidential election of 1960, the first American election in which television played a pivotal role. WhatsApp could play a role there because it is the cheapest and easiest way to access social media.

Favoring Alternative Candidates

If social media does become the primary means of political communication, that development will favor alternative candidates such as Sanders. One consequence of this will be that money will pay less of a role in elections because solutions like WhatsApp are so cheap.

Another is that the role of traditional media organizations such as television networks and newspapers could be greatly diminished because most voters will get their news directly from friends and family. Everybody will be his or her own editor and reporter, a situation that will dramatically change politics.

In the future, WhatsApp could become a major force in politics. It is only a matter of time before WhatsApp decides the outcome of an election somewhere.

Yes, it is hard for some people to believe, but WhatsApp can help you find a job. Unfortunately, the vastly popular social media solution can also hurt job seekers by scaring away potential employers.

If you are seeking work these days, you need to understand how social media such as WhatsApp can affect your job hunt. Not only can WhatsApp connect you with more potential employers but it can also affect how those that do the hiring view you.

Job seekers need to be very careful with social media because how they use it and what they say can make them unemployable in a worst-case scenario. The reverse is also true; saying or doing the right things on WhatsApp could help you get a job.

How to Use WhatsApp to Find Work

WhatsApp can be a powerful tool for finding a job because at the end of the day, a search for employment is all about networking. WhatsApp is one of the most powerful networking tools ever created; it can help you network with people all over the world.

That means one of the first things you should do when you start your job hunt is tell everybody you know on WhatsApp that you are looking for work. You should tell them what kind of work you want, where you want to work, and what experience you have. You need to do this because networking is still the way many people get jobs.

Unfortunately, there are still many employers that will only hire people they know or those recommended by somebody they know. Even in today’s world, many people value personal connections and word of mouth more than credentials and resumes.

One reason why you need to network is to get your resume or job application out of the pile. A personal connection such as a recommendation from a friend or a family member differentiates your resume or application from the rest. It reminds the potential employer that there’s a person behind the paper.

There are some apps that can help you build a resume for social media. These include Smart Resume Builder/CV Free for Android and Resume Star for the iPhone. These solutions can help you create a PDF version of your resume that can be sent through apps like WhatsApp to potential employers at the push of a button.

Make sure that you tell everybody you know on WhatsApp—friends, family, business associates, clients, casual acquaintances, everybody—that you are searching for a position. They may not have a job for you, but they may know somebody that does. Your hair stylist might have a hiring manager in your industry as a client, and you might not realize it.

Therefore it pays to make sure that everybody in your WhatsApp has a copy of your resume. You never know who they might show it to.

Beyond Networking: What Information to Put on WhatsApp

Beyond networking, you need to know what information to put out on WhatsApp. Your resume is obviously a good place to start, but it is only the beginning. You might also describe your experience and your accomplishments.

For example, you might send out some examples of projects you’ve worked on or completed. This could be papers you completed in school, reports you’ve written for your job, or examples of your success as a salesperson. A writer could send out samples of articles and a photographer pictures she has taken, If your work involves something visual, such as drawings, put pictures of those up online. A person seeking work as a baker might put up pictures of cakes or cookies she has made.

A hairstylist could put up pictures of hairdos she has done. A dog groomer could put up some pictures of dogs she has groomed.

If you are looking for a job that involves speaking or one-on-one contact such as teaching or sales, you might put up a video clip of yourself giving a sales pitch or teaching a class. Another great idea is to prepare an “elevator pitch”—a 15- to 30-second soundbite in which you try to sell yourself to a potential employer—and put it on line.

Another great way to set yourself apart would be to put up some videos singing your praises; for example, a clip of a former boss saying what a good worker you are or a satisfied client praising your services.

Presenting actual evidence of your videos and success and getting it out there is still one of the best ways to find a job. If you can demonstrate that you can do the job or, better, do it well, employers will be more likely to pay attention.

What Not to Put on WhatsApp

WhatsApp can be a double-edged sword for jobseekers because putting the wrong things on the app can drive away potential employers. Something to remember is that you are presenting an image through social media.

If you present an unprofessional image, you could drive away potential employers. Some things that jobseekers should avoid putting on social media include:

• Pictures that show you in an unflattering or unprofessional light. This could include images of you drinking or partying. In particular, be careful of images of alcohol, drugs, or tobacco or references to those things.

• Religious or political opinions, particularly ones that could be construed as offensive or radical.

• Criticisms of others, particularly former employers. Nobody likes a whiner or a crybaby.

An example of something you probably do not what a potential employer to see

• Anything that could be construed as proprietary information from a former job, such as business plans, accounting data, or sales figures. This could be illegal, and it could tell a potential employer that you are irresponsible.

• Humor. Remember, what you consider funny could be offensive to somebody else.

• Pictures that make you look unprofessional; for example, an image of you wearing a t-shirt and shorts at the office or goofing around. People are visual beings; they believe what they see even if it is fake.

• Images of leisure activities, especially those that make you look lazy or irresponsible.

Something to remember is that a potential employer could see almost anything you put on WhatsApp even if you intend it to be private. Therefore one good strategy for jobseekers is to create a second WhatsApp account simply for your job hunt. Only send out information you want potential employers to see, and restrict personal communications to your personal WhatsApp channel.

Having a little discipline in your social media use can help you project the image you want potential employers to see.