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.

How I Found You Online

From time to time I am asked by visitors to this blog how I found them. Usually, their visit here is preceded by my visit over there. When asked I reply personally with the details, if known. Whatever other comments about their article or site they want from me I’ll share that information with them too.

Well, just how did I find you? Let me count some of the possible ways:

• Since making this blog more comment friendly and signing up with two “do follow” or “I follow” communities, I will often visit those bloggers who are part of these communities to see what they are all about. If there is something of interest to me, I will stop by, perhaps leave a comment which will link to this blog, or you may simply see my mugshot appear on your social network widget.
• When someone joins one of my MyBlogLog communities, I try to stop by their website or blog as soon as possible.
• I frequent Digital Point mostly to jabber (screen name: MattKNC) and I occasionally visit Sitepoint (screen name: thearticlewriter), especially when I have something to sell.
• I will read what many of my freelance writing contemporaries have to say on their blogs. When I discover someone new, I like to visit that blog too.
• When I use StumbleUpon (screen name: MattKeegan) I will stumble through a particular subject (such as internet tools) or I will stumble a friend’s pages. When I find something I like, I’ll stop in for a longer visit and leave a comment (or a thumb’s up) from time to time.
• I am fairly new to BUMPzee (screen name: MattK), my name is still with MySpace and Spicy pages, and I just this past week had my account approved for BlogCatalog (screen name: MattK).
• I plan on joining LinkedIn eventually, but I think I’ll sit Twitter out.

Oh, there are times when I randomly find someone’s site through Google search. Yes, despite my reliance on social networks these days, I still will use Google to help me find something online which may take me directly to your site.