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Cross Pollinating Your Social Networks

I'm involved in several different social networks: MySpace, Facebook, Plaxo Pulse, Fastpitch, Twitter, ecademy and LinkedIn (I'm sure I've forgotten a couple, but cut me some slack - I'm old). It probably seems a bit much. But I don't spend much time on most, choosing instead to focus on developing only one or two. I direct my energies to those networks that fit the target consumer I'm looking to do business with, using the others to drive traffic to my main social networks - LinkedIn and ecademy.

In the age of social network overkill, with 10's of thousands of social networks available to us,* there's no way to manage more than two or three effectively. Not if you want to keep your day job of listing and selling real estate. Which is why, even though I'm present on several social networks, I zero in on just a couple to build my business.

In connecting with social network members on other venues, I'm always promoting my LinkedIn or ecademy networks, Bee encouraging those members to connect with me on those networks. In addition, I'm promoting the groups (LinkedIn) and clubs (ecademy) that I belong to, as well as promoting the social network I've created on Ning - The Real Estate Network - in hopes of building connections and membership on those respective sites. In effect, I'm cross pollinating my networks.

In promoting these other network connections, I've made it as easy on myself as possible. I've created template messages (created in Word, to ensure proper spelling and grammar, allowing me to copy, paste and customize to large numbers) to send to those that I've connected with. I've included a sample of one that I use on ecademy below.**

Each of these messages references the other network that I belong to, along with the groups or clubs that I associate with. When asking for connections on my preferred networks, I'm finding a cross pollinization rate (additional connections) of about 25% - a substantial number of connections that I could've left "on the table" had I not asked. In addition, I get a fair number of people looking to join the groups or clubs that I'm part of. Not bad for just putting it out there.

So consider using this strategy if you're looking to grow your presence on MySpace, Facebook, etc. Cross pollinate your networks, and become a busy bee, without becoming too busy on the social networking scene.

*Doubt the numbers? Go to www.ning.com to see a listing of the social networks created just on that site alone.

**Thank you for your message and the opportunity to connect with you here on ecademy. I'm relatively new here, but I'm finding the power and the quality of this network to be very impressive.

As I learn my way around and work to become a better ecademy member, I'm visiting a number of profiles to gain an understanding of what to place in mine. I appreciate the chance to learn from your profile, and I'm always open to suggestions on how to improve mine. Please keep me in mind if you have specific ideas that may help.

I noticed that you have interest in real estate. If you're so inclined, I'd like to invite you to participate in The Real Estate Network club formed here on ecademy. Just click on this link to join. We'd love to have you.

In addition, there's a social networking site for real estate professionals that you might find interesting. The Real Estate Network is a site devoted to real estate professionals and those that have interest in the topic of real estate. It's free to join, and the site has great content and opportunities to connect with real estate professionals from around the world.

I'm also a member of LinkedIn, and invite you to connect with me through by quick link invitation - http://www.bradhanks.mylinkinvitation.com - if you're a member there as well. As I train people how to use LinkedIn effectively in their business, I can offer you tips or advice if you'd like to learn more. Please let me know how I can help. I'd be happy to share.

Thank you again for the opportunity to be a part of your network. I look forward to networking with you here. Take care, and stay connected!

Brad Hanks ~ Connecting People With Success ~

P.S. - You can also follow me on Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/bradhanks.

Posted by Brad Hanks on 09/03/2008 01:07 AM

Comments (22)

social networks, social media, growing your network

Post is included in group: Active Rain Newbies
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22 Comments on Cross Pollinating Your Social Networks

SEP

2008

Hi Brad, Great post...you pulled me over from twitter today...

I have looked at what you are speaking of here as "aiming to hit a fly with a thermonuclear bomb". I suppose it really is overkill... I got my start on two of the many Ning networks that I belong to. My purpose was then, as it is now, was to draw attention to my own website:

https://www.aquicknote.net/

and thus build my business. I started on Notary-specific networks but soon realized that while participation there was fun, it didn't do much to reach my target audience(s). I stumbled upon Active Rain based upon a forum conversation that mentioned it. I found almost instantly that participation on AR was a huge boost to my Google rating and that I was now circulating with folks who actually hire Notary Signing Agents. I now advertise on AR (in Orange County) as well. I'll let you know what comes of that...

