THE 12 SECRETS OF SOCIAL NETWORKS - WHICH TO JOIN, WHAT TO DO & MORE!

by Sophia Bailey

For anyone that is new to social networking, you might wander what all the fuss is about or what you are supposed to do once you join one of the many social networking sites available to you. Here is my personal guide on which sites to join, how to save time, how to save money and what else to do when you get there.

HOW DO YOU CHOOSE WHICH SITES TO JOIN - WHO TO NETWORK WITH?
If you are not a business owner, networking for social purposes can still build an invaluable database of contacts that could be used to help yourself and others in the future and as far as which sites to join, anything and everything goes really.
If you are networking online for business exposure, most of your time is probably spent running your business so you may not have alot of time to spend online. It is therefore important to make the most of the time you have and to begin by selecting social networks that fit your criteria. Just as you choose which networking events to attend, here are a few suggestions to choosing which networking sites to join.

1. Join a network whose members reflect your customer base
Billions of people are online everyday looking for a solution to a problem. Use a search engine such as google by typing keywords centred on the problems you have the solution to and investigate the results.Chances are, if there are more than two people searching for a solution, there is an online forum or group somewhere that is discussing it. If your business offers a solution to their problem, it would be within your interest to let them know! (and if there isn't one create one)

2. Join a network that gives you the opportunity to promote your expertise
To gain expert status, you are going to need to give a little expert knowledge. By sharing knowledge about your products or service and how they assist other people, you begin to promote yourself as an expert in your field. Find network's that have the ability for you to add blogs or add to discussions so you can provide your expert advice.

3. Join a network with members based in locations that have maximum exposure to your customers.
There's no point finding customers and being the expert for a group you can not easily do business with or do that do not contain a high number of your client type. For example research shows that a high percentage of professional black women in the UK are based in London. If black women in the UK were your market, it would be better to join a London based black womens network than a USA based one, even if the numbers in the USA were greater. Most products can be shipped online so online trading presents an opportunity rather than a difficulty but service based businesses are sometimes more challenging to deliver overseas. An international network can sometimes be a solution to this.

4. Join a network that allows for social exchange as well as a business networking
When travelling to sales presentations abroad, we noticed the rep would always start by sharing some personal information and family pictures, this was to build up a rapport before doing business. People are more likely to do business with people they like. Business networks and online roladex can be useful for making key contacts but to achieve a decent volume of actual business transactions, people will need to feel they know you. We are not yet at the stage where consumers feel 100% comfortable with people they meet on the internet so show the personable face behind the business where possible.

WHICH ONLINE ACTIVITIES WILL YIELD THE BEST RESULTS?
Once you have joined a few main sites, you will need to devote at least twenty minutes a day to actually working them. DO NOT - I mean avoid like the plague the act of becoming a serial cut and paster of your company pitch alongside a glittering .gif image but also, don't sit and wait for business to come to you, it is unlikely to happen. Rather than either of those, here are some active steps you can take to get the ball rolling, establish an efficient online routine while saving time and money on your standard business practices.

5. PERSONAL PROFILE
Add something personal about yourself to your profile. This will help others connect personally to you and perhaps start to like you. Websites like Twitter and Facebook allow you to update your status throughout the day letting your contacts know about your daily activities. Perhaps you could add a few lines about your interests and hobbies. It is wonderful to focus on how you help people but allow other people to know how they can help you too, everyone like to feel they have something of value to offer and as well establishing a connection it keeps you in mind while they keep a lookout on your behalf. The PPS network is based on exactly this principle.

6. IMAGE & BRANDING
Make sure you have a picture to represent your profile, there is nothing worse than a profile without an image as it gives the impression that there is something being hidden. If you plan to do business online, this is extremely important as it shows you are a professional individual/company; there to establish connections and provide assistance rather than just promote a business. Remember the pictures you upload will exist forever in cyberspace linked to your name, so be sure it is not something that may later prove embarrassing.

7. MARKETING / CREATING EXPERT STATUS
Create weekly blog postings that show off your knowledge in your field. This will help others see that you are an expert and will help set you apart from your competition. It is also a smart way to encourage potential customers to provide feedback about their needs. Subtly lead towards your product or service providing a solution to their problem and end with a weblink to the revelant page.

8. ADVERTISING AND PROMOTIONS
Participate in forums and discussions. This is a great way to meet others and to show that there is more to you than just promoting your business. Topics do not always have to be business related for you to take part, sometimes people read discussions but do not take part and they feel an affinity with those that share an opinion they connect with. Always put a link to your profile page or your website at the bottom of your posts together with a subtle pitch, strapline, quotation or motto.

9. CONTACT BUILDING
You do not have to invite everyone to be your friend or accept every friend request. Just as you are discerning in life, you are within your rights to do so online. People with thousands of contacts on their profile are sometimes off-putting for those who wish to forge a connection with them. Unless you are connecting with the thousands, be smart about the way you choose and add your contacts.

10. NETWORKING
Invite people to become your friend who you may have something in common with or who have already shown an interest in your business. Strategically inviting people versus random invites will yield better results. People like to be on the friends list of someone who has strategically invited them as they feel valued.

11. PUBLIC RELATIONS
Take time to see who's new to the site and welcome them with a bit of advice, take a few minutes to find out what they do and make a relevant comment. Also, capitalize on users that are very active, leave comments on their page so that when others are checking their profile, they see your comment too.

12. MAXIMUM EXPOSURE
While examining the web site traffic results for my own networking site, I noticed that those people that stayed logged in to the website, received the highest traffic to their profile page. If you have broadband or are logged in to the internet all day for work, it makes sense to also stay logged in to your social network. On the PPSn site, online users are shown next to the chat room screen, bang in the middle on the main home page. Anyone browsing the site has the ability to view the profile of the users they see online and these people receive maximum exposure, even while not using the site. I now encourage all members to log in to the PPSN website everytime they log in to a site like facebook or myspace as you never know who is reading your profile and planning to do business with you.