How to be a virtual success

There are close to a billion people on Facebook. More than 50,000 people open a Twitter account daily, and YouTube is the second largest search engine, behind Google. There are over 200 million blogs and people are sharing images on Pinterest and Instagram at an unprecedented rate.

It’s safe to say that the people you meet are online. And more of them are jumping every day.
However, many etiquette errors are being made in the digital realm. The good news is that many of the same etiquette that apply in the real world also apply on the web.

For example, would you walk up to someone you don’t know at an event, hold your business card in their hand, and say, “You need my {insert name of product, service, or flavor of the month here}. Call me and I’ll give you a great deal.” However, this is exactly what many are doing on social media platforms every day.

Or what about the girl who tries too hard to dazzle everyone at the party and won’t stop talking about herself?

On social media, when all you do is talk to people or pass on information about your products and services, you are alienating others and ruining your chances of building long-term relationships.

As in everyday life, the people who are successful with social media are the ones who ask questions, encourage dialogue, and create meaningful relationships.

Here are five rules for the virtual path:

Be a good listener: When you start a conversation, how can you know what to talk about unless you listen first? Sites like Facebook and Twitter are not just broadcast media, they are listening networks. You’d be surprised how much you can learn about people just by asking a few questions and then listening. As in any good relationship, listening should always be at least 50% of your online communication process.

Be authentic: most people can smell a rat from a mile away. If you’re not being yourself, or worse, just copying what someone else is doing, it makes it hard for people to know and like you. If you’re too robotic, stifling, forced, or scripted in your social media interactions, you’ll have a hard time connecting. The truth is, we are attracted to people who can be open and honest, share their true selves, and admit their flaws.

Be Receptive: Here’s a little secret, both online and offline: everyone on this planet wants to be recognized and validated. When you respond and acknowledge others, you take the first step in building a relationship. When you share the content and ideas of others, you validate them and let them know that you are probably someone worth knowing.

Add value – When you provide valuable advice, information, and links to your social media, you demonstrate your expertise and credibility, and build your reputation as a resource. When you consistently deliver great content over time, you don’t need to advertise how great it is, because the community you’ve built will do that for you.

Engage: When you are truly engaged, you are genuinely interested in what others are saying. It means that you are active and present on the social networks you have chosen to create a profile. It means the lights are on and you’re home: you don’t leave your platforms for days and weeks. You present yourself

How are you showing yourself online?