It’s actually a lot easier to be popular in Social Networking than you think. However, it does take a little more effort. You see, in social networking, especially in discussion groups and forums, along with blogs and other types of sites – you have two types of people – leaders and followers.

The real secret is that it’s actually very easy to become a leader because of the 90:10 rule. You see, 90% of the content… the posts, the comments, the content… is created by 10% of the people. Most people are real content to be followers and readers of topics, rather than create them.
 
You can join a group inside of Facebook, with over 1,000 members, yet there will only be 20 or 30 people actually having any conversations or contributing any content. And those 20 or 30, regardless of their background or experience, by default become the leaders.
 
So the real key here is that you simply have to be WILLING to take the time and put in a little bit of effort while you’re out there. Did you read a good blog post? Take the time to leave a comment! Did you just join a discussion group? Read some of the posts and leave some of your own.
 
Let me be clear however, that you WILL NOT become a leader if you just randomly show up, leave some spam comment or post, and never return. People will not click on your links or care about what you have to say.
 
But if you become a REGULAR and ACTIVE participant in the social communities, you will become a leader quite easily. Not only will you become more popular in those areas, but people will take action on your suggestions. If you’re one of the leaders of a conversation, and you suggest people visit a particular web page, or look at a particular product… they are much more likely to do it.
 
Always make sure to have as part of your signature, links to your Twitter profile, or your Facebook profile, or Blog. You’re trying to encourage more contact and connection with people.
 
You don’t need to be forceful about it, people will get the idea. As they read your content and like what you have to say, and they see a simple “Follow me on Twitter” link under your post… don’t worry, they’ll know what to do.
 
So to summarize, first find the discussion groups, forums, blogs, and other areas that interest you – places that you can add some value to those communities.

Second, read some of the conversations that are already going on, and identify who some of the default leaders are. 

Third, begin responding to discussions, and posting content of your own. 

Fourth, always have a signature at the bottom of your posts that encourages friendships on other social networks. 

And finally, make sure to return to these areas again and again and continue to add value to the communities you’ve joined.

You’ll almost sure to be a popular leader in no time!

John Child is a professional speaker, author and trainer. He has conducted Internet Marketing seminars around the country and other parts of the world for companies like Microsoft, Success Magazine, eBay, and many others. He is the author of books and training programs such as “Selling the Web”, “Virtual Downlines”, and “The Strategic Web”.

His latest training specializes in teaching Network Marketing and MLM professionals how to use Social Networking to build their business online. You can learn more and read John’s blog at http://www.mysocialnetworkmarketing.com

This article is Copyrighted by The BrainChild Company. You are free to use and repost the content of this article as long as you use the entire author bio as posted above.

Author: John Child
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Digsby is an easy to use application that lets you manage IM,email and social networks from one place. With Digsby you can:

• Chat with friends on AIM,Yahoo,MSN, ICQ, Jabba, Google Talk and Facebook.
• Manage multiple conversations with tabbed conversation windows.
• Manage your social networking accounts and receive alerts and newsfeeds without opening your browser
• Receive alerts of events such as new friend requests, messages, group invites, etc.
• Set your Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn status right from Digsby.
• Add and manage any email address from Gmail,Yahoo Mail, Hotmail,AOL/AIM Mail or any POP3 or IMAP based email
• Send emails to your friends right from your IM window
• Send SMS messages right from the IM window
• Transfer files to your friends using IM

Digsby also comes with widgets which you can add to your blog, website or social networking profile. The blog widget can be used to chat with your visitors right from Digsby. When it comes to personalization, you have the choice of multiple skins to customize the way Digsby looks. You can change the way your conversations look with themes which range from AIM look alike windows to 3D conversation bubbles.

Digsby makes instant messaging, email and social networking easier by integrating all of it into one.With all these cool features, you may assume Digsby is a software you have to spend money to obtain. On contrary, Digsby is absolutely free. You can download Digsby from the link below. Download Digsby now and change your IM and social networking experience.

Find out more about Digsby [http://pcblogger.net/articles/38-software/97-digsby-social-networking-im.html]

Author: Sam Hagin
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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In preparation for a keynote speech that I am giving next month, I took some time to look at a variety of social media consolidation and notification services. You might find one or more of them useful for your purposes, even for those of you that still don’t poke, tweet, or know what RSS really stands for.
 
