Do you know what’s tarnishing social networking etiquette and giving internet and network marketers an appalling reputation? Social networking is perfect for MLM lead generation, but not like this.

How many times have people visited your internet network marketing website purely for the purpose of collecting your email address to ‘counter-pitch’ their home business opportunity?

Or, you get spammed the second you accept a friend request?

Even worse, you get MLM Business Opportunities and affiliate links posted on your wall on first contact (Facebook, etc)?

What do you do? Jump out of your skin with joy, get all excited, rush over to their opportunity and hand over your credit card?

Or, do you reach for the delete button, build up a wall of resistance and make a mental note to ignore all future messages?

If you haven’t earned the right to talk business, you have just shot yourself in the foot.

Stephen R Covey from The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People says it best: “Seek first to Understand, then to be Understood.”

No one cares about your opportunity until they know how much you care. (not sure who to give credit for that last statement!:)

Here are 6 important Social Networking Etiquette tips that will help you become a respected internet and network marketing professional, boost your MLM lead generation and build quality online relationships with ease:

1) Relationships first. Social networking sites are all about establishing quality relationships on a more professional level. Nine times out of ten people will do business with those they know, like, and trust. Learn about that person, check out their website, take time to really see if they are the kind of person you want to connect with anyway.

Building trust comes before giving a sales spiel, and the quality of relationships you build are superior to the quantity of friends you make.

2) Expand your thinking beyond yourself. Make the change from thinking that you can work your business successfully on your own, and shift toward the mentality that you can accomplish greater things when you work effectively with others.

Don’t limit your outreach and effectiveness as a network marketer.

You are a valued source of resources and contacts.

You have a unique store of connections and life experiences that provide an unlimited wealth of knowledge and opportunities.

Share those with others and draw from the experiences of others as well. Everyone brings unique value to the table.

3) Practice the power of praise. Praising others brings people to a higher level of energy and awareness. We all thrive on positive reinforcement. Focusing on the strengths of others develops winners and leaders.

Send notes frequently that say:

Thanks for the support. Thanks for your friendship. Thanks for the referral. For the words of encouragement. For the opportunity to learn about your business. For the opportunity to do business with you. For taking the time to….”

Specifically tell people how they influence your life in a positive way. There is much power in praise!

Don’t forget to Wish your friends happy birthday. Facebook makes this real easy with the newsfeed.

4) Give your full attention. Listening is the heart of communication; don’t view this important tool as simply a matter of not talking. Listening is all about being mentally engaged in what the other person is saying, giving your full attention to create a connection that goes beyond the words being spoken. Listening is where people develop rapport and trust.

Even when there is nothing in it for you, listening and responding accordingly to people will help strengthen those relationships and will reap rewards that will come in the future.

5) Develop a complete profile. Give people something to establish common ground with; consider putting a summary of your resume or bio on your profile, or list professional associations you’re involved in. Bottom line: make sure you have at least one picture and some common sense background information. It’s important that others see your profile as valuable.

6) Follow them across many social platforms. Make your friend invites personal by complimenting them on their profile or work found on their sites. When you start building rapport and following them across various social networks, it shows that you are interested in their work.

If you find quality in their published blog posts for example, Stumble, or Digg their content and share them with your network. You begin promoting them and they will likely do the same for you.

Social Networking is the most cost-effective network marketing tool for reaching an endless stream of influential contacts and growing your network marketing business. Daily interactions and forming the habit of building your online web presence will bring results over time.

Make a commitment to yourself and your relationships to put these powerful social networking principles into action and you’ll be attracting a vast number of new team members and business partners.

Social Networking sites provide a fantastic resource for people to meet new people and make new friends. From the comfort of their homes people can meet others from around the world, spending time chatting about an infinite variety of subjects and sharing photos, music, videos and more. In this virtual world it doesn’t matter what people look like as many people use cartoon characters or artistic pictures in their profile. This gives many people the confidence to spend time with a huge variety of people from various backgrounds and diverse values and beliefs. It is clear that, by breaking down social barriers in this way, social networking sites are achieving a valuable result in redefining the way that people interact. But, amidst all the positives, it is clear that there remains the possibility for some people to abuse the system, using the freedom of information that the internet aims to provide for their own selfish – and often both illegal and abusive – reasons. For this reason it is essential that users of social networking sites are aware of some basic safety tips before logging in and starting the exciting process to meet new people and make new friends.

