All the social networking sites have hundreds of thousands of members. The really big ones, Facebook, MySpace and Twitter go into the millions.
Proper use of these sites can add tremendous targeted traffic to a blog.
What is proper use
Many people with commercial blogs have no idea on how to use social networking. They look on these places, as they would on off-line commercial advertising. But social networks are not newspapers or television channels. Social networking is partying.
So think about how you would behave, when you go to a party. Would you want someone, whom you have just met, to spew his/her advert out in the same breath as they are introducing themselves? Of course not. So why do it on the social network sites?
Social networking sites are party sites, and should be treated as such. In this vein your blog is your home, and should be treated that way. Even when receiving visitors at home, or when you go visiting in other people’s home, we don’t immediately start advertising our business. We get to know each other first.
That’s what social networking sites are about, getting to know people. All kind of exciting things can come out of this type of networking. It is possible that the people you are in touch with are not actually the type of people you need. You may rather be looking for referrals.
Another mistake commonly made is only seeking out friends, or friends of friends, or people already within your field. Ever wondered why these people don’t respond to postings? They know you, they know what you are doing and up to, or they are already involved in this field, but with another mlm, affiliation or program.
They are happy with what they have. Why would the want to change? They will just as eagerly want you to join their program or affiliation.
To really make social networking work there are a few simple attitudes and steps to take
Attitude
1. Be sociable
Social networking is known as social networking because that is their purpose. Get to know people, chat with them, leave comments, ask about their business, create a relationship, create friendships.
2. Don’t push
Pushing something down people’s throat will not get the desired result. Quite the opposite. Consider how you feel when someone does that to you.
3. Pay It Forward
What does that mean? Simply – re-post other people’s promotions or comments. Help them get what they want. You will be repaid 100 fold. Everybody likes to see themselves promoted. It makes them feel important. It makes them feel worth while.
4. Asks Questions
Instead of promoting yourself, ask questions of your friends. Questions of the type that you would ask anyone you meet at a party. If you are good at partying, you know what questions to ask. I am sure you also know the kind of questions you would like people to ask of you.
5. Referrals
Nothing will make you more popular than creating referrals. A referral is you finding someone who is interested in in a particular product or service and referring them to someone who has that product or gives that service. There are innumerable networking groups that work on the principle of referrals.
Steps to take
1. When someone offers you friendship – ask them two questions: How did you find me? What attracted you to me? Was it something in my profile? Find your own words. Accept the friendships, based on the answer.
I have rejected friendships based on the answers. If I see that the only reason for the connection is for that person to spam me with promotions, I refuse.
2. On some social networks you have to accept friendship before you can check out the person. Do it afterward. If the answers are not satisfactory, you can disconnect the friendship.
3. When accepting friendships, like on twitter or Facebook, immediately send off a message saying thank you. Both of the above will set the groundwork for a relationship and create the right atmosphere from the very beginning.
4. Create a proper profile, with a picture. I always check profile. If there is no picture and no valuable information, I wont accept friendships.
When social networking you should always ask yourself: What do I want with this relationship? And the answer should not be only: to promote. The answer could be: This person looks interesting. Maybe I can learn something here. Maybe I can contribute here.
I see people on Facebook and twitter with thousands of people on their list and I wonder: how do they have contact with so many. When social networking we should consider this: is quantity or quality better? What are the chances of being seen or heard as no. 4999 on somebody’s list?
What are the chances of getting conversions on a small, but quality list?
What are the chances of someone on a small list giving you or your product a recommendation?
The old business style of referrals by word of mouth is not dead just because we can mass communicate over the internet. It is the same, just now we are doing it in cyberspace.