So you’re on Facebook – now what? Create your profile and post a million pictures and status updates for yourself? Start friending everyone else on Facebook until you have 2,000 new “friends?”
That’s not quite how social media works these days, actually, and in fact, if you’re using today’s social media outlets in this way, you’re missing out on all of the benefits it can bring to you, your career and even your business. So what do you do?
Well, when you want to strengthen something, you have to work it out, right? There’s no reason not to “work out” your social network to help it grow and have it help you in return. Here are some simple practices to follow to build and grow your social network so that you and your business can take full advantage of all of its benefits.
Be Selective
Just because you see a profile on Facebook or on Twitter that you want to be “friends” with or “follow” doesn’t mean it’s right to hit the little friend request button without even knowing the person. Building a social media presence like this will do you no good in the long run.
Instead, make sure you have a simple knowledge of the people that you are friends with on social networks, meaning, if you don’t know them directly, you should have a friend or two in common for the connection to actually be worth anything to you. If you build a network of strangers, they probably won’t be as willing to help you or your business out in any way as someone who knows you or knows of you would be.
Spread Your Wings
While still avoiding friending total strangers, try to spread your wings a bit on your social network. Chances are, most of the people that you know directly are friends or family members, or they’re in the same industry as you, maybe as co-workers, colleagues or even competitors. If you build a social network based on just these people, you won’t be expanding your knowledge base or reaching people you wouldn’t otherwise reach.
And that right there is the beauty of social media – you have such a broader reach than you ever had before. Say you work in marketing, and you have lots of friends that work in marketing, but maybe one of your marketing friends has a friend who works in manufacturing. There’s no harm in friend requesting the manufacturing person and exchanging business information.
Keep in mind that a social network is exactly that – a network. And the point of networking is to meet people you wouldn’t otherwise meet. After all, business is all about who you know, not always what you know. Remember these basics as you “network” on sites like Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.
Speak Naturally and With Authority
When you post to your social networks, you want to make sure you’re actually being you – that means no industry or business-specific jargon that will only be relevant to a handful of select people in your social network. People will be more likely to follow your updates if they’re appealing to a broader audience.
That said, you should still be posting things that are relevant to your business or your industry, obviously. Just try to write it using terms and language that’s engaging to a much broader audience. Share your expertise, but do so in a way that makes it interesting to more people than you usually try to appeal to.
Interact With Your Network
Once you build a network of both friendly and business contacts, it’s important to remember to utilize them and interact with them. After all, what’s the purpose of building a network of 300 useful contacts that you never take advantage of knowing?
While it will be hard to stay in touch with every single person on a daily basis, make an effort to respond to posts by people in your network. “Like” Facebook statuses or “re-tweet” things on Twitter that someone else posted that you find interesting. Help out your contacts, and they’ll be more apt to help you out in return.
Respond to Negative Feedback
Part of what’s so great about utilizing a social network for your business is that it’s a great opportunity to take in some constructive criticism, whether you feel you want to do so or not. People will post things that they like or do not like about your posts or your business, and knowing how to respond to the criticism is going to be crucial in maintaining a positive social presence.
Have someone else check your responses to negative feedback before you send it, as you do not want to sound stand-offish or defensive. You want to keep a light, friendly tone, and be sure to mention in your response that you appreciate the feedback. You don’t want to sound negative in response, but you also want to be able to uphold your brand name and your pride in your business. Find a happy medium, have your response read by another set of eyes, and then hit the send button. The worst thing you can do is ignore the feedback.
Overall, in order to best build and strengthen your social network, you have to remember to be more personable and more conversational on these sites than you might necessarily be face-to-face. Build a web of people you know or are acquainted with, and don’t hesitate to reach out to them for help/advice/business/etc. whenever you need. You know they’ll do the same – and when they do, it’s important to be there to respond. That’s social media interaction at its best.
by Site Reference
http://site-reference.com/
That’s not quite how social media works these days, actually, and in fact, if you’re using today’s social media outlets in this way, you’re missing out on all of the benefits it can bring to you, your career and even your business. So what do you do?
Well, when you want to strengthen something, you have to work it out, right? There’s no reason not to “work out” your social network to help it grow and have it help you in return. Here are some simple practices to follow to build and grow your social network so that you and your business can take full advantage of all of its benefits.
Be Selective
Just because you see a profile on Facebook or on Twitter that you want to be “friends” with or “follow” doesn’t mean it’s right to hit the little friend request button without even knowing the person. Building a social media presence like this will do you no good in the long run.
Instead, make sure you have a simple knowledge of the people that you are friends with on social networks, meaning, if you don’t know them directly, you should have a friend or two in common for the connection to actually be worth anything to you. If you build a network of strangers, they probably won’t be as willing to help you or your business out in any way as someone who knows you or knows of you would be.
Spread Your Wings
While still avoiding friending total strangers, try to spread your wings a bit on your social network. Chances are, most of the people that you know directly are friends or family members, or they’re in the same industry as you, maybe as co-workers, colleagues or even competitors. If you build a social network based on just these people, you won’t be expanding your knowledge base or reaching people you wouldn’t otherwise reach.
And that right there is the beauty of social media – you have such a broader reach than you ever had before. Say you work in marketing, and you have lots of friends that work in marketing, but maybe one of your marketing friends has a friend who works in manufacturing. There’s no harm in friend requesting the manufacturing person and exchanging business information.
Keep in mind that a social network is exactly that – a network. And the point of networking is to meet people you wouldn’t otherwise meet. After all, business is all about who you know, not always what you know. Remember these basics as you “network” on sites like Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.
Speak Naturally and With Authority
When you post to your social networks, you want to make sure you’re actually being you – that means no industry or business-specific jargon that will only be relevant to a handful of select people in your social network. People will be more likely to follow your updates if they’re appealing to a broader audience.
That said, you should still be posting things that are relevant to your business or your industry, obviously. Just try to write it using terms and language that’s engaging to a much broader audience. Share your expertise, but do so in a way that makes it interesting to more people than you usually try to appeal to.
Interact With Your Network
Once you build a network of both friendly and business contacts, it’s important to remember to utilize them and interact with them. After all, what’s the purpose of building a network of 300 useful contacts that you never take advantage of knowing?
While it will be hard to stay in touch with every single person on a daily basis, make an effort to respond to posts by people in your network. “Like” Facebook statuses or “re-tweet” things on Twitter that someone else posted that you find interesting. Help out your contacts, and they’ll be more apt to help you out in return.
Respond to Negative Feedback
Part of what’s so great about utilizing a social network for your business is that it’s a great opportunity to take in some constructive criticism, whether you feel you want to do so or not. People will post things that they like or do not like about your posts or your business, and knowing how to respond to the criticism is going to be crucial in maintaining a positive social presence.
Have someone else check your responses to negative feedback before you send it, as you do not want to sound stand-offish or defensive. You want to keep a light, friendly tone, and be sure to mention in your response that you appreciate the feedback. You don’t want to sound negative in response, but you also want to be able to uphold your brand name and your pride in your business. Find a happy medium, have your response read by another set of eyes, and then hit the send button. The worst thing you can do is ignore the feedback.
Overall, in order to best build and strengthen your social network, you have to remember to be more personable and more conversational on these sites than you might necessarily be face-to-face. Build a web of people you know or are acquainted with, and don’t hesitate to reach out to them for help/advice/business/etc. whenever you need. You know they’ll do the same – and when they do, it’s important to be there to respond. That’s social media interaction at its best.
by Site Reference
http://site-reference.com/
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