Backscratchin’: 10 Ways to Use Social Media to Promote Others
You’ve heard about the 90/10 rule, right (or the 80/20 rule or the 96/4 rule or one of its many incarnations)? In Jack Humphrey’s excellent blog post on Twitter networking, he lays out the 90/10 rule so:
90% of what you share on Twitter should be made up of personal insights and thoughts along with a heavy dose of helpful links, while 10% should be made up of messages that more directly benefit you.
By keeping your “buy from/benefit/look at me” Tweets to 10% or less of your total content, you don’t lower your skeeze factor…you create a great opportunity to use your social networks to promote others. and isn’t community what it’s all about? Here are 10 easy ways to share the social media love:
Join the conversation: Social media is no fun when it’s one-sided. So get active and start conversing with your community! Just engaging in conversation is a great way to attract attention to the worthy causes and businesses of others.
Retweet: RTs are a great way to point your network to people you know and love. So find relevant tweets, and pass them on!
Attribute: Nobody likes to pass on an insight or link, only to be disregarded when it comes to attribution. So take the time to link to the blog, Facebook page, or Twitter handle of the person or company you’re citing.
Interview: Ask your favorite colleagues and connections for a quick interview on your blog, website, or newsletter…and remember to include their contact information.
Guest spot: Better yet, invite contacts you love to guest blog, sharing their insights and expertise in their own words. They just might ask you to return the favor (and at the very least will drive traffic and goodwill your way).
Follow Friday: The #ff tag is de rigueur on Twitter these days, and for good reason: you can generate tons of goodwill by taking just a few seconds to identify follow-worthy friends to your Twitter tribe.
Recommend: Take a few moments to give a concise, eloquent LinkedIn recommendation or Yelp review to colleagues and service providers who have impressed you.
Star and save: Like someone’s blog post? Take a second and star it on Google Reader or save to your de.licio.us account. Your recommendation will doubtless drive a bit of traffic their way.
Share plans: Do you plan to attend a colleague’s new networking meeting or seminar? Publicize your plans to attend and share links where applicable. There’s nothing like showing up to an event your friends and connections have helped make successful.
Follow through: It can be tempting to treat backscratching and cross-promotion as a short-term gig. But remember…consistency is the enemy of mediocrity. Follow through on your commitments and consistently promote others. You’ll get a great feeling in addition to those elusive brownie points.
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[...] Hyperhelpful: As websites cut the b.s. and pare down the heavy Flash and SEOverload for more nimble, flexible content management and simpler messaging, we’re encouraged to see more focus (and buzz) about helping others. More and more, the businesses who catch our limited attention and keep it are ones that have honed in on the ways in which they serve their customer bases. When you get away from service, you get away from your voice and your value…and even worse, you risk alienating your base. Here’s a great article on how the helpful effect actually boosts credibility in the social media sphere (via today’s excellent SmartBrief on Social Media, one of the must-reads in my crowded inbox). Want some ideas on how to leverage social media and Web tools to the advantage of all? We’ve got your back. [...]