Marketing Strategy

Monday, November 9, 2009

A little facebook etiquette

Since the unspoken rules of many social-networking sites evolve daily, it’s all too easy to commit online gaffes and sabotage your goals - whatever they may be.

Check out this video from the Today Show...



Here are six common online missteps to avoid.

1. Don’t be boorish
Few people would walk into a professional meeting and immediately "ask for the order", but many seasoned professionals commit the online version of this faux pas regularly. No matter how well you know contacts, offer some praise or acknowledgment or, even better, some well-thought-out help or advice with no strings attached. Then, and only then, should you ask for whatever it is you'd like.

2. Don’t be too stiff
While you don’t want to share too much, leaving all personal information out of your profiles to protect your privacy can put you in the same league as colleagues who show up for casual Friday in a business suit. A few well-chosen items about your interests or charitable activities can make it easier for other like-minded folks on a site to strike up a conversation.

Here's an an example of how that hiring companies may use social media. MediaG in Troy, Mich., routinely researches potential hires on social-networking sites to figure out what type of projects would be a good fit for them. If he found from a person’s Facebook page that a candidate was really interested in music, for example, he might try to see if he could have them work with music-industry clients. The bottom line is that hiring companies want to get to know candidates before they make hiring decisions: “What are the things that get them really excited? When we can dovetail, that makes them much happier.”

3. Don’t remain invisible
Put up a photo, even if you don't feel you look that great. (And I certainly don't feel I'm that photogenic.) It makes the process a little more human and warm. And if someone is going to discriminate against you because of how you look, you probably don’t want to work with them anyway.

4. Don’t market yourself on somebody else's Facebook page
“Some people really cross the line,” says Matthew Fraser, a senior research fellow at INSEAD and co-author of Throwing Sheep in the Boardroom: How Online Social Networking Will Transform Your Life, Work, and World. “As soon as you accept an offer to be their friend, they’ll write a note on your wall: ‘I’m Bill Jones. I’m a life coach. I help people solve their problems.’ You realize someone is using your personal space as a billboard for their business, and it’s irritating.”

5. Understand who you are "friending"
I get a lot of people poking me on Facebook and sending me goofy stuff. But if I’m working on building a business relationship with them, I’m sometimes uncomfortable with what they're sending. I'll most likely ignore the request and hope that doesn't interfere with the relationship I hope to build. Privately, depending on what's being sent to me, I may change my perception of that "friend". I think it’s better to just stick to direct messages on Facebook with your professional contacts.

6. Don’t let your networking end online
Many people rack up new connections on sites like LinkedIn without ever solidifying the relationships they’ve started there. Try to set up an in-person meeting when you can, or perhaps even arrange a “virtual coffee,” where you both chat by phone over a cup of coffee at your desks. Once you’re in a real relationship with someone, you find out who they are and how they’re doing. And when you help them, they’ll try to help you back.

Hope this helps. What do you think?

Best to you,

Jim Herrera

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