Mama Taught You How To Use Social Media

You mom said it best

"You have 2 ears and 1 mouth.. use them in that proportion"

Ross Goldberg wrote that "the only thing that matters in social media is the first word social." He give some good advice for being social.

I'll add a bit by asking you -- Do you like it when someone is "socializing you"

Yes, be sociable. Just don't forget that Mom had the right ratio. If you really listen, and never force yourself on others, you'll be liked more and get more done.

Dale Carnegie taught in "How to Win Friend and Influence People" that the key to being social was to listen. Instead of hitting people over the head with your socialness, he suggested listening. In one story, he related how he quietly listened to a man for over an hour, paying attention and offering nothing more than a nod and agreement at times.

Later, the man was heard to say that Dale was the best conversationalist he had ever met.

Translating this to online technologies... You can't lurk (just read quietly). You have to do a nod from time to time. I suggest that you read blog posts and web sites with the idea that your acknowledgment and praise is the price you pay for reading.

Leaving a positive comment wherever appropriate is a great bargain. It let's the writer know you appreciate his work, it let's other readers know you are there and can build your reputation as someone who is up to date and expert on the subject.

Today I read Ross's post and wanted and thought "good job my friend." I'd usually post such a comment on his blog. Instead, I decided to tweet about it on Twitter so my followers could learn from Ross and write here to elaborate. I've placed a trackback (a link back the original post) to give some juice to the post.

When I link to Ross, people who read my post may hop over there, and the search engines all will follow the link and associate our posts for increase crediblity for both of us.

OK.. I've rambled a bit more than needed to say "good job Ross" .. I do hope you see that I was aiming to pass on some tricks of the trade.

Thanks for reading. Leave a comment or trackback so I know you've been here

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It's Potter Time.. More Book Marketing Strategies

If you've been following my blogs for long, you've likely seen this before.. my supposed obsession with Harry Potter.

It all started one Summer night in 2005 when I was hating Harry Potter because our book promotions always fell short of beating him.. even for a day. But I started noticing how hard Scholastic works at selling more and more Potter books, and decided that there might be something to learn from these guys.

So I attended a Harry Potter Launch Party and ended up writing a series of articles on what I learned on my Marketing Secrets of Harry Potter Blog

Tonight, I'm writing from a Borders book store. The party and the promotion is much bigger.. there seems to be not end to Potter