Netiquette and Social Networking

By
Darren Olander

Netiquette is the acceptable behavior within a social marketing
(Web 2.0) or social networking atmosphere. Failure to recognize
these unspoken rules could mean little or no marketing results, or
even worse, a disastrous effect on your image.

It is actually quite common for people to misuse social networks,
and thus, receive no real benefit from them. In fact, more than
anything among professional social networks people naturally have the wrong idea, and the few that do know what they are doing are experiencing great results.

What is the common problem? The problem is that marketers view
these sites only as a means of advertising and sponsoring people
into their businesses. Don't get me wrong though, if used properly
these sites will increase your businesses and income, but with a
much stronger foundation.

First let's go over what not to do through social marketing. As a
side note, social marketing can mean any Web 2.0 social
book-marking, content sharing, or social networking site. You
should not blatantly shove your product or opportunity. Instead,
you should be attracting people to you by offering value and
information to other users. If you are becoming friends with users
just to send them advertisements without attempting to build a
personal relationship then you are misusing the site. In most cases it is also true that these users will not be responsive at all to your message and will just block or report you. However, once you have built a relationship with your contacts it is ok to send them an announcement of your product or opportunity along with an informative message on how it will help them. You should limit how often you do this, do not promote your stuff to them every day, try to keep it to once per week. Instead, bring them value 90% of the time and 10% promoting yourself or business. You will find that you are attracting more and more people to you instead of chasing people.

Another pitfall that some people fall into is conflicting with others within the social network. Know the difference between discussion and attacking. If you have a different view than someone else it is ok to voice your opinion but make sure to use facts and keep a constructive atmosphere.

To your success,

Col. Laird John B. Cutty Kt
*johnbcuttykt*




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