Building Better Social Networking Skills

While there are brilliant minds out there working to build better social networks, you should be devoting a little bit of time and effort of your own towards building better social networking skills. There are things you can do that will make social networking become more streamlined and effortless. This makes it less time consuming and allows you to devote the time and attention you need to work while still managing to invest a fair amount of effort in your social marketing endeavors.

What can you do that will help you build better social networking skills without taking precious time away from the business you need to be doing in the process?

1) Understand that social networking is a critical component of your Internet marketing business. If you are doing business online then it is vital that you master a few basic social networking skills. Understanding this need will help you fight it less and move on to acceptance. It is inevitable and better that you embrace it rather than fighting it. If you continue to fight it you will enjoy a nearly endless mental tug of war every time you log into whichever social networking platform (s) you are using.

2) Listen instead of just talking. It is easy to comment and type and offer suggestions with social networking but that isn't what it is all about. You need to learn to listen to what people are really asking for. This is how social networking can help you most, by identifying and providing what people really need and want. They are telling you and countless other marketers. What separates the true success stories from the social marketing washouts is the ability to listen to those wants and needs and provide for them.

3) Be sincere. It seems like such a small thing and yet it is so important. The biggest skill you can build when it comes to social networking is sincerity. It is the most difficult to fake and one of the most liberating once you've begun to master it. Sincerity will give you more traffic, more customers, and more repeat business than a fancy sales pitch almost any day of the week. The trick is in learning where your sincerity should be placed.

4) Learn to grab attention quickly. The last step and one of the most important is to learn that in social networking, as with most things these days, you must grab the attention quickly and then work fast to hold onto it. You have a few words at best in many platforms to gain the attention of your target audience. Learn to do this and you should never have trouble with your social networking efforts again. Make every word count and every word magic.

Building better social networking skills is the first step on a long road to building a better Internet marketing business. What do your current social networking skills say about you and how you do business online?