Upping the ante on our ‘Social-ness’
15 ways to build better relationships using Social Media

(After all, what goes around should come around, right ?)

So, I happen to believe we’re all social. In some way shape or form, both offline and online, and whether we like it or not. Simple put, the things we do and don’t do account for our ‘social-ness’.

The questions I’m specifically putting out there are around the virtual or online world:

HOW social are we?

HOW ARE we being social? And most importantly,

WHAT CAN WE ALL BE DOING using today’s Social Media tools to manage the relationships in our lives in ways that make it stronger, evolve, and compound to pay off over time?

No doubt, real life human-to-human interactions go a long way, but in our busy lives, there is only so much time to be able to meet, greet and interact with all the people in our lives. Plus there’s the geographic and financial factor. *sigh*

Enter – Social Media.

Remember the time when someone you hadn’t met in 20 years sent you a ‘gift’ on Facebook, commented positively on your status, or complimented your flickr collection? When a colleague or client started following you on twitter, or friended you on Facebook? For that matter, you probably also recall asking someone forgetting to send you a Linked-in recommendation after promising to do so, or when your blog content got republished word for word without any attribution whatsoever? Depending on the relationship and the type of social touch point you had, you were probably touched, elated, humbled, unhappy or disappointed even.

By following some of the basic tenets of Social Media—listening, connecting, sharing—and combining them with real world common sense and courtesy, we can take that personal or professional relationship to the next level. That’s the power of this social ether I think. Here are:

15 ways to up the ante on our online ‘social-ness’ and build better relationships

1. Always respond comments and invitations. Never dis-engage
2. Comment on status messages, it’s easiest to engage them in their current frame of mind
3. Take the time to rate or review something you tried or used (remember how someone else’s rating helped you make a purchase decision?)
4. Recommend people you vouch for on Linked-in before they ask you
5. Share a job opening as your status message
6. Comment and praise the blogs you admire and follow
7. Go beyond just wishing them Happy Birthday on FB. Do at least 2 more things
8. Ask to follow a client or a colleague, whom you look up to as a thought leader
9. Initiate connecting like-minded people on your social networks
10. Comment on a colleague’s post you’ve read, even a simple acknowledgement goes a long way
11. Add something positive that is centered around the needs of the person you are interacting with
12. Let your Thank-you messages become public (it only compounds the effect)
13. Every so often reach out to a bunch of people you’ve interacted with the least
14. When you don’t have anything positive to share about a friend or colleague’s blog, a simple acknowledgment for their effort goes a long way too
15. Compliment a well executed offline deed and echo it online

Some Questions:

What are other ways you’ve improved the quality of a relationship using Social Media?
Do you believe in Social Karma?
Is SRM (Social Relationship Management) going to be key for organizations going forward?

Share your comments and thoughts, you know – be social….and excuse me if you will, as I brush up on my ‘social-ness’ and go offer up some ‘thumbs ups’ on Facebook and praise Chris Brogan and Mike Troiano whose blogs provided inspiration and insight for this post.

…Uhmmm, call me a bit karmic, but it does feel good. And that’s never a bad thing.