Who wants to spend time and energy establishing a social media presence only to ruin it by committing social media faux pas?

Before engaging in any social media activity, be sure to conduct yourself like the decent person you are so that your efforts will be worthwhile. Social media is all about engaging and connecting with your target audience. Only through genuine engagement you will really experience the full potential of social media. By following the tips below you will not only make great connections but you will maintain or enhance the way others see you and keep your online reputation squeaky clean.

1. Don’t be overzealous to start sharing. Take a little time to familiarize yourself with the different social media sites, their rules and policies. Start sharing only when you feel you have familiarized yourself with these.

2. Don’t start without a plan and a clearly defined goal. Delay your social media initiatives until you truly grasp the concept of social media and you have a strategy for your product, service or brand. Put some thought into what you hope to achieve through social media and keep this question at the back of your mind to guide you through everything you do in the social media realm.

3. Don’t start if you cannot commit. Once you understand what social media is all about are you are ready to begin, be prepared to dedicate time to the process. You don’t want to start, develop a following and have your initiatives fall by the wayside because you don’t have the time to keep up with the continuous engagement process needed to succeed at social media.

4. Don’t be a phony. No one likes a phony and they are easier to spot than you may think. Don’t hide your real identity. Social media is all about engagement and relationship building. How many valuable relationships do you know that have been built by anonymity? Just be your nice, sharing, intelligent, thoughtful, charming self and you will be sure to achieve your objectives for engaging in social media.

5. Don’t spam. Now why would you want to engage in activity that is not only counterproductive but could get you banned or blocked from your friends or followers? Spam sucks. Remember, social media is all about engagement. Not annoying others. No one wants to read tweets or other content stuffed with keywords or receive some automated update every five minutes on your product or service. Engaging in excessive self-promotion can also cause your friends and followers to see you as being too spammy. Spamming is a sure-fire way to get blacklisted.

6. Don’t be a stalker! Yes, people do actually stalk others on Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites. I don’t believe that these people set out intending to stalk other it’s just that they may be a bit sensitive or easily offended. So, if you invited someone to become your buddy and they declined the invitation, just let it slide. It is nothing personal, I bet. If you become insistent that they befriend you and keep resending the invitation you run the risk of tarnishing your reputation. After all, you don’t want to know as that stalker guy!

7. Don’t accept friend requests from people you don’t know or know well. Ever heard the saying show me your friends and I’ll tell you who you are? The same pretty much applies in social media. When accepting friend requests be sure you know the person you are accepting them from or at least check out their profile. Don’t just accept request from every Tom, Dick or Harry that wants to befriend you. Do some screening. You don’t want to befriend someone who is not interested in sharing but you want to spam you with stuff you have no interest in.

8. Don’t be mean. If one of your friend puts up or shares something that you don’t particularly like or agree with, say nothing if you can’t say it nicely. The last thing you want is a war of words. You’ll end up looking foolish if that person retorts in a nasty way and an online fight ensues. This sort of behavior will cause your professionalism to be brought into question.

9. Don’t engage in malicious behavior. Don’t gossip, tell lies on others, assassinate the character of others or post pictures or things that are likely to embarrass others and make you like an immature jerk online. It’s not nice and you will not only hurts others you will tarnish your image. Remember the golden rule: do unto others as you would like them to do unto you. It also applies in social media.

10. Don’t behave like a psycho. As my English friend Sadie would say, don’t be a nutter. No one likes to be in the circle of someone who comes across not so right in the head. Social media is not the place to curse out your ex, tell your roommate how much you hate her or explode on the chap from the sandwich shop who put too much mayo in your Panini this morning. Sharing how you may feel is fine if it is done tastefully and in moderation but social media is not the place to for going on a rampage getting things off your chest.

11. Don’t be a snob. Not responding to comments on your posts or replying to others is a guaranteed way to come across looking like a snob. Yes, you may not be able to respond to all or respond at all sometimes but the objective is to engage not alienate.

12. Don’t act salesy. It’s all well and good to share on a product or service that you think others stand to benefit from but at all cost avoid coming across as if you’re peddling stuff. When promoting your service or products, don’t come across as an overzealous car salesman. People are turned off and quick to de-friend others who are too gung-ho about sharing their affiliate links or pitching some product, brand or service.

13. Don’t be manipulative. Don’t befriend other just to have them in your circle or on your list if you don’t intend to share or interact with them.

14. Don’t be fail to be engaging. You come across something worthy of a commendation or sharing, by all means, feel free to vote, ping or retweet it. Don’t just vote for, retweet and share content from your friend’s or people you like. Social media is all about sharing and if it is worthwhile, then by all means, share it.

15. Don’t over-automate. Don’t set up an account on Facebook or Twitter but never login in and; participate there because you’ve automated all your post through Ping.fm or some other means. You want to spend time on the sites you are submitting content to and interact with others over there. Doing this helps boost your credibility and helps others get to know you.

16. Don’t assume social media marketing will turn everything you do to gold. If your product or service is mediocre, engaging in social media will not change that. It may just make a mediocre product or service more obvious.

17. Don’t be narrow-minded about the views of others. The objectives of social media are interacting and sharing. If you’ve submitted an article or blog post and someone made a valid point or brought to your attention something worthy of mentioning, thank them for their comment. Don’t get offensive or defensive and act like a know it all.

Carlana Charles has been providing virtual assistance for almost four years As a Virtual Assistant, she specializes in Social Media Marketing, Customer Service, Internet Marketing and Virtual Events. She is the business owner of Carlana Charles VA Service, a company she prides as being client-focused and solutions-driven. Visit http://www.carlanacharles.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Carlana_Charles

From my perspective, there are a couple of points that Carlana makes that are spot on!  Number 16 – Don’t assume social media marketing will turn everything you do to gold is 100% accurate.  Keep in mind that social media isn’t the end game of your business.  It is simply a tool that is very cost effective that can help (or hurt) your business!

You hear both Dennis and I talk to point Number 2 often!  If you don’t have a plan or strategy for your social media campaign, get one BEFORE you start. Everyone will be happier and your business will be served better as a result of it.

Some of the points that I might want to ask Carlana a bit more about?  Number 7 for sure. You have to be willing to engage and then make a decision.  I have made so many relationships from people that I didn’t know very well to the point of being partners with them here in this business.  Wouldn’t have happened if I would have taken that advice.

Number 3 makes alot of sense to me. If you don’t have the time, energy or inclination, don’t start your social media campaign. Turn it over to someone who knows what they are doing (like the Social Media Dudes!) and let them take it on (and do a better job of it than you), while you focus on your business.

Believe it or not, not doing social media right can actually harm your business.

If you are looking for free tips or advice on how to approach your social media, go to Social Media Dudes

Or follow our tweets on Twitter at twitter.com/johnpanico

Finally, those are my thoughts from high atop my 2nd floor office above my garage. What I want to hear are YOUR comments.  Please leave a comment!

If you are looking for free tips or advice on how to approach your social media, go to Social Media Dudesand subscribe to your newsletter in the upper left hand corner! Still not convinced that social media is right for your business? Read this and get our F.R.E.E. report on the 7 Myths of Social Media! Or follow our tweets on Twitter at twitter.com/johnpanico Finally, those are my thoughts from high atop my 2nd floor office above my garage. What I want to hear are YOUR comments. Please leave one now.

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