For starters if you haven’t already – Connect with me on Facebook and Twitter and post me a message on my Facebook ‘wall’ or send me a tweet using @Rachelhenke

Download an easy free software to organise your social media contacts and activity. I am loving Hootsuite at the moment cause it is so easy to use.

Don’t be scared of Social Media lingo. It is the new language and unless you want to be left behind you need to learn this stuff. It is simple once you decide to do it.

This will ‘expose’ you to a large group of friends in my network and get the ball rolling for you. Don’t be shy – just be you. It is plenty good enough. We don’t need literary masterpieces, just a simple hi I’m John from London and I work in publishing, will do for starters!

Add other leaders in your field and groups of interest and start to add some of their followers. Only add up to 50 people per day up until you have over 500 following you.

Then never add more than 10% of your following. Let’s say you have 700 following you then re Twitter rules (last time I checked!) you could add up to 70 that day and so on.

Manually adding up to 70 is ALOT so it’s not an issue unless you’re using automated stuff which I don’t recommend, at least until your account is in good standing and you understand how Twitter works.

Don’t use any automated software unless you really understand what it does. It can get you in trouble more times than not.

I’m not sure what the Facebook latest rules are as they change so often but as long as you are MANUALLY adding friends and interacting with them it should not be an issue. Again – don’t add tons of people at first, build up each day.

Start slow and watch what successful people do. Keep it simple by talking and interacting with people the way you would normally. (Be your very BEST you at all times!)

Remember that you are leaving an internet footprint and once this stuff gets into the public domain it’s there to stay so be sensible.

Avoid posting and tweeting when you’ve been drinking. Lucid posts are what your followers want from you!

Always give value. This means not hurling your links and business opportunity at everything that moves online. (If you do that offline then quickly move beyond that because it’s a painful place to live)

Make friends for the sake of it, with no ulterior motive. Start to build your ‘network’ for life. This will be a huge asset to you in the future. Treat each person as an individual gift (which they are) not as a ‘prospect.’

I think that’s enough to get you off on the right track. Action is the key. Don’t wait until everything is perfect – just perfect it as you go!

Looking forward to hearing from you. Let me know in your message or post if this has been helpful to you and what else you’d like to learn more about in the future.

Connect with me on Facebook – Watch and apply for networking

Follow me on Twitter – Still wondering what the heck to tweet about?

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Hello hello!

I’m going to do a series of articles about social media because I get the most questions about this. New networkers are coming online and can see the potential of Facebook but have no idea how to use it efficiently.

Facebook currently has over 400 million users and the average person spends 55 minutes per day on the site.

25% of all page views in the USA are on Facebook! I was listening to a video by Robert Grant this morning with all the latest stats.

Europe is not far behind.

Facebook is rivalling google for advertising market share and offers a completely unique and authentic way of interacting with your network.

As Robert Kiyosaki of Rich Dad, Poor Dad fame has written, ‘The richest people in the world build networks, the rest just look for work.’ (Thanks to Mark Hibbitts as I was reminded of that quote by him)

So here goes. I can’t tell you EVERYTHING in one article but I will try and give you the best tips for getting started right.

The best way to learn is to follow people who ‘get it’ and start getting some real experience by building your own network.

Tip 1

If contacting people individually on Facebook to ‘pitch’ them into your MLM was ever in your head then please take it out right now.

You will save yourself a lot of embarrassment and pain. Facebook is a social site that gives you the ability to build real relationships with people who just may be interested in what you have to offer.

I am not talking about contacting your warm market here. You should have a professional invitation process for that, using tools to expose your business, and if you choose to use Facebook as the communication method to contact your real friends then that’s quite a different thing than what we’re talking about here today. (Got it?)

Hopefully you have some good MLM professional training at your fingertips, and are listening and applying it. If that’s so then you will NOT be running around accosting people in the street about your MLM.

So let’s say Facebook is like the world.

Your profile and network are your virtual city.

