by Jonathan Marshall
It’s not necessarily the number, but more about what you can do with it. This clearly applies to more than just social media. It doesn’t matter if you drive 10000 customers come to your store if no one buys anything. Who cares how many people follow you on Twitter if you can’t get them to engage with you. How do you grow an active network? It Starts With Being Helpful, and this will get you far in the social networks. If you can insert yourself, or point out the kinds of people who you know can help others, that’s a great way to start cultivating an active network. We all respond well to someone who is quick to help, it’s natural. These are all things I have learned and have worked well in all of my social communities:
Be There
Both on and offline, the person who gets the most out of a network is the person who is actively tapping it. You might not always be able to contribute, but how often can you be absent from a network before it no longer “remembers” you?
Visit with your network and contribute on a regular basis. Understand the difference between “contributing” and “leaving a message.”
Touch As Many as Possible
One way to keep a network vibrant and response is to touch everyone you can. Talk to them. Absorb some of what they’re working on or inquire about their passions. The more you can contribute to others, the more likely you will be building reciprocal relationships. This is the whole point of social networks in the first place.
Talk About Them
If you’re communicating in some kind of “one to many” way with your network, make it peppered with stories about them. In our Trust Agents community, Julien and I look for what our group members have shared on their own Facebook networks, and we pull in the occasional related piece. Because we’re asking people to participate in our community, we make sure to keep the chairs turned in so that we interact instead of pontificate and preach from the pulpit.
Deliver Value Back
Try to maintain a 1:1 contribution ratio. Every time you ask your network for something, try and give something back in return. The more you can leverage the contributions of your network such that they serve you and return a value, the better things work. This takes time and sometimes your feedback and contributions might not seem as helpful as the responses you have received from your network, but you still need to contribute regardless. Can you deliver value back for the value you asked?
Active Networks are Your Capital
You probably do know the difference between being connected to a network of sorts versus participating in an active network of like-minded people who share disparate but compatible goals. In the first case, you feel great until you need something. In the second case, you know that people have your back and that you can deliver as much help as possible until the time when you, yourself, might have to call on the network. Invest and you’ll see a return. Start an account without much interest and just like anything else – you’ll get back only what you put in.