1. Never assume that people are who they say they are. We have already mentioned that some people use cartoon images or artistic photos as their profile pictures. Whilst there is essentially nothing wrong with this, it provides the opportunity for people to pretend they are somebody completely different. Just because a person’s profile says they are a 16 year old female this is not necessarily true. It is possible that this person is actually much older, perhaps a male, and using these fake details to prey on younger people. Yes such cases are uncommon but they are far from unheard of and never assume that anybody is who they say they are.

2. Never disclose personally identifiable information on your page. Social Networking sites are viewable by a vast variety of people. As we have already suggested, this very fact is one of the reasons why they are so successful. But personally identifiable information such as your full name, address, phone number, date of birth, email address etc should not be displayed on your profile page. This may seem strict but identity fraud is a big issue and it doesn’t take much information for fraudsters to be able to assume your identity and start carrying out a string of illegal actions in your name. Use only your first name or a nickname and leave the rest off of your page.

3. Do not lie about your age. It is important that you are honest about who you are in the same way as you would expect to be honest about who they are.

4. Remember that meeting somebody you have met online is extremely dangerous. If you are under 18 then we would propose the blanket guideline of never meeting anybody under any circumstances. As we have already discussed it is impossible to be certain that a person really is who they say they are and tragic consequences have been recorded of people meeting somebody they have met online. Guidelines offered elsewhere that people under the age of 18 should always go with a friend when meeting somebody have simply led to both young people being put at risk. So the advice is simple: do not arrange to meet somebody you have met online if you are under 18.

If you are over 18 and are determined to meet somebody then we would suggest some guidelines to follow.

- Try and speak to the person on the phone beforehand to reassure you that the person sounds genuine. Never give your own number out at this stage – use a public call box if necessary.

- Arrange to meet in a well lit, public place. A café or well lit bar would be ideal. Do not meet at a person’s home or in a dark nightclub or similar.

- Ask somebody to come with you, at least for the first part of the meeting just to provide some support if required.

- Do not consume too much alcohol at your first meeting. Ensure that you retain control at all times. Ensure that you drink plenty of water or soft drinks as well.

- Never assume that a person is trustworthy and reliable simply due to the first hour or so of meeting them. Take any relationship slowly and do not put yourself in a vulnerable position until you are confident that you know that person.

5. Be very careful when uploading photos or videos containing pictures of yourself or friends. You should always get permission from others before uploading pictures containing themselves. Risqué and naughty pictures that might seem funny between close friends could easily be downloaded and possibly digitally altered by others before being redistributed. Do not upload pictures of nudity or similar (it is against the rules of most sites anyway) as this provides a clear temptation for other people to abuse.

6. Report any instances of concern as soon as possible to the site’s moderators. Most Social Networking sites have a contact form that would be suitable to use. Don’t be concerned that you are making a fuss or exaggerating a problem – the site authorities will look into it in detail and make their own judgement. But, for your own safety and the safety of others, please make sure you report any concerns you have.

Social networking sites, such as getsharing.com, are a fun, relaxing and innovative way to meet new people and make new friends. Following the simple guidelines above will help social networking become a safe and fun experience for all.

There are already a lot of social networking websites out on the Internet, and yet, more and more people still wants to create their own social network. One probably good reason is that those already out for public use, still does not cover the niches you want, or some still do not have the features you are looking for.

One may also have an organization or friends from the same school, club, or company that you want to always keep in touch with and be updated with whatever is happening in their lives. People might be busy and so what better way to keep in touch with friends than a social networking site?

What is great about creating your own social network is that you have control over your content. You also have control of who joins your network and who you want to invite.

Before you decide to create your own social network, you may want to consider a few things first. First decide whether you want your network to be open to anyone who wants to join, or if it only by invitation that people can join. Another thing you should consider is your availability to work on and manage the network. If you are not sure of how much time you are willing to spend managing your network and gathering resources to add input and content to your network, better think again about creating your own social network. One should also know what features to include in the social network (forums, blogs, photo and video sharing). Another thing you should consider is the amount of information a user or a member should share. Know what kinds of information users should provide before they can join, and also, it is important to set privacy limits when it comes to these information. Set a limit on who can see user’s information. Lots of people value their privacy and they may not want just about anyone to view their profiles.

One good tip you might want to consider when starting out with your social network is to look around and see what others are doing. That way you can get some pretty good ideas and you can even apply it on your own social network.

