Social media. Big title but it’s not a new idea. You see, the word social is the most important word in the title. The whole idea is that the online world is a community. As Gary Vaynerchuk put it, it’s like walking into a very large mixer, or social party. You don’t stand off to the side and wait for people to come to you. That’s the way websites used to work in the early days of the web. Back then you built a website, gamed the search engines and hoped someone would find it in the search listings. But the online world has changed – dramatically. You can’t stand off to the sidelines and hope the world comes to you. You have to go to the world – and engage them. Participate. Become active in the online community.
We have a lot more tools available to us now and the web has grown up quite a bit. There are a lot more websites out there. They all want visitors – why else would does a website exist? We’re not online to simply talk to ourselves. We’re online to tell a story, sell a product, urge people to action for a cause, or hire us to provide a service. We’re online because we want to reach people.
If you were to walk into a networking meeting you’d have to walk up to someone and introduce yourself or have a friend introduce you. Then you’d begin to chat. That’s what social media is all about. Using tools like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to connect with other folks.
One advantage of these tools is that you can learn a bit about the people before you speak with them. Just review their followers or friends and you can begin to get a sense of who they like to talk with. Sometimes their profiles are public and you get to more information. Maybe the even include a link to their website or websites. A little bit of research is not a bad thing.
Start small if you’re nervous or wary. Choose one tool and use it for awhile. Be aware of how much time you spend but work some time into your schedule to see who’s out there that might be interesting. Use the search functions offered at each of the tools. Use Twitter Search to get started at Twitter. Facebook and LinkedIn have search tools embedded in their tool bars.
Jump in and start talking. Use the same guidelines as you would in normal conversation – be courteous and be yourself. You will find there are many people online that share common interests with you and even some that are looking for what you have to say or sell them.
{ 1 comment }
Thanks for all this valuable info, gregg, I’m just now trying to find my feet in this world of self promotion using the web.
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