I still remember the first time I ever turned on a computer. I wasn’t 5 years old like my grandson who can surf a Mac like he was born with it, I was a new REALTOR® trying to stay on top of the game and the computer/internet was the tool of choice.
Since then, the internet has become our way of living. Google this, Google that. “What does that house look like?” Google Map it in street view. To this way of living, we have added a whole new language; #FF, tweet me, my tweeps, just FB me, LOL. We now blog and v-blog to let our audience “experience” us and our expertise.
A few months ago, I went to a conference where I learned I was doing it all wrong. I felt like I was in a foreign land and I had just ordered the wrong meal. Is there a right way to interact socially? I set out on a mission to find out the “right way” to talk to people virally, only to overdose on all the information available. Here’s what I summed up:
- It doesn’t matter how many thousands of followers you have if you don’t interact with them. Instead of posting, posting, posting……take an hour a day, if that, and just comment, interact, or acknowledge other great articles and people that are offering valuable information to you.
- Join groups of like-minded professionals and share, interact, and engage with them. Once again, it makes no sense to join a group and never participate, especially if it is a group of people who you are interested in networking with. Joining groups is like having the world of mentors and mastermind partners at the tip of your fingertips. The support you offer them is just as important as the support you receive.
- Learn the language of the network. In order to converse in Italy, it’s important to know Italian. Sure you can get by in some places with just English, but knowing the language makes the experience so much more interacting. Social networking is no different. It took me forever to learn how to use “#” properly or to understand no-sense shortcuts like “LMAO”. And just like you wouldn’t expect to visit China and use your Italian vocabulary, neither should you expect that one network will use the same format and language as the other.
- Bookmarking was an outer phenomenon to me. It is hard enough trying to get my thoughts down on paper, consistently at that. I just thought that getting a blog up on my website was enough, and it is enough if the only exposure you are looking for is from your website. “Social bookmarking” is a method for Internet users to organize, store, manage, and search for bookmarks of resources online. “Unlike file sharing, the resources themselves aren't shared, merely bookmarks that reference them.” – Source Wikipedia. So, by taking the great blog you just created and bookmarking it onto the social bookmarking sites out there, you will increase your exposure and raise awareness. See the top social bookmarking sites.
- Backlinks…one more thing I needed to do if I wanted to raise awareness for my website and, in turn, myself and my company. One of the simplest articles I found helpful was What Are Backlinks And Why Are They So Important. It really helped me understand and strategize how I could use the power of link backs, properly.
- Think quality rather than quantity. Everything you post, every group you join, every page you like, and every follow you make; if you are overdosing on quantity to get your “numbers up,” you are missing out on the name of the game: “Social NETWORKING.”
Being a participant in a viral world is really all about creating a strategy of what, when, and where you are willing to communicate, and then showing up with your unique personality.
Take a look at your company, yourself, and the exposure and awareness you want. Since we can’t be all things to all people, pick one or two sites you can manage consistently. Then, create a strategy for what you want to “put out there.” Remember that it may not be the same content for different sites.
There is an overdose of research you can do on the “how” to participate in the social world, but only YOU can create the “what and where” to share.
