6 Tips for Social Networking

Social networking has only recently become my thing.  I’ve never been a fan of sitting for hours in front of a computer piddling on-line (writing aside).  Strangely enough, these days I’m actually having fun.  Meeting people and, YES!, learning constantly makes the time spent worthwhile.  For those of you still living in the dark ages, it’s time to step into the light.  Hopefully you’ll find some of these tips useful as you slog through cyber space.

1. USE TWEETDECK: I was weary about learning a new application on top of all of the others, but decided to be brave and test the waters.  I couldn’t be happier that I did.  As a matter of fact, I’m completely addicted to Tweetdeck!  It’s really the ONLY way to deal with streaming comments on Twitter. You manage those you follow by placing them into a “list” or category of your choosing.  Friends, news & entertainment, business-related folks (whoever you follow) can be sorted into their own vertical columns.  This is only one of the many things this application does for you.  Check it out. You won’t be sorry!

2. REGISTER WITH BLOGFARM: This is a website comprised of a community of bloggers in practically every subject area you can imagine.  Register your blog with them for free!  You’ll see an increase in traffic to your site, especially the more often you post.  If you’re hyper about advertising, you can pay a small fee for an upgrade of their service.

3. LINK YOUR MEDIA PLATFOMS:.  There are two reasons you should do this:  1) It makes your life easier to say something one time 2)everyone has different platforms that they prefer.  In order to reach as many people as possible, it’s a good idea to show that you can be found on MANY platforms, allowing your followers to choose.  Try Tweetdeck or Hootsuite to manage them all.

4.AVOID STUPID COMMENTS: “I’m going to brush my teeth and clean the house.”  WHO CARES?!  You barely care and we’re all dying of boredom reading comments like these.  You’ll find yourself deleted all over the place.  And another thing, it counts as a stupid comment to always post news or impersonal gobbly gook.  We want to get to know each other by interacting. Isn’t that the point of all of this?

5. GIVE SOMETHING AWAY: People love free stuff.  It doesn’t matter what form the “free stuff” takes on.  For example, as a foodie I constantly experiment with new ingredients and recipes, then post them for free.  Yes, giving away “knowledge” counts if it’s useful to your audience.  Sound bites, pictures, videos…you get the idea.  Start giving it away.

6. DO NOT PROMOTE YOURSELF CONSTANTLY: Simply put, it’s annoying.  Of course you can talk about your upcoming projects, book signings, and media events from time to time- just not 24/7.  Don’t be so self- important.  There’s a lot of interesting people to get to know.  It takes as much effort or less to post a funny diddy instead of an impersonal promotional statement.

Use these media tools wisely and you’ll form new personal and professional relationships worth the investment of time you’ve made.