The Social Marketing Craze is on! If you are involved in internet marketing, you must have heard of at least one social marketing group, unless your ISP has been down for the last year. A social marketing group is THE place to go to network, make new friends, build relationships and THEN promote your web sites. Why do you promote your site as the last item? Because if you have not built a relationship with the people that you are promoting to, it is considered social marketing spam.
Everyone has heard of myspace and youtube, both of which are social marketing sites. Myspace started out with the younger generation, a place for them to hang out, and youtube is for videos. But since their success, social groups have begun popping out all over the web.
Some groups are free to sign up and network. Some have free and paid signups. I belong to a number of groups, and I have found that while they have similarities, they also have major differences.
The differences are caused by the person that started the group. Some leaders are looking to go in one direction, some in other directions. For instance there are shopping groups, ministry groups, fishing and sports groups. Not to be forgotten or left out, there are numerous groups that are internet marketing based.
So what should you do if you have not joined any yet? Go to your favorite search engine and look up social marketing groups, adding in the keyword for the type group you are looking for. Then go through the list and find one or more that sound interesting. The nice thing is, if you don't like one, you can opt out and join another.
I have met some awesome people in my groups, one even lives in the same town as I. And I have made some lasting friendships, which are worth their weight in gold. OH! And yes I have made a lot of business contacts, some I have helped and many that have helped me.
Remember, look for what you can do to help others, and the money will follow.
