The Clean and Green Club

Shel Horowitz’s Monthly Frugal Marketing Tip, April, 2008
Vol. 11, #11

In order to get much out of a networking site, you need to network. There are dozens of ways to do this, and here are a few.

1. Friending. Most social networks offer the option of sending a friend or business connection request–called “friending.” Start with friends, colleagues, relatives, people in nearby locations, and see where it leads. The cool thing is that when you “friend” someone, and they accept, you get to look over their friends and friend any that look interesting. Since I travel in marketing circles, I often find very good connections (industry leaders, gurus and such) within the friend networks of those who reach out to me. Almost as cool: every time you post something to your profile, all your connections get a notice about it. Note: You will get friend requests too. I say yes to most of mine if I can see some common interests–or if they respond appropriately to a note I send saying I don’t recognize them, how do we know each other or if we don’t, what led them to friend me?

2. Public messaging. One tip I picked up from Facebook guru Mari Smith: the social networks offer private and public message options. If you’re welcoming someone to the network or thanking that person for a friend invite, do it in the public comment space (like the profile or the wall) rather than in a private message. I usually include *one* link at the end of my post.

3. Interest groups. This is the 800-pound gorilla of successful social networking, and so far, relatively few people are taking advantage. Find groups that are relevant to your interests, your geography/history (e.g., your city, the schools you attended) and/or your business, and participate actively on a few of them (don’t forget that link at the end).

4. Requests for help. Ask questions about resources, tactics, suppliers. Answer questions in your field of interest. (LinkedIn is really nice for that).

P.S. If you’d like to friend me, here are my most active profiles.
Plaxo: https://pulse.plaxo.com/pulse/profile/show/128849525442/
Facebook shortcut: https://profile.to/shelhorowitz
LinkedIn: https://snipurl.com/1w1s3
CollectiveX: https://www.collectivex.com/network/show_profile/54661

If you include a message that you subscribe to my newsletter, I’ll accept your request.

Correction: The Facebook group for reporter queries got too big for Facebook’s 1200-member limit. It now has its own website, and you can sign up to receive queries at https://helpareporter.com/

Note: Do NOT abuse this list. Only respond appropriately, and only to appropriate queries, or you’ll spoil it for everyone. You don’t want to get journalists mad at you, and nor do you want to get on the bad side of either Peter or me.

Next month: Other Web 2.0 sites