Social Networking Etiquette for Online Entrepreneurs

  Written by Dali Burgado on Nov 6, 2008 8:58 pm

Read More: Marketing  |  Social Networking

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Knowing the rules of social networking etiquette is a must if your objective as an online entrepreneur is to attract business contacts, make connections, use your social networking time productively, and eventually make sales.

The key word is eventually.

The majority of online entrepreneurs and social networkers go for the pitch before they build a relationship.  A big no, no!  “Relationships before sales” is the motto.

Below are 10 Social Networking Etiquette tips that will allow you to build quality online relationships with ease.

1) Never start with a sales pitch - Social networking is all about building quality relationships with others in your niche and getting to know the person you befriend on a more professional and personal level. Nine times out of ten people will do business with those whom they know, like and trust. Build that trust before making any kind of pitch.

2) Let go of your ego - No matter how much you know, or who you know, never come across as being omniscient (all knowing).  Never ego trip.  No matter where you are on the "success ladder,” , each and every one of us can learn from each other regardless of our experience level or knowledge.  Keep a level head, open mind and open ears. Be humble, and think about how you can be of service to others. You'd be pleasantly surprised to see just how humble and approachable leaders at the top of your game/industry are.  Strive to serve and let the ego go.

3) Learn about the person you want to befriend - Check out the person's blog or website.  Don't go on a frantic friend adding frenzy.  Take the time to see who they are.  Read their "About" tab on their blog and see if they are the type of person you would like to connect with in the first place. Be genuine.  It's not all about the quantity of friends you add but the quality of the connections you do make.

4) Find Commonalities and Express them - While taking a look at the person's social networking profile find commonalities and express you also are interested in (i.e. writing web copy, Squidoo lenses, or search engine optimization).  This opens up the possibility for future collaboration (joint venture partnerships) or masterminding. You’d be surprised how easy it is to collaborate with other skilled online entrepreneurs if you come from the right frame of mind (coming from a place of service and humility).

5) Customize your friend invite and compliment - Write a friend invitation that demonstrates you've checked the person out and compliments them.  For instance:

• "Hey, Bob - Great blog.  I love your header and layout."
• "Hey Mary, Great landing (opt-in) page.  Did you do that yourself?"
• "John, You're a super skilled webmaster. I wish I had ½ the skills you have here."

Anything you can say to boost someone's confidence will give you social networking etiquette brownie points!  They will appreciate the compliment and will befriend you if only for that reason. In addition, when you go out of your way to learn about someone and dig a little deeper to let them know you’ve really checked them out, they will check you out! But, please be GENUINE. Most people can tell when you are being phony.

6) Congratulate - If you notice the person you've befriended has reached a recent achievement or goal congratulate them on their success.  Every one of us loves recognition for a job well done.  This is another great way to show them you care about their success.

7) Recommend Friends - Once you're friends with someone recommend that they follow (in the case of Twitter) or befriend others.  I like that Facebook has a feature where you can recommend friends to others pretty easily.  Connect others together.  That's what social networking is all about.

8) Edify Others Not Just Yourself - Promote others' blog posts, events, and offers.  This a simple "do unto others" principle.  The more you promote others the more you are in the position of serving others, and serving others is what sales is really about.  Others will take notice, thank you and want to promote what you are offering in return.  This is the Law of Reciprocity.

9) Follow them across several social networking platforms – Become fans of people. When you befriend others across social networks it shows them that you are interested in their work. Make sure you’ve personalized your invites before following them across several online social networks. If you find they have published quality blog posts, Digg, Stumble, or bookmark them. Share the information with your expanded network (i.e. shout it on Digg, send an update on ping.fm). They will take notice you are promoting them, and they will likely do the same for you (especially if your content is awesome).

10) Never see anyone in the same niche you are in as competition – We all attract and cater to different client bases. This goes for blog and social media consultants and/or online network marketers. By befriending your “competition” you can learn from each other and refer clients that are more aligned with the other person’s services or products. You are your only competition. Strive to become better than yourself every day, and you will attract so many new clients and business partners you won’t know what to do!

Happy Social Networking!

Partners in online productivity and success,

Dali Burgado

On a similar note, I came across an excellent post by Jacob Morgan on Chris Brogan's blog catch that on How to keep your conversations from turning into broadcasts.  Enjoy!

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