Twitter This, Link That

The options are overwhelming and the chatter on the internet is deafening. You don't know where to start or what to do once you get there. Just when you think you are up to speed on the social networking, bookmarking, aggregating sites, dozens more get mentioned in the press or in the newspaper or magazine that you have never even heard of.

The local book stores and Amazon are filled to the brim with books on the more popular sites at the moment, and more books on what to do and what not to do fill the shelves. Once again, your eyes gloss over and you decide to take a deep breath and just walk away.

Getting started involves being able to answer 'what should I join?' and then there is 'how do I do it?' followed of course by, 'now what?'

Allow me to offer a dozen tips.

1. Just do it - do anything, do something.

2. If you are B2B try starting with the more mainstream sites like Linked-in and maybe even Twitter.

3.

4. Don't be closed minded about trying just start with at least one to get familiar with the concept.

5. Sign up then tour and explore. a) Look for a competitor and a few like-type companies and evaluate their profiles. b) Evaluate what they say and how they say it and any other information you can find. c) Look for groups or gatherings that might be relevant to you or your target audience, read what they have to say but don't join in just yet. d) Email some compassionate friends and clients to see if they are on that site and if so would they link to you and give some feedback.

6. Read the FAQ on the site you join, this will offer how-to tips.

7. DO NOT SELL, DO NOT BRAG, DO NOT MARKET and above all DON'T CLAIM TO HAVE THE ANSWERS.

8. Think strategy - planning will help you to understand how to best achieve your goals and to measure the value of the site in relation to meeting those objectives.

9. Think KEYWORDS in your communications so that others will find you based on their searches.

10. Listen and learn then make some practice strokes.

11. Think sandbox: share often, be polite, no bullying, be helpful, and above all, be genuine. Twitter is a great place to practice this and also to build a following.

12. Be patient. New business is not going to start flying in the first week. Maybe not even for a month or more, in fact, it may not fly in at all but then you will have been contributing content to your name and the search engines are going to recognize that helping your website move up in the rankings. This is a no-lose proposition for the most part, and you just might enjoy it, find new resources and learn new things in the process.