At last, you are finally in the world of social networking! You have a Facebook page, you are set up on LinkedIn and you Twitter from time to time. It feels a little overwhelming and every time you open a "tweet" you read about a new application you know nothing about. You wonder if you should invest the time downloading and learning it. Again, social networking doesn't have to be hard work or terribly time-consuming. There are tools and tips that will help you make the most of your experience.
It may be hard for you to talk your social network contacts into joining yet another site, but FriendFeed is worth it. It combines, into one location, your activity across a variety of networks include Flickr, YouTube, MySpace, LinkedIn, Facebook and more. It will even list your Amazon.com wish list. If you are going to consider one more site, Friend Feed is the one.
Ping.fm is a must! This Web based app (www.ping.fm) allows you to update your status across platforms. Log in and you can update your status on the "big three": LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, all from one spot. It supports many other sites as well. This allows you to be active without being logged into all the sites. Plus it is an easy and effective way to spread the word when you have a new blog post or business venture.
HootSuite and TweetDeck are two great Twitter dashboard applications that will help you manage your activity on that site. HootSuite is Web-based and TweetDeck is a download, but both have similar features. Both of these sites allow you to manage multiple profiles if you have them for different business purposes. You can also watch your feeds and in TweetDeck you can create groups to watch more closely if you are following a lot of people.
Sometimes finding appropriate people to follow seems confusing. To save time, check out WeFollow.com. It is a directory where you, and others, list yourselves under three keywords like "author", "speaker", "Republican (or whatever)". You can do a search and find members by these keywords allowing you access to musicians, writers or whomever you are interested in. Twitter also has a search feature on the main interface. Type in a topic (environment) and you can bring up conversations taking place that include that word. Using a hash mark (#environment) helps it be more precise.
Remember, across all of these platforms, engaging and supporting fellow members is the only way to build a loyal following, which is the reason for social media. On Twitter, you can do this by "retweeting"-in essence, sharing what someone said with a larger audience, replying publicly (using the @ symbol and their Twitter ID and involving them in a public discussion) or "DM-ing"-sending a private message to them. Do the same with blogs, crediting the author. Tweet a great post you've read and you will have a smiling new contact!
LinkedIn is more formal but still provides options for interacting. There are numerous groups built around career and topics/interests like accountants, lawyers, and writers. Join some of these groups and it is easier to add members to your contact list. Additionally, you can join in on discussions. Check out the "Answers" tab at the top of LinkedIn. You will find a spot, divided by category, to answer questions for people in need of expert advice, which means you can become that expert!
Social networking is very similar to live networking. We've offered these advanced user tips to make your online experience more rich, but always remember the goal is to connect with and contribute to the success of other people. Once you do that, you will see that others are eager to do the same for you!
About the Author:
With 30+ years consulting experience, Steven Schlagel provides training and coaching for startups, entrepreneurs and small business owners. Check his site for more articles to increase your success!
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