Social Media sites like Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and YouTube are changing the way the world does business. I think this is in response to our desire to connect with others.

Relationship Marketing is all about connecting with people first as human beings and then as customers later. For a real business relationship to work, both parties must receive value. If only one or neither does, that relationship won’t continue for long.

It is the same with Social Networking. You have to provide value consistently for people to want to follow you (as in Twitter) or be your “friend” (as in Facebook). This value means something that helps them in their business or their personal lives.

So, what Works in Social Media and Social Networking?

What To Do In Social Networking

1. Provide Solid Value First. Provide tips that are valuable to your followers. If you talk about a special that is with a third party — where you have no benefit from your followers purchasing — you gain points.

2. Retweet (Twitter). This means you copy something that was said by one person and send it to your followers. You are helping in three ways here: 1) You help the person who sent the initial tweet and they will remember that, 2) You help your followers by providing value and 3) You help yourself two ways. First you strengthen the relationship with the person you are retweeting (don’t you love these new words we come up with today?) and secondly you help yourself as others see you as a resource. Make sure it is value when you retweet otherwise it comes off as TweetSpam and that can only hurt you.

3. Link With Bit.Ly, Tinyurl Or Other URL Shorteners. This sounds a bit technical but it’s quite easy. If you have a really long name for a website (URL) it can eat up your 140 character limit fast. A better way is to use one of the free URL shorteners available. Bit.ly is good for generating statistics on how many are coming to the site. Tinyurl and snipurl have been around for years and are quite reliable.

4. Always Points To More Value On Your Blog/Website. Let your Facebook postings, your tweets and Linkedin messages always point to your Blog or website (they can be the same) where your followers or friends will find more value on the subject. This is the methodology you want to deploy in your marketing today. Generate value on your Blog and point to it with your notices on all the various social networking sites.

What To Avoid In Social Networking

1. It’s All About Me. Ugh! How many times do we need to hear that the world doesn’t keep spinning around YOU? We all want to hear about ourselves and how what you have to say will make our lives better. Make all your communications about how others will benefit from being involved with you. Frankly, we don’t care that you’re “standing in line to get a hamburger.” What will help is if you found that hamburgers are available at half price today from 12:00 to 3:00 at 4th and Main and they are the best you’ve ever had. That information would be valuable. Make it about others and you will succeed.

2. Spam City. We hated spam on email (still do). We don’t like it any more in the era of social networking. So stop it already! Yes, we know you have a “great way to make money on Twitter” on your site but frankly, we’re tired of hearing it! Instead, promote serious ways people can solve problems in their business. You add to your credibility and avoid being seen as a spammer.

3. Too Much “Unfollowing” Or “De-Friending.” When you stop following someone (and there are times it is appropriate) make sure it is because of serious problems (like spamming — see above). When we see someone has “unfollowed” us (more of those clever new words we get today), it can hurt. I remember one person who I admired and had purchased a lot of her materials. However, when she unsubscribed to my email I was hurt. Was I logical? Of course not. However, that person has already lost thousands of dollars as I spent the money with someone else — and she doesn’t even know it! Careful on what you do and who it can offend. Hear more about this story in my podcast at www.TerryBrock.com.

Social Networking is really very much like good ole networking has been since human beings started gathering in groups. Treat people with honesty and dignity. Relationship Marketing principles work today on these new media. Avoid the “hot new ways to increase traffic” that smack of hucksterism and chicanery.

If it doesn’t come from a genuine, real desire to help other humans beings, it should probably be avoided. This is true in Relationship Marketing, Social Networking and life.

Copyright © 2009, Terry Brock and Achievement Systems, Inc. Terry Brock is an international marketing coach and professional speaker who helps businesses generate profitable results.

He can be reached by e-mail at terry@terrybrock.com or through his website at www.terrybrock.com.

Join the Twitter adventure with Terry through his Twitter address: TerryBrock

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The person’s Twitter profile might position the person as fun-loving and open to networking, while the blog might be colder than a tombstone inscription with no way to interact (no comments enabled and no email address).

Whether your brand is fun-loving and open or cold and non-welcoming, it should be consistent across the Internet.

How to establish an integrated message across all social media platforms:

Step 1: Decide on your core brand or positioning – what is your Unique Selling Proposition that makes you stand out from your competition.

