Internet marketing, generally dominated by men, uses a very different approach than social marketing. The hard sell, always-be-closing approach falls flat in the Web 2.0 world of relationship building.

With social networking as a marketing strategy, the focus is on planting the seeds of trust and likeability that blossom into profits later on. Traditional internet marketing takes a much more aggressive approach- all you have to do is look at a typical sales page from an internet marketer versus a Facebook profile page and you’ll see the difference.

If you look around at people who are rising to the top of social networking, you will see the brightest and the best tend to be women. What does that tell you? From an anthropological point of view, you can say that women are wired to approach things from a relationship point of view, rather than a combative one. While the warrior was out spearing the wooly mammoth, the woman was back at the cave making nice with the neighbors and forming bonds for survival.
Unfortunately, even a lot of successful women internet marketers need to un-learn their internet sales training as they transition into the world of social marketing. Here are some tips to remember as you use social networking tools to grow your business and boost your visibility.

1.    Focus on Relationship Building
It bears repeating, but relationship building is the foundation for success in social networking and anything Web 2.0. When you meet someone online, you want to focus first on learning who they are. It’s not about saying “Hi” then sending them to a sales page. In romantic terms,

2.    Don’t Abuse Signature Lines
In internet marketing, you’re taught to make the most of every piece of real estate on a page- especially your signature line. When you sign your social networking messages with links to your opt-in page or even your blog, then you’re perceived as being pushy. Pushy people are the party crashers of Web 2.0 and don’t make many lasting relationships!

3.    Comment From the Heart
One way to build relationships with others is to offer genuinely helpful comments on their pages. A bad habit carried over from the traditional internet marketing world is to use the comments as a place for self-promotion. Someone leaves a comment on another person’s blog or wall, then follows it up with a 2 line promotion for their upcoming teleclass. Bad, bad, bad!  You know the caricature of the tacky tourist wearing plaid shorts, dark socks, and dress shoes? OK, THAT is how you come across when you do stuff like that.

Social networking isn’t going away and there is enough room out there for everyone to taste success. Take a relationship building approach and see for yourself: the results hold the potential to be astounding.

How to build your Blog and Social Networking Web Traffic Spiderweb. Savvy internet marketers know that having a blog combined with social networking and bookmarking are effective marketing tactics for building a web presence and getting “top rankings” with the search engines. You need to know how social media fits into your overall SEO plans. After all, if your site is not on the first page of the search engines – you don’t exist.

You can start a conversation on Twitter in many different ways, but they all come back this: be yourself and find the right tone to engage with people you want to get to know better.

In this post I’ll explore some easy ways to start Twitter conversations.  You’ll see just how easy it is to take this first step in networking on Twitter in fewer than 140 characters at a time.

Here are 13 great tips to better network with people on Twitter:

#1: Discuss What You Know: Publish Useful Tips or Facts, Daily

One of the first ways you can contribute to the conversation is to share useful information. This is always welcome when it’s given from a fresh perspective.  And it’s a great way to grab the attention of the people you want to reach.

Cyndy Hoenig offers about five PR tips a day… Notice how she used the word you in this tweet to grab readers’ interest.

#2: Retweet to Acknowledge Others

RT = Retweet in Twitter parlance. You basically hit retweet to share and acknowledge other peoples best ideas. Why not add a comment at the same time and add more to the conversation? Simply being social is a great way to get people to notice you and begin making connections.

Jonathan Saar is simply being social.

#3: Reach Out With Follow Friday

Although Follow Friday (#FF) has been around a while, it can still be a good way to initiate conversations when you put a little thought into it.  Just put #FF in a post of Friday and see what happens.

#4: Answer Other People’s Tweets

Another easy way to engage people is to respond to others’ tweets. Whether it’s a question or something that grabs your attention, try to respond in an authentic voice. People recognize sincerity and are more likely to respond to it.

Janice Campbell shows us how natural conversations can be on Twitter.

#5: Respond When Something Grabs Your Attention

When responding to something that interests you, show it.  Show you care about what people have to say.

Cheryl Garrett adds a personal touch to her professional Twitter presence.

#6: Introduce Yourself to New Followers

Give your new followers a personal welcome that shows you care about getting to know them better.  Some people do this in the public Twitter feed and some people prefer introductions in direct messages.  Find out what’s best for your audience.

