While social marketing does open up worlds of opportunity, it also opens you up to more danger. Danger, in this sense, refers to business danger as well as to personal danger. There are precautions that you must heed.

First, just as it has always been, be very careful about the personal information that you share. First, you could be exposing yourself to identity theft. Second, you could be opening yourself up to very real physical danger. Follow the rules that you have always followed in regards to sharing your personal information.

You will be judged. You will be judged on everything that you say and do online. Never doubt this. In the online business world, there is no such thing as anonymity. If you don’t take care, what you say and do can literally ruin you professionally.

You’ve probably heard that employers are now doing online searches of potential employees, and that many people lose out on jobs simply because of their online activities. This is also true from online business people.

These days, people do know how to use the Internet to find information about people, and it shouldn’t surprise you if people that you are interacting with online start searching to not only ensure that you are a real person, but also to see if there is anything bad about you on the Internet. Watch your p’s and q’s!

Be honest. Once you’ve lied on one social networking site, you will have to continue that same lie on other social networking sites. Lies always grow – and in most cases, they are uncovered eventually.

Strive to fit in – without losing your dignity. MySpace is targeted to a younger crowd. You’ve probably seen profiles there with half dressed women, raunchy songs, and lots of cursing. While you want to fit in, you don’t have to go to these extremes to do so. Just use a really cool lay-out for your profile page, add some music that will appeal to your target market (it doesn’t have to be raunchy), and use a picture. Just make sure that the picture that you use is really you.

While standing out from the crowd is a good thing in other places, it is good to kind of go with the flow on the social networking scene. Remember that you want to be different, in order to gain more attention, but fit in at the same time, to avoid being avoided. It really is a fine line to walk!

Here are some social marketing tips to help you succeed:

1.      Don’t just participate at one social networking site. You need to be in as many places as possible for the best results.

2.      Don’t expect to create a profile page and have droves of people flocking to it. That won’t happen. You have to go out and meet people, and invite them to your profile. This is done by visiting other people’s profile pages first.

3.      Take care when creating your profiles. Just because it isn’t your website, and it isn’t the main page that you want people to visit, it is an important part of your overall marketing strategy – take the time to make it look good, and keep it well maintained.

4.      Consider sites that rank well in the search engines. That is where you want to be. For instance, Wikipedia at http://www.wikipedia.com is widely used by many, and regular people are able to add to the Wikipedia – all you have to do is register. Do so, and start adding to it!

5.      In the world of social networking, you are not a salesperson. You are just a person, just like other people. Make sure that everything you do comes across as such, and you will have better results.

6.      Be everybody’s friend. Don’t avoid people just because they are unpopular. Those people may become your best customers – and possibly even your best friends. Only avoid people if you feel that they are a danger to you, such as a stalker.

7.      Remember the golden rule: Treat others as you would like them to treat you. Also remember that everyone is watching.

8.      Realize that social marketing takes a great deal of time. As much as you do need to be everywhere, it’s hard to be everywhere by yourself. Consider outsourcing some of your social networking; just be sure to keep an eye on how those outsourcers are portraying you.