As a professional using social networking to boost your business, be aware that your contacts and followers are checking you out to see if you’re who you really claim to be. They’re looking for credibility from a variety of sources including search engines and even the conversations you participate in. If your name pops up with little or no related information, then you’ve not only lost credibility but probably their respect as well. But if your name delivers pages and pages of solid evidence, then you’ve proven yourself beyond a reasonable doubt and perhaps even landed new business opportunities.

How prepared are you when new contacts run a credibility check on your name? Follow these 5 tips to build a solid credibility foundation that interacts beautifully with your social networking activities.

<b>1. Have a Great Profile</b>

Your social networking profile page is your calling card and your friendly handshake all rolled into one. Be sure you have a well written profile that clearly states who you are, who you work with, and the results you deliver. This is your chance to speak your expertise and arouse their curiosity so they want to learn more.

<b>2. Link to the Right Places</b>

People who want to know more about you will click on the link you provide in your profile. This link needs to be more than a sales page. Link to something dynamic like a blog, media page, or a special page you have set up to introduce yourself to social networking contacts. If appropriate, include links to other credibility boosters such as published articles, podcasts, or other online mentions.

<b>3. Publish Information Online</b>

Online publishing is a great way to reinforce your credibility. You can write articles, short tips, or blog posts related to your area of expertise. Fill these articles and tips with keyword rich phrases so your name is always associated with that topic. When someone looks you up on search engines and pages of links to articles you’ve authored come up, then that proves you are indeed a credible resource in your field.

<b>4. Always Be Consistent</b>

Nothing confuses prospects more than not fully understanding what you’re good at. Look at what you’re doing in your business and the expertise you’re trying to convey. Is it consistent? Do you switch your business focus like a change of socks? Are you scattering your expertise across too many topics without dominating a few? Find a way to pull it all together or make the decisions needed to prune away what must go. Pinpointing your expertise and being consistent will make it much easier to establish credibility.

<b>5. Share Your Expertise!</b>

A great credibility booster is simply being available to your social networking contacts with tips and advice. Watch the conversations and see if someone is in a situation where your expertise could come in. For instance, if you’re a blog expert and you see someone having a public conversation about problems with a blog, pop in and offer help. Or if you’re a wellness professional and someone says they have the sniffles, go ahead and send them a link to a remedy. Publicly showing off your expertise not only boosts your credibility but helps a lot of people too!

Building your credibility with social networking doesn’t simply happen by posting a few updates. It requires building a trail of proof that you are the expert you claim to be. Follow these tips and you’ll give your prospects and contacts plenty to feast upon when they look you up online.

We have seen many social networking sites to gain quick popularity while a very few didn’t make it up to the mark. With almost one year now, through which the social networking websites gained ultimate popularity, now is the ideal time to look into the successful social networks for some unique social networking web design tips. Here are 5 main points that has to be noted for a successful social networking website design.

3. Learning from the mistakes that other social networks have made

As already said, while many social networking sites like myspace, Facebook etc have gained popularity, a few other social networking sites have disappeared in the Internet crowd. As the old saying goes, “The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.” Hence it’s necessary to learn from the mistakes that the other social networks made. One of the biggest mistakes that some of the social networking web designers make is overloading their web page with heavy graphics. They have a misconception that attracting visitors to social networking website depends all on eye candy. Loading a web page with heavy graphics will end up in longer load times. The visitors of your website won’t be patient enough to wait for the page to load. This will make the visitors quit from the page and they never return to your social networking website. Hence make the social networking web design simple and user friendly.  

2. Increase the interactivity of your Social Networking website

With the advancements in online marketing and SEO techniques, driving visitors to your social networking website is easy today. It’s upto the effective social networking web design to make the visitors spend some time in your site and also become returning users. For this, some interactive stuff must be added to the social networking website. Apart from the common social networking features like making friends and exchanging messages some other interactive fun stuff can be added to the social networking website. The social networking softwares come in handy here. There are many social networking software that can be used in your social networking website, which will be fun for the users. They will be pleased to return to your site to use the social networking applications and moreover, they will refer your site to their fiends too.

1. Be unique

Social networking websites are emerging like mushrooms today. At this point, just think in a social networking users point to view. With thousands of social networking websites out there, why should they choose your social networking website? The answer is simple “Make it unique”. Provide the visitors of your social networking website something that the similar networks haven’t offered. Be sure that the unique offerings at your social networks are useful too.

Bottom line

People consider privacy much more important than anything today. Hence it is essential for your social networking web design to ensure the privacy of the visitors of your site.