Social Networking Is Easy If You Follow The Rules

Ok, so now you've joined a social networking community, now what?

Here's a primer, a list of dos and don'ts....take heed or risk alienation from a viable source of traffic and professional networking.

1. Participate in forum discussions. I belong to www.iseecolor.com and am pretty active in the daily discussions. People will begin to recognize you, and respect your opinion or not respect your opinion. It's totally up to you.
2. Seek out like minded friends. It's ok to befriend as many people as you can. Just try to stay in your own ballpark, if you are a home based business owner who has a travel business, seek out other travel business owners. Stay in your own neighborhood, it works out better that way. Besides, you may make a lifelong friend that could be the source of a never ending stream of contacts and revenue.
3. Complete your profile! Don't join a social networking group if you are not going to complete a profile. Have a picture of yourself stored on your hard drive so people can put a name with the words they are reading. Remember, the internet is made up of strangers from across the globe, you are trying to introduce yourself, so put your best foot forward.
4. I hate spam in social networking groups, and you probably do too. So, don't send out a sales message as your initial contact email. If someone is interested in what you do, you don't have to try to sell them on the first meeting, that wil come later. Remember, that before a person buys from you, they have to trust you first.
5. Schedule time every week to visit your social networking group. Many internet marketers hold down full time jobs, and being online everday to browse a networking group just isn't possible. Family time, and life in general just doesn't permit it. Write it in your planner what day(s) of the week and how many hours per week you will dedicate to your social networking group.
6. There are niche groups around, so you no longer have to worry about spreading yourself thin by joining too many social networking groups. Iowa Avenue is for the health oriented side of you, Black Business Space is for the African American business person in you, and so on...you can now concentrate on just one group and make the maximum amount of connections with your social networking.
7. You should Twitter! You really should, if you have the time. Twitter can be good or bad for you, if you know how to use it. Think of Twitter as a place where people quickly scan tweets for information. In 140 characters or less you must present a compelling case for followers to click or else they are gone to the next tweet. Don't abuse Twitter like a spammer, use it to communicate with like minded people on the fly. It works, really.
8. Make sure you have a brand, or a signature that people are familiar with. If your blog is called NASCAR Dan, then that is probably what people know you as--so use that name or signature in all your social networking efforts. The more people see it, the more name recognition you will receive.

Social networking is easy, but there are unspoken rules. Rules that can make or break you in your journey to gain recognition, traffic and ultimately more money if that's your goal. However, you can shoot yourself in the foot if you disregard the rules of the road, the social networking road that is.



To easily receive updates on new articles subscribe to Home Business Success today.