The Power of Networking And Sharing

          I wish I could capture and bottle all my Facebook, Twitter and YouTube relationships.  I would only unleash them when I needed to get the word out for my latest blog post or my latest affiliate offer.  But, that would be selfish wouldn't it?  That's what I tried to do when I first started networking using social media.  I thought that the more friends and followers I had, the more impact I would have in the world of social media.  But, with experience, I've learned that the power of networking lies in sharing your friends, sharing your knowledge, and just enjoying good company of like-minded people.

                Networking is about meeting people and discovering if you have something in common.  I've recently learned the power of networking and sharing through the Facebook groups application.  Many people find the Facebook groups instant message and constant email notification features annoying.  The email feature as well as the instant message feature can be managed by going into your Facebook account and setting how you want to be notified.  However, I love the group feature because I get to talk to people in real time, they get to know me, who I am and vice versa.  That is the true power of networking, developing relationships.

                 When you write good content that people enjoy, they don't mind sharing it, and you don't have to ask them.  They share it because they see the value of the information you present.  It's important though when you network and share content that you don't become a pest.  You don't want people to give you the cold shoulder on the internet because it's lonely out there when no one online will talk to you!

                If you're not using StumbleUpon, you are missing out.  StatCounter just released a report indicating that StumbleUpon sends more traffic to websites than Facebook.  I've been using StumbleUpon for the last three years and one thing I have noticed about the traffic I get from the site is that: (1) the traffic is sticky, that is, people stay around longer to read your content thus reducing your bounce rate; (2) Google regards referred traffic from StumbleUpon as credible, so if you only shared your content on StumbleUpon you could benefit from quicker page rank increases like I have.

                I'm not knocking Facebook, I'm just suggesting that when you are looking for a dance partner, then you want one who has rhythm; and clearly StumbleUpon has the power to make your content go further than Facebook.  The power of networking and sharing is how many eyeballs will enjoy your content.  The more people who share your work, the better off you are.  There is power in social networking, make sure you utilize it appropriately.