So how do you find friends and followers? Below are 3 general tips that will work on all social networking platforms. (In other articles I’ll talk about strategies on specific sites.)

1. Find people yourself.
Yes this is as simple as it sounds. Go out and friend or follow people. Chances are they’ll eventually follow or accept your friend request, and then you’ll start building your list.

The downside is it’s time consuming for you. It takes more time than you might expect to search and check out profiles. (And you don’t want to do this willy nilly. You do want to make sure the people you’re friending or following are in your target market or you’re wasting your time and energy.)

Plus some sites, such as Facebook, have limits on how many people you can friend in one day, which makes the process take even longer.

So yes, this is a good strategy to get the momentum going, but I wouldn’t rely on it as a long-term strategy.

A much better way is to get your target market to come to you. How do you do that? Well…

2. Be visible.
In other words, whatever social networking site you’re focusing on, log on and do stuff on it. Post updates, post comments, ask questions, tweet, etc. If people see you around, then they’ll start coming to you.

You can also use many of the automated tools to cross-feed the different social networking platforms into each other. So, for example, you can feed Twitter into Facebook, your blog into Facebook and Twitter, and Twitter and Facebook into your blog. All that cross-pollination means you don’t have to recreate the wheel — you can choose where you’re posting for maximum effect.

3. Be a friend.
What does it mean to be a friend? Well, friends help each other out, right? So, make sure you spend some of your time helping out your social networking friends. Maybe you promote one of your friends’ products or services or free teleclass. Maybe you give a testimonial. Maybe you answer a question or give some free advice with no strings attached. Maybe you provide really great content. Think about how you can help someone else and do it.

So, do these tips sound familiar? They should. They also work in the offline world. If you want friends in the real world, what do you do? You go out and meet people. You’re not going to make very many friends if you spend all your nights holed up in your house on your couch watching Law and Order reruns.

You make yourself visible in your community so people will see you and introduce themselves to you. And the more you do for other people, the more that goodwill will come back to you.

This is really important to keep in mind. Social networking is just like networking in the real world. Yes, it looks different online. Yes the tools you use is different. Yes the etiquette is different. But if you come from a place of truly trying to be a good social networking pal, then everything else will fall into place. If you come to social networking looking for a shortcut to building real relationships, then you’re probably going to be disappointed with the results.

Her questions about The Secret are so insightful! Thank you so much, Laurie, for this wonderful discussion about The Secret and the Law of Attraction.

If you’re curious, here are Laurie’s questions. Do any resonate with you?

• Is there really a convincing basis to this principle of visualizing what you want in order to get it?
• How much of what people receive after practicing these exercises do you think can be attributed to an outward attitude and appearance change that comes as a result from a change in their thought process?
• Does changing your perspective and thinking positively work?

Some parts of the book make Laurie think The Secret encourages materialism and shallowness: new cars and lots of money. She asked me to address these points:

• Have you ever seen this work as cut and dry as some might hope?
• Have you ever had moral conflicts with a client who wants things that you feel uncomfortable helping them to pursue ?

Finally, Laurie notes there has been criticism about the book. For example, critics say people who are sick may not seek medical help; or people who have something bad happen to them will believe they actually caused it! What would you answer to that?

If you’re ready to hear my responses, simply click on the arrow of the player below, or you can download the mp3 and save to your computer.

Enjoy!

Download

There’s a rotten little deal going around in which professional scammers ferret out personal contact information from the Who-is database and call unsuspecting domain owners to peddle their wares at take-total-advantage-of-you prices.

A client of mine had registered her domains, and in a few days received a phone call from someone who found her contact info on Who-is. This time period was just long enough for her to realize that setting up her own website was more frustrating than it appeared to be initially. The guy “John” was full of promises and wanted to “sell” her his website design deal, even offering to host her site for a mere $94 a month.

My heart sank to my knees as she was talking. I thought, “Oh, no! You didn’t!”

Thankfully, she said she’d think about it and hung up.

If you’ve just registered a domain, be aware that unless you bought the additional private domain registration, your personal contact information will be available for the world to see.
In some cases, there may actually be a reason not to want the private registration - and
that was the case with my client. Hers was a non-profit which she wanted to promote and for which she wanted to be contacted.

In general, you can stave off most of these vultures by purchasing a private registration when you buy your domain. It’s normally only a few dollars extra, and may well be worth the headache, even for experienced webmasters.

So just beware that some people may find your contact information online and try to offer you loads of “deals” - from hosting and design to SEO work - all at “break-into-your-wallet” prices. I’ve gotten emails from “companies” shortly after registering my domain, assuring me that they can drive tons of traffic to my new site, or rank me on Google’s first page, etc.

I make it a habit to ignore all calls and emails from folks trying to sell me things about which I did not inquire in any fashion.

Just wanted to let you know about this in case you haven’t had this experience - yet!
Since the cheapest domain registration may cost you a lot more in the long run, choosing a private domain registration can save you a headache and a half!

Want to avoid media mistakes with your publicity & book promotion?

Learn the publicity, TV, radio & media skills you need to be the media’s dream guest!

PUBLICITY TIPS:

The publicity special report includes a set of tried and true publicity tips to use while working with the media. You’ll learn 8 of the top pre-interview tips, on-camera or on-air tips, book promotion and publicity tips, media etiquette tips & lots more PR publicity pro tips to help position you as the media’s dream guest!

TIP #1 Don’t Try To Change The Segment Or Story Idea

During the pre-interview with the producer or journalist, please do not attempt to influence the producer or journalist to slant or change the original segment idea.

This is because the article, story or segment idea is most likely already set in stone by Managing Editors or Executive Producers and your media contact has very little flexibility.