#7: Introduce Yourself at Twitter Events

You’ll notice people following live events on Twitter with a hashtag.  When you attend your first event on Twitter, don’t get distracted by the tools and forget your social manners. Remember to introduce yourself to everyone. And why not follow up personally with a few of the other attendees after the event? This is a great way to meet new people with similar interests.

#8: Let People Know When You Add Them to Your Twitter List

As you add people to your Twitter lists, give them a shout-out to let them know.  Everyone enjoys this small sign of recognition.

#9: Ask For Help

Many other people on Twitter are also looking to engage in meaningful conversations.  Make it easy for others to respond to you and tell them what you are looking for.

Daniel Casciato uses Twitter to find sources to interview for his articles.

#10: Say Thank You

You’ll find many different reasons to thank people on Twitter.

Notice how Amy Porterfield is connecting with this person on both Facebook and Twitter.

#11: Say Thanks When Others Add You to Their Twitter Lists

The people who add you to their Twitter lists are often good connections because you share similar interests.  Reach out to thank them and introduce yourself personally.  You can use auto-responders to thank people and add information that can lead to new connections.

#12: Ask Questions

Questions work wonders on Twitter.  With a little thought you can come up with great questions to find the people you want to engage with on Twitter.

Katie Fox asks a specific question to engage conversation of interest to her.

As you can see, it’s easy to start conversations on Twitter.

#13: Use Direct Messaging to break through the cluttter

When you DM another person on Twitter, they are more likely to see and respond than they are to a random Tweet.  Direct Messages tend not to get lost in the clutter and are a great way to reach out to others.

Now it’s your turn. What other Twitter conversation starters do you use? Please share your comments below.

So exactly what is everyone doing on Facebook? Playing Farmville, adding pictures to their pages, sending e-cards, networking on their iPhone, playing poker and connecting with friends:

Top Facebook Apps

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		Name	Developer	Users	Daily Growth
1.		FarmVille	Zynga	82,686,749	-57565
2.		Static FBML	Facebook	53,905,650	219291
3.		Birthday Cards	RockYou!	37,644,729	360718
4.		Facebook for iPhone	Facebook	31,981,606	169267
5.		Café World	Zynga	30,382,239	53778
6.		Texas HoldEm Poker	Zynga	30,055,220	-19568
7.		Mafia Wars	Zynga	25,471,927	29974
8.		Causes	Causes	24,475,591	-20178
9.		Happy Aquarium (BETA)	CrowdStar	22,758,733	-25241
10.		PetVille	Zynga	21,627,955	165098

Bazooka Buzz [General News]
This Swedish site is a real gem that will send a couple of thousand visits to a popular post and generate linkage. Thankfully stories don’t have to be written in Swedish to make the front page.

Cracked Pipeline [Offbeat]
If you are taking the humor angle with your bait then this is a great place to submit. Not only will Cracked Pipeline send traffic, if your story is made popular you’ll also pick up a few citations from other blogs.

Design Float [Design]
A site to submit anything from graphic design and marketing to architecture and digital art. Design Float doesn’t send a lot of traffic, but you are getting exposure to bloggers in the niche.

DZone [Development]
If you are link baiting on software and web development then don’t miss out on DZone. A popular story won’t crash your server, but a good bait can pick up some good links.

eBaumsWorld eLinks [Offbeat]
The addition of eLinks means it is now possible to get a link and traffic from this aged domain. Strange or funny images and videos as well as humorous stories tend to do best.

Lipstick [Celebrity]
You’ll be instantly familiar with the Lipstick layout and system because it is based on Reddit, only it’s specifically for the celebrity niche. The site doesn’t send much traffic but you can get some decent links with the right story.

Meneame [General News]
When it comes to the ratio of traffic : linkage, I have never seen any site perform as well as Meneame. A popular story on this Spanish social media site will also send you a few thousand visitors.

Shoutwire [General News]
Should you submit a story here, go easy on your promotion as the editors are known to come down hard on anything that looks suspicious. Shoutwire will send traffic to a popular story and generate some linkage.

Sphinn [Marketing]
Sphinn was destined for success ever since it was spun off from the highly respected Search Engine Land. This is the best place to submit articles on SEO, online marketing, usability and other related topics. Users at Sphinn tend to be conversational; you’ll get comments and backlinks.

SugarLoving [General News]
This one is part of the Sugar Inc. network, so by submitting your content here you may also get coverage on one of their blogs.