Facebook and Twitter Basics: Newbie Social Networking skills

Now I get it!

I went to Matt Bacak’s Marketing Madness #16 in Atlanta, Georgia this weekend.

Now, I am listening to Adam Urbanski, Mari Smith and Carrie Wilkerson on a phone call as I started to write this blog post.

I get some very basic things that I did not get before. I now get the big picture. That is why it is so important to go to such events. You get to see yourself as part of the marketplace and share ideas. I only met one person that I would consider a competitor and she is an awesome lady that I learnt a lot from. So, no threat there in any way shape or form. Also, she learnt a lot from me.

I get that I am an Internet marketer because I have a website and I am trying to sell my goods and services online. I have met so many other people online that do not get this very key point. My online relationships are as sacred as my offline relationships.

You maximize social networking like Twitter and Facebook by approaching it this way:

1.  You have entered into the room at a cocktail party (Twitter and Facebook);

2.  You say hello to others (add or invite followers),

3.  Read their business card (click on their website on twitter and see what they are about; read their bio on Facebook and be interested in them)

4.  Notice the few that you are interested in taking your knowledge of them to the next level (have a conversation with them)

5.  Maintain a relationship with them (keep exchanging notes on Facebook and Twitter – respond to them.

6.  Be interested and be interesting (share information and goodies with them.)

7.  Appreciate your sacred relationship with them (do not pimp followers out or ignore them or take them for granted in any way);

8.  Don’t just walk up to someone at a party and ask them for a job (do not sell something to them immediately. Give something first and infuse your communication with a lot of good vibes, quotes, interesting things you are doing. Let your sales tweets or updates on Facebook be one out of ten as a good rule of thumb.)

9.  Introduce your newly met friends with one another so you can have more connections and interaction (connect your Facebook and Twitter accounts so that you are consistent and you save time).

10. Be polite and say hello and goodnight to those at the cocktail party (say good morning and good night on Twitter and Facebook and tell us what is going on in your life. It makes you more human.

11.  Take your conversation to the next level. Plan to see each other again. (Connect in real life with some of your connections on Facebook and Twitter by going to Tweetups and Meet ups. Better yet, make one happen.)

12.  Celebrate your new friends lives with them. Make a note of people’s birthdays and wish them “Happy Birthday.” (Facebook will tell you your friend’s birthdays. Do not miss out on that. Be sure to wish them blessings on those special days.)

Enjoy your new found relationships. They are sacred.

Also, you can follow me:

Twitter: CoachIyabo

Facebook: Iyabo Asani

I look forward to connecting with you.

Authentic Internet Social Netorking

Writing the first post on my blog and reading the subsequent comments was an eye opening experience. First of all, writing the post made me see my own patterns of behavior with social networking.

Now that I look back at my social networking experiences, I realize that I got on Twitter and got comfortable on Twitter and developed a more formal relationship with my other social networking sites. It is kind of like feeling “at home” on Twitter and when I go to other social networking platforms, I behave as if I am a stranger: “company.”

Since the post, I have gotten a lot of feedback from uber-Facebook users and now I have a greater appreciation for Facebook. I have gotten way past the first level of setting up a profile and getting folks to follow me.

The first step was getting my Twitter feed to talk to my Facebook feed.

The second was grouping my friends so that I can find that needle in the haystack of a particular comment or feed from a particular person.

The third was putting up a couple of videos.

The fourth was getting my blog post on Facebook.

All these additional steps have me “nesting” very nicely on Facebook.

Now, I am not feeling that when I get to Facebook, a bunch of stuff is just being thrown at me and I do not know how to sort through it all.

I am more deliberate about what I do now that the vibe that I get when I log on to Facebook, is that “This is familiar” and “I have mastery and I am here to connect and give value.”

Yeah, Facebook rocks and I am enjoying my time there!

Lesson learned:

As humans, we feel that we “belong” to those things that we know. That is our default definition of identity. It is based on what we know, not what we want.

So back to Facebook and Twitter.

If the culture of a particular social networking platform seems that it does not resonate with you, go back to your original intention for joining: Connecting, getting good information, meeting great people, connecting with like minded people and ultimately making great business connections.

Now, ask yourself the following questions:

Are you presenting yourself to this social networking platform or are you hiding and lurking?

When you present yourself, do you present from a place of value or are you feeling so insecure and wondering if anyone will like you?

A year from now, if someone were to look at your social networking footprint, what will it say about you?

Did you add value to others lives?

Did you express your authentic self and can that we consistently traced on your social networking footprint?

Twitter culture vs. Facebook culture

My husband has watched me loose my mind over Twitter over the last four months. I am always tweeting and reading my tweets: On my PC, on my new MacBook and even on my phone.

He just looks at me and shakes his head.

Well, today, he hears about how Dell announces computer deals on Twitter and has made over a million dollars through their Twitter announcements. Well, being the business mind that he is, Mr. Geek MBA now wants to know all about Twitter.

Imagine my gleeful delight that I discovered Twitter and have been using it religiously long before he even saw the value. Maybe I am a “unfolding geek” after all.

Twitter is a micro-blogging tool that allows you to type in messages that your followers see but you can only use 140 characters at a time.

He wanted to observe my Twitter stream and see what people were talking about. Now he is all excited and wants to get on the Twitter band wagon.

I tried to explain to him, rather disdainfully, that Twitter has a “culture” and he would be wise to observe it.

“You see,” I said, “Twitter people are very nice. They are helpful. They do not like just a strong sales pitch. They want to know who you are and what your message is. You can ask almost anything – people love to help on Twitter.”

“But isn’t that just like Facebook?” he asked with the unspoken look of “What is the big deal about Twitter?” written all over his face.

I sighed.

“No. Twitter and Facebook have distinctively different cultures. People on Facebook either want establish commerce connections to sell you something. (Including myself.) Or they want to connect with their friends.”

“But they are both Social Networking tools. They are pretty much the same.”

“Look, I have spent time on these sites. My ultimate goal is to make connections and expand my knowledge base and make great connections with authentic people. I have been able to do that more naturally on Twitter than Facebook.”

He got quiet and said, “You think they have different vibes, different cultures?”

“Of course. I never really thought about it. But Twitter is more my tribe, my culture. I prefer the vibes I get there.” I said.

Now this conversation taught me a couple of things that I had not paid attention to. I spend more time on Twitter because it feels good. It feels good because I have received a lot of love and support and made new friends on Twitter.

I also realize that as I created more resonance with Twitter, I default to Twitter. Now, being the out of the box thinker than I am, I realize that I want to challenge myself out of my comfort zone.I think I need to spend more time on Facebook and develop those relationships.

I read the feeds. I do connect with some people there. But not like I do at Twitter.

This is how we naturally gravitate to “our own.” Those that think like us, accept us, show us more love and we feel comfortable with that. Every group of people have their own culture. Seth Godin calls it “tribes.” I am not saying it is bad. But sometimes we get too comfortable in that culture or tribe.

What do you think? Does Facebook have a culture that differs from Twitter? Are you conscious of your tribes or the cultural groups that you belong to? Your company culture? Your church culture? Your Internet culture?

I would love to get your response on this.