photo by unforth

I know you read that title and were probably like, no we are not building an internal social network, or using a platform like Ning. Well, don’t worry I am really not talking about “building your own social network.” I am talking about your network and how social that network is.

Over the last month I have been studying how others are building their networks and building them fast using the internet and social media tools. The successful people are leveraging speed, listening tools and genuine assistance to grow their “within arms reach” network with everyone from upcoming social media rock stars to current A-listers.

After looking at what made their network grow, here is a quick breakdown of some of the things they are doing and how can do them to:

Know Who You Want To Connect With

This seems obvious but many people are a little off pace with this. Generally we think that we want to connect with people like us. While this may be the case, generally people “like us” are not the people that are going to be buying our products or services. There was a great post on Copyblogger today by Hugh MacLeod on why writers shouldn’t write to other writers. In the post Hugh explains why bloggers shouldn’t write for other bloggers:

…at the end of the day, it’s not the A-Listers or the pajama-clad, Web 2.0 basement-dwellers who are paying your mortgage. It’s the regular shmoes with a regular problem who are willing to pull out their credit cards to get it solved.

This is 100% true. You need to network with either your target market or the people that can help you get in front of your target market. The best way to do this is to either write down these people on paper (the way I do it), or use a spreadsheet or note taking software like Evernote.

Find A Way To Connect With Them

Social media gives you are really open gateway to connect with people. Use the tools and get to work. See if they are on Twitter. See if they are using LinkedIn groups. Add to conversations. Listen and learn about them. This is really the easy part, even for those that are a little shy.

Make Them Feel Welcome and Appreciated

As you are creating that relationship, make sure its genuine and is a true 2-way relationship. No one likes being used. Use the social tools to expose them to your audience or share links and advice with them. There are some easy and effective ways to do this:

• Mention news or a post that the person has accomplished and post to your followers
• Send them an email with something that can help their business
• Introduce them to someone that can help their business
• Interview them

Quick sentence on interviews. They are awesome! Everyone (well almost everyone) loves being interviewed and talking about themselves. Go ahead and ask for an interview that you can post on your site. Ways to expand this are telephone interviews (look into FreeConferenceCall.com to record calls to MP3′s) or use video (try a video Skype recorded). If you want to see some examples of awesome video interviews look at Jun Loayza and Colin Wright.

So there you have it. Sounds simple right? It really is, and it beats building your own social networking platform. How are you building your network this week?

Greg Rollett is a Rock Star Internet Marketer from Orlando, FL. He blogs about Lifestyle Design and Online Marketing.

Tags: networking, Social Media