Always give the media the info they are looking for first so they can complete their assignment otherwise, they might decide to move on to another expert. If you do a great job for them, that is, you are on target and on message without meandering off topic or discussing topics that fall outside the scope of the placement, they will use you again.

TIP #2 Never Cancel A Segment Or Appointment With The Media!

Once you represent that are able for the media opportunity, please do not change your mind because the producer or journalist moves immediately to finalize the media placement on their end.

If you pull out you upset the booking process you leave the producer or journalist in a tough spot. This business is built on trust so never do anything to jeopardize the trust the media has in you.

When you make a commitment, stick to it, even if something comes up that you feel is more important. Your word should be worth gold in this industry!

TIP #3 Prepare Talking Points For The Pre-Interview With The Journalist Or Producer

Prepare your talking points in advance of your pre-interview or interview with the media. This way, you will appear to have command over your area of expertise and knowledgeable about the issue under discussion. You will avoid stumbling for thoughts or concepts.

If the media doubts your ability or expertise in the pre-interview, they will not use you for the placement. They simply have no choice. Their job is to book top qualified experts and if you indicate you are not that, they have to move on. Everything you do is evaluated by the media with the thought in mind - is this book author or expert the perfect expert for the story or the segment?

You can make the media contact confident in choosing YOU if you are ready and prepared to discuss the topic. Create at least five discussion points on the topic before you speak to the producer or journalist.

TIP #4 Make Sure The Media Has Your FAST Contact Info!

Always provide the media with your contact info including your cell phone and fast contact info. As we mentioned, when the media moves, it moves fast. If you are actively seeking PR or are booked for a media opportunity already, keep yourself available and able to be reached immediately. If you give out your cell phone be sure it is working properly and also check your messages immediately so you don’t miss a thing.

TIP #5 Go Over The Spelling Of Your Name & Credentials With The Producer To Make Sure They Are Exactly Correct

You’ll want to make sure your media placement is excellent so take on the role of fact checker when it comes to making sure your name is spelled correctly, your credentials are exact and the name of your book or company is correct. Just ask the media to repeat the spelling back to you along with the name of the book.

It is also a great idea to email your media contacts your name, credentials and the name of your book so there is a reference if needed later. This way, the media can double check your info via email as well. It is always better to play it on the safe side when it comes to contact info and your identifying info that will be printed or shown on TV.

TIP #6 Do Not Ask The Producer For A Tape Of Your Segment AFTER It Airs

Most media outlets no longer offer to provide you with a tape of the segment so you will need to be sure that you record your segment on your own. Ask others to record the segment for you as well.

You can also try this. Ask the producer if you can bring in a blank VHS that they can pop into their recorder for you so you can leave with a copy. If the show is LIVE and you are going to the main location, rather than a satellite location, you might be able to work it this way.

However, if the producer says that they can’t do this for you remember its NO PROBLEM. Don’t worry, you can buy your segment from a professional recording company.

TIP #7 Don’t Over Promote Your Book During The TV Segment - Less Is More When Dealing With Book Promotion During A TV Segment

Seasoned experts and authors avoid sounding like an infomercial because they have learned and perhaps the hard way, that when you over promote your book in the segment you create lots of problems for yourself and for the publicity expert that booked you on the segment.

Instead, pack the segment with your best info! Don’t worry about the old “sell the sizzle and not the steak” strategy. When you give the show your best stuff they’ll notice and want to invite you back. Your audience will respond to you as well and your book will sell itself. This is because you are giving your audience what they want from the beginning - lots of great info. You are showcasing your talents and expertise and building lots of credibility with your audience. Credibility sells!

Showing the cover of the book on the screen is much more powerful than the author mentioning the book in the interview. So be sure to ask if they can show your book’s cover in the intro early in the booking process. This is not an unusual request and one worth making to ensure your book’s exposure.

TIP #8 However Mentioning Your Book In Radio Is OK But Not Too Much!

The radio host usually mentions the name of your book in the intro so be sure the producer has a copy of your book. Also, be sure to send a press release that includes a short intro for you as well as a longer intro that the host can use to introduce you and refer back to during the interview.

In radio there is no visual, so avoid saying “in my book” but instead sprinkle in the name of your book when appropriate. You can learn to create a visual segment using language that is, creating messages and conversations that encourage the listeners to create their own images in their own minds.

Media training will give you a significant advantage as you not only learn the skill set needed to be a great guest but you get to practice so you are comfortable referring to your book without it sounding like you are struggling to get it in the segment. Remember in radio, it is easy to switch to another station and if the audience gets even a little bored with you, then can easily switch to another station.

This totally flies in the face of the term, does it not? Didn’t I pretty much imply … if I didn’t outright state … in my post last week that relationship marketing is about relationships?

So why am I quoting Dunford?

Because she’s right.

When most people hear the word “relationship” they get a sort of vague, warm, touchy-feely concept of the word. They think of terms of “deep interpersonal connection.” And this might be a very good thing … if you’re thinking about a relationship with someone or something you care a lot about, like a friend, lover or pet. But not a company.

The word “relationship” means “connection or association.” Relationship marketing is about building that connection or association through marketing. And marketing’s purpose is to get people to to buy. So, without the marketing, there is no relationship marketing.

The difference between relationship marketing and other forms of marketing is that it seeks to develop a long-term business relationship with the client or customer. It’s goal is to not only get someone to buy something today, but to also come back and buy again, and again, and again.

So, the key to relationship marketing is …

Listening to your prospects and clients so you can understand what they want and then sell it to them. It is about creating a pleasant enough experience during that process that the individual wants to come back and do it again.

So, if your ezine is all content and no pitch, are you using relationship marketing?

I hope, after reading this, you said, “No.”

Further Reading: