Social-izing PR: 33 ways to promote You AND Your Network

Challenge: Differentiating You and What You Do

Solution: Promote ALL of YOU, including your social network

Read: 33 Ways to Get Social Networking to Work for You

Time: < 3 minutes to read

Action: Choose top 2 or 3 to implement

Inspiration: Chris Brogan’s post “Will Companies Value Your Personal Network?”

33 Ways to Get Social Networking to Work for You

Share your ideas – let’s see if we can get the list to 50!

1. Clarify your message: what do you want to be known for? Social networks ask for a personal tag
2. Commune with crowds: choose a few select social networking communities and be active
3. Gather in groups: start or join a group on LinkedIn or Facebook, expand your network by connecting with others who share your interests
4. Track your referrers: find out where contacts coming from – ask new twitter followers how they found you
5. Name your a network and make it a desirable destination
6. Promote your affiliations: let people know who you’re affiliated with and why
7. Join an association or membership group and show up in forums
8. Build on your blog’s reach to other bloggers
9. Choose a few mentors and see how they present themselves online
10. Welcome new members with a link to a helpful article or a free report
11. Set aside time to get to know people you like offline
12. Call new contacts to get to know them
13. Be ready to respond to questions that position you as an expert
14. Know who to go to when you or your network needs an expert opinion
15. Make it easy for people to find you; use your real name or an ID that people recognize
16. Optimize your profiles with your keywords
17. Give out a guide on how to be better at . . .
18. Celebrate milestones with your community like number of new followers
19. Invite others to share your space in interviews or guest posts
20. Present your network as part of you in your profiles
21. Sketch out a social media bio that lists where to find you online
22. Volunteer to help out and share your expertise
23. Start your own group and guide it
24. Be known as a leader with something to say
25. Get to know people that others think of as influential and find out what makes them that way
26. Select a dozen high-profile people to follow
27. Leave thought-full comments on blogs you like
28. Track social activity via aggregators like Friend Feed or MyBlogLog
29. Make it a point to get out and meet the people you admire
30. Write about meeting them
31. Send out a postcard every other month to let everyone know what you’re working on and how they can participate
32. Form a mastermind group with people you know that have similar goals to yours
33. Think of your network as your people; people you want to know and relate to

What’s the most important step to take first? What would you add to the list?