Step 2: Evaluate and revise where necessary your Web site/blog to reflect this brand. Think of your Web site/blog as your home base from which your rockets ships will launch into social media space.

Step 3: Begin with one or two social media platforms, such as Twitter and LinkedIn, and engage based on a social strategy developed to promote your brand. Be sure to have your blog posts support this social media strategy.

Step 4: Expand your social media strategy to more social media platforms, always ensuring that the strategy you use on these new platforms supports your previous social media platform strategy.

While these steps may seem simple, they are not. They require integrated planning, development, and implementation.

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I) Ways to build an outstanding profile

A. Photo Opportunity: The 1st thing you see on profile is the picture!

· Recognition – It is impossible to remember everyone you meet at networking events, make sure you have a photo so people can remember who you are when they want to reach out to you via LinkedIn.

· Personal Branding – Photographs should be professional; avoid pictures with pets, group photos or company logos. Your photo is a chance to let your personality shine through and is an important branding tool.

B. Profile Customization:

· Custom URL – obtain a custom URL rather than the default on LinkedIn. For example, mine is www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreymitchell. It should be very easy to remember and be much easier when using profile URL on resume and marketing materials.

· Details, but not a resume – Your LinkedIn profile should not be a copy/paste of your resume. It allows you to express many things that a resume does not. In addition, the profile can have more content in it than a resume, allowing you to abbreviate your work history and have a more streamlined resume for HR.

C. Consider Recommendations: Someone once asked me what the value of a recommendation is if it is always going to be positive (you can choose not to display a recommendation). My response consists of the points below:

· Valuable for profile – People are going to be skeptical if you do not have recommendations. They are expected when you achieve a large network.

· Similar to a Reference Check – Recommendations are investigated by recruiters. You are basing your reputation on the strength of your connections and the power of weak ties.

D. Profile SEO: Yes, you can use SEO on your LinkedIn profile!

· Activity – Update your profile frequently, especially the box where you give status updates. This will increase your page rank significantly over time.

· Crosslinking – Make sure you utilize the 3 links available in your profile to connect with areas of interest such as your blog, Facebook page, Twitter account, personal and/or company website. When the sites you are linked to receive hits, your profile will slowly gain page rank.

E. Making Friends: For more info, visit my blog entry on the topic of network management: http://tinyurl.com/nwkdwj

· Network management – Connect with people soon after you meet them. This will help to avoid the threat that people will forget who you are and deny your request.

· Leveraging your network – Only connect with a network of people you know. What is the point of a network you cannot leverage?

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II) Maximizing the potential of LinkedIn

A. Groups: You can and should join up to 50 groups on LinkedIn.

· Digest emails – I recommend receiving these daily, as they give you a summary of headlines for group activity and are very valuable. It results in a lot of emails, but nothing slips through the cracks this way.

· Targeted interests – Join groups that consist of your target customers, clients, etc. When you participate in the conversation, you will develop new business opportunities.

B. Q&A: This is an often neglected aspect of LinkedIn. By participating in Q&A, you truly give back to the LinkedIn community.

· Demonstrate Expertise – answering questions results in you becoming a recognized expert on LinkedIn. You can choose to display best answers in your profile.

· Facilitate conversation – Ask questions and get expert advice. Also, you can use this conversation to meet new connections on LinkedIn. Recruiters can ask questions pertaining to jobs they are hiring for; the best answers become the recruited candidates.

C. Integration: You want all digital information about you to be integrated.

· LI profile URL printed on resumes/cards/etc – Use your profile on your business card or resume so it can easily be referenced.

· LI profile URL link in email/blog/etc – Use profile URL in your blog and signature line of your email to give others another method of contacting you.

D. Research:

· Companies/Industries – before and meeting, you can investigate your client company to learn everything from stock quotes to career paths. For recruiters, you can learn where to look to find suitable recruits.

· People/connections – Do some research on your network to see who is in transition, who has been hired, and where people are going with their careers. LinkedIn makes managing a large network a lot easier, and it a great tool for staying in touch.

E. Marketing/Publicity:

· Get in front of customers/offer discounts – Try offering promotions or sales on LinkedIn group forums and see how much of a response you will receive.

· Post jobs/polls/etc… - Try looking to LinkedIn when hiring others. Ask questions and poll your network so you can stay current on what is happening in your industry.

