Many of our blogs this month have focused on how to improve your social networking. What to do with your social networking and where you should be participating in social networking. I thought I would close off the month with one last piece of evidence of the importance, significance and popularity of social networking. Social Networking is up 83% in 2009 for the U.S. Neilsen Online tracked the usage of various social networking sites, month over month. As of April 2009 they have seen a significant increase in social networking usage.
Their research is based on the amount of time spent on social networking sites. Of interest is the rise of Facebook, decline in Myspace.com and growth of Twitter.
I read a great article on the “Five reasons why your social networking isn’t working” and thought that the title sounded harsh. So instead I am going to talk about these same five points in a more positive light. Here are the 5 tricks to improving your social networking.
Have something interesting to say:This isn’t about creating everything from scratch, but it is about being able to offer more than rehashed content and links to your network. This doesn’t help you grow, nor does it help anyone else grow. True networking works because you bring a distinct flavor or brand to the party. With all the social networking opportunities and fellow networkers competing for my time – how are you going to capture my attention so that I want to connect with you on a regular basis.
Make the message about who you are clear: Take the time to develop a social presence just like you would take the time to make sure that your physical presence commands a certain level of attention in a live networking event. In the beginning it may be a little sloppy (more…)
Recently I helped a couple of Enterprise Network Members get their Fan Pages on Facebook going, then John Sable sent me a link to this great blog about the advice that Facebook gave him to build a successful fan page.
Now the extent of my expertise pretty much stops at how to rss feed your blog to your Fan Page, which is why this article is a great learning tool. Facebook directed Keith Ferrazzi to Michael Phelps’ page as a great example of a strong Fan Page- some of his posts have 4,000+ people who “Like This” and 750+ Comments for each post- yeah, I wish! But besides the fact that Michael Phelps is likely to crush us all, there is some great advice for businesses using Facebook Fan Pages.
Build the conversation first; sell second or third. (more…)
A couple of weeks ago NAR announced a second month of increases in existing home sales. Last week we posted a video of Jim Cramer calling the housing bottom. This week the paper is abuzz about the possibility of the home buyer tax credit to be increased and expanded. It looks like the housing market might be making a comeback. What caught my eye is the proposal for the tax credit to extend to all home buyers, hopefully attracting those looking to “trade-up”.
New proposed changes to the current $8,000 tax credit to first-time home buyers. (more…)
I have been following this great blog by Keith Ferrazzi and wanted to share a couple great posts that I think we all can apply to our social networking strategy. Think about the current strategy that you are employing now, automatic blog feeds, status update, twittering. Then- read below and see if you need to adjust your strategy, I am guessing you will learn at least 1 new trick from these rules.
Top 3 Rules for Social Media Marketers
Have a username that represents your brand. No matter what social networking site your brokerage is using make sure your user name, fan page name, twitter name is related to your brand, that way you are easier to find on all these sites.