First is Ping.fm that can post to multiple social networks at once. You sign up, give them your login credentials at Facebook, Plaxo, LinkedIn, Flickr, Twitter, WordPress and many others. When you want to update your social networking universe, you send one message to your Ping.fm account via an email, a text message, or a Web form, and it goes out to everyone.  This can be a big time-saver if you post across different networks and don’t mind sending the same information to all these places. I haven’t used it as much because I tend to post different things to LinkedIn vs. Facebook, as an example.
 
Friendfeed.com works in reverse. It consolidates your entire social network “feeds” together in one place, so that your network can follow your posts across your blogs, your social networks, and other sites. You set everything up using the various RSS feeds that these services create, which is pretty clever when you think about it. The downside to Friendfeed is that your adoring public has to sign up separately for this service, which means Yet Another Social Network Request to fulfill. Still, I have been surprised at how many people are following me in this fashion, and how many of them are the A-list blogger types that you want to engage and be at top of mind in any event. Clearly, this is one service to pay attention to if you are trying to get the word out about your products and services.
 
Twitter is certainly all the rage these days, and a number of services have taken some of the best notification-style pieces out of it in interesting ways. If you like the way Twitter works but don’t want to share your updates with the public, such as just with your work colleagues or a special task force, then take a look at Presentlyapp.com. You can use the free Web service or pay to install it behind your own firewall for the ultimate private group. They even make use of the same kind of scrolling interface that Twitter has made popular.
 
Another take on private discussion forums is from Yammer.com. They cost $1 a person a month. Think of this as one of those old-school BBS’s that has been updated for the Gen-T and Web 2.0. I think if you want something quick and dirty and need to have a group discussion to knit your project team together, this is worth a closer look.
 
Buzzable.com can be used to create groups of Twitter users if you want to send out notifications to all of your partners or customers at once. LinkedIn is finally implementing this feature on their groups, but that is probably too much work to get the initial group assembled, given their still draconian triple opt-in rules.
 
So these are just five services that I have found that have something going for them. Whether any of these companies will be around next year is hard to tell. And I can guarantee that none of them have received any TARP funds from the US Government. If you have other suggestions, email them or post a comment on my strominator.com blog. 

David Strom is a noted speaker, author, podcaster and consultant who has written two books and thousands of magazine articles for dozens of IT publications such as Computerworld, eWeek, Baseline Magazine, Information Week, PC World and Information Security magazine. His blog can be found at http://strominator.com, and he can be reached at david@strom.com.

Author: David Strom
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Social Networking is an every day phenomenon. People are participating on social networking web sites by the millions and interacting with like minded people, strangers, friends, colleagues, past friends and just about anyone. These specific sites can bring you a huge influx of people whom you can discuss and share information and ask questions without being intimidated on either side. It has already created wonders for millions of users and will surely create one for you.

With the economy at its lowest, we’re all looking for new ideas to stay afloat and think of innovative ways to survive in this time. It is no time to be alone being tucked away in your bed with negative thoughts! Chase away those negative thoughts and get into the era of social networking and reap the many benefits.

Here are the hottest sites to be on right away. It does not cost a dime to be on them but can bring in great rewards.

Twitter: Twitter.com. It is one of the most simple ways to network with 140 character postings and easy to learn. Within no time, you will be on your way to twitting.

WordPress: WordPress.com. Here’s another web 2.0 technology you will love to be on. You can create your id and password and start posting your blogs about your passion and share information with others who would be interested in and can benefit from. A blog is like a web site where articles or posts are listed by individuals. It is a kind of diary, journal, magazine or independent journalism. There are millions of active blogs on the internet today written by experts on various topics.

Facebook: Facebook.com. This site features depend on the idea that there are people in your life that you like to stay in touch with, keep up with and generally connect with. Then they become your face book friends. You can easily find people. It is quite easy to create your presence and you can join several existing groups or create your own from high schools, college or work.

Linkedin: Linkedin.com. This site is more for professionals and has great reputation too. Once again it is easy to get started and you can provide good references for your colleagues and help them out and ask for help in return.

Self growth: selfgrowth.com. This site is perfect for articles and presenting yourself as an expert for your own subject matter. You can link your web site to it and submit your articles and network with people.