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Since the start of the recession in December 2007, about 6.7 million workers have been laid off according to latest statistics — at a time the popularity of social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter have exploded, drawing millions of users per day.

As these sites continue to alter social and cultural landscapes, they are also transforming the job search process, enabling more and more people to connect with potential employers, promote their own skills, set up support groups and search for job leads and contacts.

“Mobile technology and social networking has shifted the whole job search paradigm,” said Susan Joyce, editor of Job-Hunt.Org, a site offering online job search tips. “You don’t need to stay glued to your phone or computer at home anymore.”

With mobile devices playing a bigger role in the social networking phenomenon, any job hopeful with a Web-connected or smartphone can now compose resumes, view job listings and contact prospective employers on the go.

Joyce suggests creating a resume through popular networking site LinkedIn — a business networking site that lets users create a profile, list skills, work history, employment goals and contact details — is among the more secure ways to compile a resume online.

It can be done via Research in Motion Ltd’s Blackberry device or Apple Inc’s iPhone, she added.

“The LinkedIn Profile is really the resume of the future,” Joyce said. “The ‘resume’ on LinkedIn is really the standard LinkedIn Profile, but it’s very popular with recruiters looking for good candidates.

“You could build your whole LinkedIn presence from any Web-enabled phone.”

There are any number of job-search applications — downloadable programs for your phone — available for the iPhone, for instance, including one piloted by recruitment consultancy Harvey Nash. Others pool information on jobs in travel and in education, among other sectors.

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It will probably come as no surprise however, that Twitter is the dominant platform of the moment, with nearly half of participants in the survey reporting that they made significant use of the platform, with a further third saying they made modest use.

By contrast, only 16 per cent of respondents made significant use of Facebook in their business, while 55 per cent made very low or no use of it. Just 5 per cent of respondents said they made significant use of YouTube.

Specialist business networks such as Ecademy and LinkedIn fared far better in the survey.

Despite this enthusiasm for Twitter however, the same survey showed that relatively few business users have any kind of clear social media strategy in place.

In today’s yourBusinessChannel TV show above, business social networking Thomas Power discusses the potential of social media to transform business and marketing.

Looking for low risk, results based marketing? Apply for The Results Team and access business development advice and campaign tools drawing on over US$1 million worth of expertise.

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Your aim should be turning customers, who may stop by any convenient spot for a morning coffee, into fans who will drive past other bakeries to wait in line for your offerings, says Chris Warner, vice-president of marketing for JackBe, a small software firm based in Chevy Chase, Md. that specializes in social media marketing.

To get that kind of loyalty, of course, you’ll have to deliver a superior product with terrific customer service. Social networking can’t make bad coffee palatable or make your yogurt creamier, but it can spread the word quickly as you build a reputation for excellence.

Web 2.0 technologies can help you make a virtual community that keeps your business top of mind for your fans and lets your fans help you engage new prospective customers

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At roughly 7am PST the site was attacked in a co-ordinated fashion, and the entire network was down for at least 30 minutes. Over the last couple of years, the site stability has been quite strong and the infrastructure was strengthened through a series of updates and scheduled downtime. However, there is little-to-nothing any site can do against denial of service attacks unless they have direct support from their service or network provider.

The ironic thing was that people were trying to use Twitter to search for tweets which told them if Twitter was down, or going down.

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Twitter has been unavailable for at least an hour; the microblogging service’s status blog helpfully reports that the company has no idea what’s going on.

Facebook, meanwhile has been spitting out error messages and intermittently cutting off people’s inboxes, our staff has noticed.

PC World, which has also noticed Facebook problems, thinks this morning’s internet mess might have something to do with Gawker Media’s servers being attacked earlier this week. It wouldn’t be the first time we’ve been accused of functioning as a gateway drug to depravity and unproductiveness.

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Examiner’s Cheryl Phillips — It’s not likely to be a smackdown that is worth watching. However, The Wall Street Journal’s alleged attempt to compete with LinkedIn as a professional social network is a little bit like asking me to become a contestant on The American Gladiators.

LinkedIn has more than 15 million visitors each month. WSJ’s current online community gets barely one third of that and there isn’t really a heck of a lot going on the site. The word is that WSJ will close that site when they create their monster social network that is going to make LinkedIn shake it its social boots. Not likely…

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