My Three-Legged Social Networking Strategy

Yesterday, I mentioned elsewhere that Yahoo has started a Digg-clone, something that they are calling Yahoo Buzz. Although it is currently in BETA and are only allowing 100 publishers to participate, I think that this could end up being a decent alternative to Digg — especially if you write something terrific and it ends up on the home page of Yahoo.

I’m always re-examining my social media strategy, trying to determine what is hot and what is not. Right now, I am employing a three-legged strategy, with some legs much firmer than others:

StumbleUpon — I’m still very active with this community, but I’m spending more time stumbling current friends pages than anything else. I left the reservation for awhile, stumbling pages I wasn’t too fond of, but I’ve gotten very picky over the past month and am being quite selective. Feel free to send pages you think that I will find interesting.

LinkedIn — I believe it was Anthony Kirlew at the Web Traffic Team who formed a connection with me on LinkedIn, a move that triggered me to take a closer look at this social networking tool. I’ve started to participate in LinkedIn Answers, a section of the site where members post business-related questions and people get to answer and I plan on meeting up with local members at an upcoming event.

MyBlogLog, BlogCatalog, et al — The third leg on my social networking stool is my weakest and includes a handful of social networks I check out from time to time. Each one has something for me, but I’m particularly fond of the MyBlogLog Buzz page where I can keep tabs on my stats.

Beyond that, I am making an effort to keep up with my blog reading, a much more personal way of staying in touch with people regardless of whether they are part of the same social networks I am involved with.

I think if social media dropped dead overnight, I’d still be in good shape — I know who many of you are and sometimes I simply prefer to stop by your site to see what is up.

7 Habits Of A Highly Effectual Social Network Maven

Social Networking Done Right

All right, there are people who understand this whole social networking thing better than I do. When it comes to building online contacts, I rank as a novice in the eyes of some.

On the other hand, I have figured out how to work a handful of internet tools to my advantage!

I’m not about to give all of my secrets away — you’ll have to read Dosh Dosh blog’s for his latest social media marketing tips. What I will share with you is some quick pointers on how you can build your relationship with other social network pros without turning them off.

The following is my list of 7 tips (or habits) of social networking:

1. Sign up and get a feel for the network: The New York State Lottery uses a tagline, you gotta be in it to win it. The same holds true for socializing online — you need to join several networks in order to reap the benefits. No one wins the lottery without buying a ticket, in the case of social networks your ticket is free. And, unlike the lottery, all users are winners!

2. Do not be a N00B: Everyone has to start somewhere, but if you come across as a newbie, then you’ll likely be ignored. Worse, people will think that you are a pain in the rear quarters. Read up on that network, google a search for related articles, and experiment. Do not expect someone to take you under their wing — they’re too busy working the network.

3. Be consistent: Joining a network and not participating on a regular basis will reduce the chances that your articles will get stumbled, your blog posts read, and your contacts will not consider you a serious player. Although I belong to several networks, StumbleUpon is my favorite, with Sphinn, MyBlogLog, and BlogCatalog in the mix.

4. Ask and you shall receive: If you want an article stumbled, then ask. However, ask only on occasion and be prepared to return the favor when asked. People are busy managing a wide variety of tasks every day — don’t consume their time with wasteful stuff!

5. Ask specifically, do not be greedy: Nothing frosts me more then when someone asks me to stumble their post and then follows up with a secondary request to leave a message on their blog. Sometimes I leave comments with my stumble, sometimes I do not. I will leave a message on a blog if time permits and if I have something worthy to add. Give me one request and I may follow up with a bonus if I am in the mood.

6. Build up your silent network of social network pros: There are a handful of people I contact from time to time to ask for a stumble, a sphinn, or a digg. I will never publicly reveal who my contacts are and I certainly do not want everyone to know that I am good for a stumble (okay, I am!)

7. Give, expecting nothing in return: This is a hard one for some people — stumbling, digging, and leaving comments behind unilaterally. True, I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine is the prevalent theme of social networking, but why not set yourself apart and simply pay it forward for somebody?

How Popular Do You Want To Be?

For some people, dominating a particular social network is their way of measuring their online success. Personally, I am not so much interested in building friends (I’m maxed out on StumbleUpon), rather in sharing stumble juice, the digg effect, sphinning, etc. Operating just below the radar has its advantages, namely you won’t get every Tom, Dick, and Harriet begging for your help.

Social networking is constantly changing so keep up with the changes and you’ll be fine. If too much of your time is being consumed “building relationships online” then maybe it is time to shut down the computer and go out and seek some human contact.