Interact with people graciously in the same way that you do in your real life city. (Not that Facebook isn’t real life but you know what I mean!)

Tip 2

I’m gearing this up for the people who are starting from scratch because it’s you guys that really need this help.

You start at 0. Don’t panic. We all did that. I started a few years ago after resisting lots of smart people who advised me to get on it.

Action step 1: Look up your real friends and start to build your network.

Action step 2: Join groups and fan pages that are INTERESTING to you where you can CONTRIBUTE with pleasure.

If you are chasing sign ups and money people will smell you coming! I promise. Trust me on this one.

Build up your Facebook presence. I don’t mean sit on Facebook all day. (That can be fun but doesn’t pay well!)

Spend 20-30 minutes per day adding existing and new potential friends that you are connecting with through groups and fan pages. After a while it takes on a life of its own and if you behave nicely on Facebook and give value, people will start to add you every day and it snow balls.

Here’s a recipe for successfully building your network. Spend 10 mins morning and evening adding friends and commenting (with no agenda) Just be your ‘best’ you. (No excuses here please – you can use any pockets of time you have. Doesn’t HAVE TO BE morning and evening!)

Tip 3

Action step 1: Add your capture page or blog to your profile with an interesting message for your target market. Your capture page should ideally lead straight into your opportunity but on the front end offer something of real value such as a free ebook, report or video.

This does not mean leading with an offer to pay money to join your MLM. (That’s what your company website does and you use that later in the process) That is pitching not giving value to a new friend.

If you are advanced and already have a blog then that should be on your profile too. Again this is not a blog about your MLM but more about what value you are giving to the world. Of course it can lead into your MLM opportunity ideally with a link to your capture page so you can build your prospect list.

Here’s a screen shot of my Facebook profile so you can see that this is not pie in the sky!

Action step 2: Show people who you are by commenting on your friends’ stuff (you can see it all in the ‘home feed.’) Enter the great Facebook conversation.

Action step 3: Interact with your upline and others in your MLM team so you can learn the ropes. This will give you credibility as a group.

Tip 4

Action step: Start posting and sharing cool stuff. You can share stuff from blogs, videos or social sites such as Digg.com or Stumbleupon.com. Youtube.com has a ton of amazing free content.

Only share stuff that you feel has real value for the kind of person you are looking to attract. Of course you can share some fun stuff with your friends too.

I highly recommend avoiding time wasting activities that involve mafia wars and Farmville though!

Share with no agenda and the good stuff will come back to you. Being a selfish marketer who talks about their own stuff all day long does not go well in social media marketing. It just doesn’t…

Tip 5

Be nice! Have a GREAT attitude. If you are new to MLM you will be realising that an incredible attitude is key to your success. You’ll be learning to deal with some rejection when your prospects say ‘no thanks.’ (Please don’t cry!)

Work on yourself by feeding your mind everyday so that you have a great attitude. It will be one of your best assets.

Facebook is NOT a place to moan and groan about how unfair life is. You will attract dead beat moaners who want to groan with you! So many people spend lots of their time at work moaning. If you’ve fallen into that bad habit then now’s the time to lose it.

Remember that your downline, upline, crossline and potential prospects can HEAR everything you say. They can find your thoughts online in some instances for years to come so be mindful of this.

Start afresh. Post positive stuff. Inspire people. Share the best stuff you can find online. Build relationships and build your network.

Closing thoughts…

Social media plays a huge part in the new economy and new ways of doing business. Your ultimate goal when using Facebook to build your MLM business is of course to find business partners that are a match for your team.

Remember though that building an online network is a long term asset for you. You can use your network for all kinds of things. It’s the new way of finding business opportunities, contracts, jobs, new hobbies, groups, friends and even husbands or wives.

So in the wise words of Jim Rohn, ‘Success is something you attract by the person you become.’ Keep that in mind when you’re social networking and choose to always do the right thing.

Have fun and connect with me on Facebook. If you found this useful please share it with the buttons below as I’m on a quest to make Facebook a better place to network and could use your help!

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