Social Networking 101: Basic Tips For Online and Offline Social Networking
Guess what? Social networking online is very similar to social networking offline (in the real world)! Big surprise? Believe it or not, for some, it really is a surprise. Whether you are looking to grow your network, influence, awareness and reach or advancing your professional and personal goals it’s important to recognize that being successful in social networking online and offline are very similar. Most of us know the rules for networking in the real world, but it’s important to remember them for online, particularly if you are making your first moves into online social media and social networking. The following are tips to become a decent social networker in either medium. Most tips apply in both scenarios.
Know the organizer: Make it a point either when you arrive at the event or prior to leaving the event to thank the organizer for putting the event together, let them know that you wish to attend future events and that you met some great contacts. Knowing the organizer and letting them know you appreciate the hard work needed to put together an event may put you in position to share the highest level of invite status in the future. Find out who runs things and take the mindset that yo
u owe them something.
Offer assistance: If you really like the event/group, offer that you’d like to be a part of helping to organize future events by volunteering time and some of your core capabilities. Help your fellow social networkers by advancing their goals, sharing their goals with others or by introducing them to a new contact in your network. Make a solid public recommendation if you honestly believe in what they have to offer.
Be polite: Enter conversations gently and in a meaningful way with something to add. Don’t interrupt existing conversations in progress, but work you way into conversations. As a conversation hits a lull or comes to a conclusion, start it again, this time with a twist. Avoid cursing. There is no need to curse and swear to make your point. If you’re succinct in your discussion, people will get the point. Use of words like F*&K and SH%T become very unattractive after a while and show a certain lack of professionalism after some time.
Smile: No one likes a :-( all the time. Stay away from negativity, and don’t dwell on bad news. Bring uplifting anecdotes and share in the positives. Clean yourself up and dress well. Represent yourself with a decent looking avatar / profile image. Ask some of your closest friends and contacts what they honestly think about your profile image.
Meet the influencers: Take time to understand who the influencers are in the room, who are long time members and pay deference to their contributions to the organization. Share your experiences with them about the group. Ask questions of the influencers as they know a ton about the group and how to become established within the group. Perhaps you can help an influencer in some other area of life and they can help you within the social network group?
Meet the newcomers: Show a bit of bi-partisanship and don’t put all your focus on the influencers or the organizers all the time. A newcomer could one day become an “influencer”, so you should try to meet some of them. It’s important to show the rest of the group that you are not just looking to network up, but that you care about the development of the entire group. After all, Susan Boyle was a newcomer, right? Good for those who introduced themselves to her before she went on stage!
Follow up: Follow up with the people you’ve met in the network and at the event. Don’t leave your new contacts hanging. Make sure to follow up with some form of contact (phone call, email, hand written note) recognizing that you’ve met them and showing them you care about their work. Help them in their endeavors and help them reach their goals first, and they will be apt to help you.
Don’t sell and don’t spam: Tread lightly on the commercial approach. Don’t blanket the party with your pitch, your business card or with how great you are. If you try to sell things to your social network and you constantly GLOAT, chances are you will be rejected in some way. This reminds me of a social marketing post we made some time ago where we said:
” [social marketing] is about acting like a human and networking in it’s traditional form; being a part of the discourse, part of the conversation, meeting people and not sucking people into an E-commerce funnel.”
Bring a gift: Bring something to share at the event. Bring insights, a new contact or bits of information that others can benefit from. Don’t come empty handed. Bring an actual gift or bring your knowledge of a subject to contribute to the group discussion.
Find new events: Find new events, go to them and cross-connect the contacts you meet at one group with the contacts from another. Turning your friends on to new events helps them understand that you care about their development.
Introduce a new person: Bring a new person to the group who you think will add value for the rest. You’ll be in the good graces of the new attendee and likely the rest of the group for expanding the network in a meaningful way.
Relate: Make sure you remain relatively on-topic in discussions. Speak about the industry and if the conversation veers into the personal or off-topic, at least make sure those you’re speaking with have a remote interest in what you’re discussing. If they can’t relate, you’re done!
What are some of your social networking tips?
The fusion of internet network marketing and social media is a perfect attraction marketing strategy to reach potential customers anywhere in the world. Many marketers are attracted to social media because of the reduced costs compared to expensive television, radio and newspaper ads. Social media marketing taps into a familiar concept called attraction marketing and lets you build relationships with your targeted audience. Social media sites can help establish your presence in a number of different places on the Web. Traditional marketing will never be able to target as precisely as social media marketing. Just imagine the social media profits you can have in being able to recruit people from different places.
The "social " is the key word here. If you plan to work in a social media you have to act right the way you work with people.
Nobody likes a guy that gets acquainted with a shout like "Repent Ye, generation of vipers"
Spot -on common sense reminders about the 'social' aspects of social networking online or F2F! As the author of The Secrets of Savvy Networking and How to Work a Room, I can attest that those who are best networking online are those who remember their off line manners.
Being nice to everyone whether they are a heavy hitter, influencer or a newcomer, is not only smart and savvy, it's kind and contributes to a good reputation.
"Don't judge tomorrow's book by today's cover."
No question that manners are a perfect starting point for success. A wise family member once told me "manners are very cheap to learn, but very expensive not to have" and that is so true in networking – online and offline.
