Social Media - The Dinner Party Approach to Getting Started

Getting involved in social media is like attending a dinner party.

First, find the people or groups discussion interesting topics related to your industry. Try to pick groups that are as specific to your areas of expertise as possible. For instance, rather than picking "marketing professionals" with 23000 members. Try to find a group of marketing professionals discussing topics you are not only interested in, but ones that you have insight into and that you can derive business from. My background is in b to b marketing, with a specific focus on printing, high tech, and marketing automation consulting. Therefore, my groups include business to business marketing groups around printing, high tech, marketing automation and the like. I listened in first, and only comment when I know I can add value and insight not already found in others comments. Opening your own blog (free) using a tool like Blogger (Google Product) or the like, will allow you to write articles on a particular subject and then drive people to your blog for more of your writings. We are all now publishers of content, so make it quick, interesting and if possible a little humorous. We all like to be entertained.

My blog can be found at http://jonward7.blogspot.com/ for examples. I try to only write articles on topics I'm either passionate about (personal, even), or know in-depth. And always, I keep to my personal brand as a marketing communications and branding expert.

You'll find when you make thoughtful postings, people will reach out to you and try to link to your content and/or follow you. Over time, you'll find that people will often just find you for help in your area of expertise...