The Digital Bus

Here is a compilation of the top 5 social networking tips from 4 people who know Social Networks. It was compiled for a Panel Discussion on March 11, 2008 at Spark in Ann Arbor, USA.

TOP 5 SOCIAL NETWORKING TIPS
DEREK MEHRABAN
1. Be Social. Social networking is first and foremost social. Get out there and network. Then bring people into your Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, Plaxo, etc. Build the online network that will stay with you throughout time and space.

2. Optimize Your Network. Use social networks to optimize search engine results. Keyword optimize your Linkedin profile. Send your blog posts to twitter and use RSS to extend your blog into other social media.

3. Spread Good Karma. Comment on blogs, DIGG people’s posts, comment on Flickr photos, take a minute to recommend someone on Linkedin. Good karma comes back to you in social networking. That’s how it works.

4. Pay Attention. Track people you like/respect on social bookmarking sites like Delicious to see what they’re saving. Set up Google Alerts to know when topics you like are talked about. Pay attention and be rewarded.

5. Work It. Commit to social media, whether a blog, podcast, or Linkedin. Commit to it and build it over time. Your social network adds value to you and your business.

Derek Mehraban
CEO Ingenex Digital Marketing
http://ingenexdigital.com/social-media.html
http://thedigitalbus.com
http://linkedin.com/in/mehraban

EDWARD VIELMETTI
1. That which is measured improves (Scott McNealy, Sun Microsystems)
If you are going to keep track of something, it will improve. Take good notes. Build systems that take notes for you so that you don’t have to think about taking notes.
http://vielmetti.typepad.com/vacuum/2005/08/this_which_is_m.html

2. Reciprocity is a human universal (Wayne Baker, Ross School of Business)
People respond in kind to action. You can get a lot of benefit by generalized reciprocity, where you are generous to a group, and the group is in turn generous to you (and to the rest of the group).
http://vielmetti.typepad.com/vacuum/2007/04/social_capital_.html

3. The strength of weak ties (Mark Granovetter)
Most of the value of networks is not in the set of people you see day-in and day-out but in the space of friend-of-a-friend, people you don’t know but for whom an introduction will be easy.
http://www.networkweaving.com/blog/2007/12/perplexing-economy.html

4. Own page one (Pure Visibility)
On all networks there is a search function; people will search for you there; own that page. Decide how you want to be presented and present yourself that way.
http://www.purevisibility.com

5. Proximity is the killer application
A lot of your success depends on who you are near in physical, real, tangible space, not just in cyberspace. Distances are real.
http://vielmetti.typepad.com/vacuum/2007/04/proximity_is_th.html

Edward Vielmetti
Chief Economist, Pure Visibility
http://purevisibility.com
http://vielmetti.typepad.com
http://linkedin.com/in/edwardvielmetti

LORI LAURENT SMITH
1. Wordpress. Start a business blog. Doesn’t matter if you are a middle manager or 1-man band, you need to blog. It’s a great way to open up a dialogue with your customers, and that connection is the reason social marketing exists. WordPress is free, open source software—so the price is right. It’s easy to use and the content you develop is portable. Don’t forget to comment on other blogs as well. The time investment is completely up to you for blogging and commenting, but the more you put into it, the more you’ll get out.

2. Yahoo Answers or Linked-in Answers. If you’re a service-based small business, you already know that your expertise is your No. 1 marketing tool. Yahoo Answers is a great way to share your knowledge with people (consumers) who are looking for it—a direct connection with potential customers. As a B2B (business-to-business) marketer, I use Linked-in Answers, but I’ve found some great contacts through the questions I’ve asked and the answers I’ve given. Spend an hour or two a week on this task and you will be rewarded with an uptick in blog traffic (which is why starting a blog is the most important task).

3. YouTube. Many laptops are made with web cams nowadays. If yours isn’t, a good video camera can be found pretty are cheap on eBay. Editing is ridiculously easy and the software is also inexpensive (or included with newer machines) How-to videos are an obvious choice. So are interviews or other ways to share your expertise. In addition to using them on your own web site and blog, You Tube allows users to create their own channel – a great brand building opportunity. Don’t just produce for YouTube — local search is also embracing video with CitySearch and Yellowpages allowing local video ads on its listings.

4. Flickr. A picture is worth a thousand words, or, in the digital realm, tags. Flickr is a great marketing tool. The time and cost investment is minimal. And thanks to Flickr’s incredibly active photo groups, you can share photos of your products with people who are interested. A veterinarian could share photos with the 25,000+ members of the Dogs, Dogs, Dogs group, which is one of hundreds of animal-related groups. A crafter who makes iPhone and iPod cases could post nice product photos in the Apple group, with its 4500+ members. A construction company that makes custom homes could post photos on one of the many architecture groups or in the appropriate city group, like Ann Arbor.

5. StumbleUpon. Of all the pliggs (Digg, Reddit, etc), StumbleUpon is perfect for the lazy marketer. Joining groups related to your industry and adding friends from those groups can be done quickly. Once you do that, as you add pages to StumbleUpon—including your own great content—other users will “stumble upon” what you’ve added. As those visitors give it the “thumbs up”, your content is then shown to even more users, creating greater awareness and reach for your brand and company.

Lori Laurent Smith
Founder Media Meme
http://mediameme.com
http://linkedin.com/pub/2/AA9/03A

TERRY BEAN
1. Determine on which side of the Quantity (open networker) V. Quality (closed networker) debate you fall.

2. Create and stick to a strategy, but be pragmatic when it comes to evaluating new platforms/tools

3. Realize that social networking is very similar to face to face or traditional networking in that the results you seek are totally correlated to the efforts you make.

4. Have a focus and try to stay with it. It’s a very big world. Most of it can find you online.

5. Be cognizant of how you present yourself online. Everything is part of your digital footprint so tread carefully.

Terry Bean
CNO, Networked Inc.
http://networkedinc.com
http://motorcityconnect.com
http://linkedin.com/in/terrybean