Thanks so much for visiting and for your comments Susan, I'll be sure to check out the book. BTW – I really like your site!
I'm so tired of seeing endless self-promotions online. People act so entitled in many social media groups and forums. It's so refreshing when you meet people online that "get" how to network.
Unfortunately the rude behavior we're seeing online is being carried over from people's offline lifestyle. My parents always taught me to be polite and respectful and I've carried that into my online life. Today, parents don't teach their children to be polite and respectful so we're seeing more "it's all about me" behavior online and offline.
I coached Little League baseball and youth soccer for many years and the problem children always had parents that believed the world revolved around them. The kids were often late for practice and games because the family was oversscheduled then the parents would scream at me for playing the kids that arrived on time. I see the same behavior online and it's so sad to see how rude and self-consumed we've become.
Ted, thanks for visiting and sharing your thoughts.
As you've mentioned the rude and or "self-centered" approach wears thin in networks.
The fact that you coached Little League and youth soccer shows that you'll be successful in your own right b/c you are giving of your time – that's going to lead to success in many ways.
Great suggestions. I hate when conversations, online or off, become sales-pitch oriented. Imagine if every conversation started with 'My product is…and it can do X,Y and Z.' While business networking events are for both business AND networking, it's usually due to personality and natural conversation flow that I find a valid partnership.
Dina,
You said it perfectly when you mention that "valid partnerships" come from "natural conversation flow. " – that is SO RIGHT. So much more effective than pitches.
Thanks for stopping by 10e20 Blog; it's great to meet you and I really like that ML site – very resourceful for affiliate marketers… Did you run in the IOA Corporate 5K? SOunds like a lot of fun!
The social media is simply a new method of data mining to collect consumer personal information and attempt to push text messaging and other slect communications and scams on its participants. I have tried and no matter what you cannot get buy with out these social networks asking non-public personal information. Has the government found yet another way to spy on the citizens fo there respective countries?
I see social media as a way to connect with like-minded people in a casual, friendly environment. I never try to sell on social media because it's not the place for sales pitches. I don't try to sell to my friends when we're at a party or out to dinner and i don't expect them to be pitching me. If they do try to sell me something then I stop hanging out with them. The same goes for social media. If I'm following someone on Twitter or I'm friends with someone on Facebook that constantly self-promotes, I stop following them or defriend them. Being my friend does not give you permission to spam me with self-promotion..
Good article! Seems for me that Twitter had become a lot like a text and link and – everyone is kind of sending messages after messages – advertise, advertise, advertise. Sure I do that myself too sometimes, but I try to replies to post and some of my followers.
Most of the time, people are friendly and are happy to see an interest – other than trying to get them click on your own Web page…
Inspiring post!
100% agreed! I also do undertand that social networks is a vrey good source for clients and customers, but if you push to hard, people won't mind at you at all. So when networking, you have to be interesting, so that people would be eager to hear what you say and not what product you have to offer. Some people don't even mask that they're networking only for advertising their goods and that is bad. I say if you want that people let you offer them some goods, you must first of all give them some information, be polite and kind
cool cool cool.. Ill follow this tips twitter now is power. !
Showing dedication of time and effort is also one important aspect needed to succeed in social networking. Once rejected, it will be very hard to come back again from what had been done before. Think and prepared before doing something.
Show a genuine interest. Participate in conversations because you actually care about the topic at hand, and not because your presence may give you an opportunity to "sell" (your views, or products, or both). Listen to other people's opinions before you express your own; and engage in a true conversation.
Thanks for the tips.Really useful.
exactly, you are right that this is perfect way to attract and reach potential customers anywhere in the world
Thaks for nice post.
Social networking sites are growing in popularity and unfortunately the problems that they present are also growing.
Everything has been said
I found this informative and interesting blog so i think so its very useful and knowledge able.I would like to thank you for the efforts you have made in writing this article. I am hoping the same best work from you in the future as well. In fact your creative writing abilities has inspired me.
Excellent tips on social networking etiquette here, more people should read this!
Online social networking sites like LinkedIn where you have provided information about your career activities and goals can be beneficial to prospective employers. However, you must be disciplined about maintaining a consistent and professional approach to online postings.
If you’re not sure how exactly to network or use sites like LinkedIn to their fullest ability, check out some of the great resources available these days that teach exactly this. answerQUEST is hosting a webinar this Thursday, 1/21, at 12pm ET. It’s hosted by the famous social media guru, Chris Muccio, author of 42 Rules for 24 Hour Success on LinkedIn. You can learn more here: https://answerquest.webex.com.
Rebecca Bamman
answerQUEST Career Management
rebecca@aqcm.net
http://www.aqcm.net
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Good jobs.
I am studying this website in my Business Communications class, the concepts i have learned by reading the comments has really made me think a little more on exactly how to social network. Thanks.
Are you studying 10e20 for your class? If so, let us know if you have any questions — we're happy to help!
Thank you for your post. I really like everything that you mentioned. I co-chair a weekly offline networking group in Middletown, Connecticut and learned some new things that I did not think of before reading your post.
No question that manners are a perfect starting point for success. A wise family member once told me “manners are very cheap to learn, but very expensive not to have” and that is so true in networking – online and offline.