From SEO Diva

One of the keys to being successful in the social media space is to get involved, extend yourself, and help others. ‘Social’ means relating to human society and its members. When you join one or more social media groups, be it Stumbleupon, Facebook, Squidoo, Zimbio, or Digg, to name just a few of the many that are online, you’re expected to give before you get.

Estaban Panzera (a rising star to keep your eye on) has a blog article with tips from Social Media Marketers, in which Neil Patel says,

“Participate in the community before you try and leverage it. It is one thing to read about a community and how it works, but you need to actually get involved in the community.”

In order to become an active member of a social media community, you must choose which of them you relate to and enjoy the most - no one can do it all. Once you’ve chosen one or two to contribute to, move forward by connecting with others within the community. Learn what motivates them, gets them interested and excited. Before you ask for Stumbles, comments, and clicks, start doing it for other members.

A blog article from July of ‘07 titled A Fable Do Follow and Comments (Real Estate Blog Lab) clarifies how being helpful toward others will benefit you:

“I’ve noticed on the blogs I author and track that posts without comments can move quickly to supplemental results and right out of the Google index. However, posts with comments tend to stay in the active index much longer and some almost indefinitely.”

“The second thing I’ve noticed that helps keep posts in the Google index are those containing links that are contextual to the post. It means you are giving away a link to another blog. It is often called link love because these contextual links are the best kind of back-link to get from another blog or website.”

In other words, share the love. Become successful by helping other succeed.

Note to Active Rainers: You, of all people, know this to be true, by your participation in Active Rain.

La Diva was indexed quickly this time around, and has had a few days to bask in the glow, so now I can include this post on Active Rain (for those of you who know me, yes, I'm experimenting again).