Learning how to participate in social communities on the Internet can be tedious and even overwhelming. My suggestion would be not to bite off more than you can easily chew at once. Find a network that deals with a topic that’s close to your heart, one in which you really can participate and contribute to the discussions. If you’re a new mom or have young children, for example, here’s a site for TwitterMoms.
All moms shop and most moms are seeking ways to stretch the budget! They ALL should find My Shopping Genie a very useful tool. But before you “hawk your wares”, establish yourself as a compatible member of the community. You should definitely put your My Shopping Genie information on your profile page, with links, and feel free to mention it in context, but avoid plastering all the Group and Discussion pages with banners and blatant ads. The best suggestion would be to share your stories of actual savings you’ve made by using your Genie to search for bargains.
As the name of this particular group would indicate, the members all have Twitter accounts and spend a lot of time tweeting back and forth. Be sure to share your Twitter link in your profile, and when appropriate, in your comments and posts. Also remember to add #genietalk to all your My Shopping Genie tweets, and let the members of the community know about the group.
The Ning family of social networks includes communities for many, many niches. Find one that interests you. Join. Participate! You can create your own, but I would not advise that until you have some experience as a member first!
Here’s a great place to find networking opportunities. Meetup is a website that helps groups of people who share an interest to meet in real life. There are thousands of local Meetup Groups for thousands of interests.