I too twitter and invite followers... and have apparently "cross-pollinated" into a social butterfly... http://twitter.com/aquicknote

Now, back to work, where did I put that Napalm cannister?

"A Quick Note"

www.aquicknote.net

SEP

2008

Awesome post Brad! These are great tips. I especially like the one about using templates.

SEP

2008

Youre right Brad, it is getting a bit too much and very time consuming to manage a dozen or so business and social networks.

I have been wondering about the viability of keeping track of the multitude of social networks available to us today. I too am on several of the ones you mentioned but find there is no way to manage them all without staff. Thanks for the insight!

SEP

2008

Cat:

I've actually taken to hiring a virtual assistant to help on managing a couple of the networks I'm on. I've only recently gone that route because I'm actually seeing business develop from them. But I wouldn't recommend that tactic to others until they reach the point of actually seeing results.

Another recommendation I'm making to people in managing these networks is to spend the time up front (creating your profile, etc.), and then spend only a half-hour to hour total per day managing them. But managing these networks is more than just accepting invitations or inviting people to connect. It involves engaging others through discussions, Q&A and collaboration. (Engaging others does NOT include sending crunchy chocolate or hug requests to your network on Facebook!)

Finally, one of the best tools I've found in updating your status on multiple networks is www.ping.fm. This application enables you to post what you're doing on practically every platform you're on, thereby dispensing with the need to visit each netowrking site to update your status. A great timesaving tool for managing social networks.

OCT

2008

Brad,

Great content (which is key, by the way). I hear similar questions from REALTORS everyday regarding social networks, blogs, and managing it all. Thanks for sharing your insight and tips. Hope things are well in CO.

Hello Brad,

Thanks for sharing on your use of LinkedIn and a few other select sites. Like you I try to be limited in the number of these sites that I'm active with. I see that we are already linked on LI so, I'll check your other suggestions tomorrow. John Slocum

OCT

2008

Thanks for the suggestions, Brad. Great ideas. I've already linked linkedIn and facebook and am working on the others. And you are so right, they can be time consuming. /fblink.com/tlazz

DEC

Brad this is great info. I sent you an invite. Thanks!

DEC

my head is spinning....however, I am gonna visit this ecademy

DEC

I like this post. You do a great job of both giving us the advice and at the same time doing it yourself. Very clever. Color me impressed.

I like that idea, and it had never really crossed my mind. I could use a little cross-pollination to build up the networks that I truly am involved in. I've got this one bookmarked for future use.

You are absolutely right, there are TONS of social network sites, and it is difficult to keep up with all of them. Same as the concept of Real Estate lead generations, there are so many ideas to implement, it is best to focus on one or two of them and really master it rather than dabble in all of them.

JAN

It is so tough to keep up with and time is money, so choose well.

Who has time to be everywhere on the internet and sell real estate? Not me! Great post!

JAN

Oy Vey I am getting a headache. I have just gotten involved with Twitter and I am starting to feel so overwhelmed.

Gayle:

Twitter CAN be overwhelming. To reduce the overwhelm factor, download TweetDeck from www.tweetdeck.com. It's a free app for Twitter that organizes the Twitter stream into something much more manageable (and sane) than the Twitter interface. It's a free application that doesn't take up much room on your computer, and you'll be happy you started using it.

JAN

Brad, It should be good to do so since they run on popularity.

FEB

Brad, I'm going to use your tips as I'm having a hard time juggling all the networks I'm on. I also need to keep tabs on what results I'm getting.

JUN

Nice Post Brad...

Try amalgamating your posts and post from one source to all or most of your social networks. I use www.ping.fm

one post and ping blasts it to the S.N's you want.

JUN

Frank:

Ping.fm is a beautiful thing indeed. I've been using it for several months now to populate a variety of networks and blog sites, and am frequently encouraging REALTORS in my social media classes to use this type of tool to syndicate their content across multiple platforms. It's part of the time management component that I'm regularly preaching. Without tools such as http://ping.fm, we can get sucked into visiting so many sites and watching our time leak away.

Thanks for your comment, and continued success with your social networking!

NOV

Good post Brad. There just aren't enough hours in the day. So picking a couple of social sites to focus on makes sense.

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