Sweet Businesses

Just yesterday I participated in  the 4-day blog / web promo event / social media party hosted by @larrybrauner.  It was totally amazing to me how people all over the globe were connecting using social media.  The level of engagement was astonishing, as I watched at least 12 pages of comments and links to various blogs and websites appear.  Clearly, Larry Brauner had something here.  What Larry Brauner has discovered is how to leverage social media not just for selfish reasons, but he discovered how to give first in order to receive.

What I mean by that, is most people see Twitter and Facebook as open air marketplaces.  That is, online advertising portals in which to place links for various products they are affiliates of.  Not many of those social media internet marketers have a clue as to what their potential customers might want.  First off, people want to be treated like people, online and offline.  NO one on Twitter or Facebook likes having sales messages shoveled down their throats.  Some people just want simple conversation.  Maybe a discussion on a trending topic, or a new record coming out by your favorite artist.  However, the key is to stimulate your readers with interesting Tweets and status updates.  There is nothing more satisfying than a status update on Facebook that gets a substantive conversation going.

One of the things I do in my spare time is create applications for Facebook in the form of games and quizzes.  Many users on Facebook enjoy playing simple games like Bejeweled 2, Mafia Wars and Fiesta Epic Battle.  I know because two of those games are applications I’m responsible for on Facebook.   The ads you see for games on the sidebar of this page are my way of making money online.  Play some games, I make money.  (I’m thanking you in advance!)

Social Media is about engaging, communicating and interacting with one another.  Its not a one way conversation either, you can’t ‘talk at someone’ and hope they become your friend.  Maybe they’re not your friend because you don’t share common interests, or maybe you’ve been trying too hard.

The games I put on Facebook are for entertainment purposes only, and for me, they provide mental stimulation and relaxation at the same time.  Just like the invite I received from Larry to help him celebrate his birthday online.  That invitation was a simple act of interacting with me using social networking.  Thank you Larry for the invitation, it has changed my social networking life as I have met so many great people and have enjoyed leaving comments on their blogs as well as created new friends on Twitter and Facebook.

That my friend, is what social networking is all about.

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… Rank: wait… Traffic: wait… Price: wait… C: wait…

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