Whether your a newbie to Internet marketing or have been making money for years, there are always new updated techniques to creating an online business being discovered every day. Learn to make money with Alka Dalal, an expert internet marketer and public speaker for over 25 years.

Author: Alka Dalal
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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“Are you on Facebook? What’s your Twitter handle? Send me the link to your LinkedIn profile.”

Thousands of social networking accounts are created every month. And a large percentage of those new networkers become easily frustrated because it doesn’t seem to be working for them. It’s what I like to call the “Field of Dreams” approach: if you build a profile, thousands of people will find you, become your friend, buying your products, offering you jobs, and anything else you need to become wildly successful.

If you’ve been toying around with social networking for a few months you know it’s not that simple. Before you write off social networking as a waste of time though, consider these five reasons that social networking isn’t working for you:

1. You don’t have anything interesting to say: In this day and age things move fast. And information travels at light speed thanks to web and mobile technology. 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.

    

2. You don’t have a clear message about who you are: One thing that interests me when I search for people to connect with is that they are clear about who they are, what they love, and what they do. 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 – that’s to be expected when you are just learning. But you have to learn fast and make the transition from sloppy messaging and style to confident, savvy, smartly branded communication.

    

3. You don’t have a fan club: People talk about people who are talked about. So how do you get people to talk about you? Start with a small group of friends or colleagues and become fans of each other. To do that, it means you have to invite your friends and colleagues to the party. Not only will you build up your list of contacts, but you get insight into who has connections to someone you may need to be introduced to.  Do some research, checking out profiles and connections of people that interest you and extend them an invitation to join your network. I guarantee that the person on Facebook with 1,000+ friends didn’t get those friends by sitting around waiting for someone to discover their profile. Start with people who are in the same industry as you, or people who have joined the same sub-group that you have.

    

4. You’re all take and no give: You all about your product, your service, or your group, and not enough about people and genuine connections. You are so focused on your product or service you forget that the real reason people are looking for you is because they have a problem. Find out what it is. And if you don’t have an answer, refer them to someone or somewhere that they can get help from. If you can’t refer the people in your network to resources and information, then you need to step up your game so you have something to contribute. The social networking relationships that I invest the most in are those that help me solve my problems whether or not they can sell me something. I avoid like the plague, the social networker who is out for the hard-sell from the gate because they need to make money.

    

5. You’re looking for 15 minutes instead of 60 minutes: Despite the apparent fascination with having high numbers of connections, social networking is not merely a popularity contest. At first glance it might seem that way. Take Twitter for example, everyone wants to connect with Guy Kawasaki or Chris Brogan, or some other social media thought leader with thousands of followers. But consider how they got they got the bulk of those followers: they offer valuable insight and information. At the end of the day your network is really about who you’ve helped and who has helped you, not just who has linked to you. If all you are concerned about is getting 1,000 friends or followers you miss the point. You are looking for 15 minutes of fame, and eventually you’ll get it. But then it will be over and you still won’t have the critical connections you need to make things happen. Want you want is the 60 minutes interview: There’s a different level of depth and buzz associated with 60 minutes and that’s where you want to be. Remember – at some point what’s hot has to cool down. The trick is to create cycles of 60 minute waves that keep you at the forefront, rather than 15 minute peaks that are over in a flash.

So, before you write off social networking, try approaching it with the five considerations listed in this article. And keep in mind that nothing happens over night. Just like it takes time to build rapport in face-to face networking, it’ takes time, and sometimes more time to build a level of trust and genuine interest in someone. If you are looking to build a network without investing the time to really connect with people then social networking probably isn’t for you. However, if you are ready to build relationships and willing to do the work, this list should help jumpstart creating a valuable network.

Tai Goodwin, the Career Makeover Coach is a career coach, speaker and consultant to solopreneurs making the transition from employee to entrepreneur. She has successfully reinvented her career three times, starting out as an elementary school teacher and eventually becoming an elearning specialist for a global IT firm before pursuing her passion to coach and write. Committed to helping women create the life they want by finding and pursuing their professional passion, Tai is on a mission to spread the message that ambition is not a four letter word.

To see more articles and get free coaching tools visit http://www.careermakeovercoach.com

Author: Tai Goodwin
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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