Social Networking Tips – It Ain’t Any Different!
July 2, 2009, 12:51 pm
I’ve recently discovered the world of social networking. It’s been a very interesting experiment and here’s what I’ve noticed: People on Twitter behave just like people at a networking event! At both you’ll see:
1. The Testers They check it out, follow a few friends, get 25 followers, get bored and quit. “This doesn’t work, it’s a waste of time.”
This is like the people who go to networking events once or twice and get bored and quit:
Tip no. 1 – Social networking is ALSO about relationships -even though you’re just typing words, there are people on the other end of your screen – real live actual people – who knew? Form relationships and be patient.
2. The Blatant Self Promoters have discovered a new way to mass promote their stuff.
Every day I get direct messages that “try” to seem friendly, but mostly just promote their stuff. It goes something like “Hey, thanks for the follow. Check out my website.” And it’s always some kind of a lead generator thing.
“Unfollow!! Unfollow!”
This is like the people who go to networking events and pass out business cards and talk about themselves.
Tip no. 2: You’re not going to find business and people will run away from you if you spend all your time talking about yourself – just like a live event, social networking is about listening and helping.
3. Connectors. These are people who are giving value – good solid information or helping others make connections.
Tip no. 3 – The most successful networkers grow their business by helping other people. These people (I call them connectors) are usually the ones with the best reputations AND, the most resources. Just like at a live event, these people have “golden rolodexes” – and are the people you want to know.
Final thoughts - Twitter (and most social networking) is still very new. You’ll see rants about all kinds of things, like “I hate follow Friday.” Most of it is just noise. I recommend using common sense. Offer value, help people, don’t run with scissors and play nice with others.
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