1)  Profiles are Personal – Facebook, LinkedIn, etc… profiles are about you.  Use a picture of yourself, talk about yourself, whether it’s related to work or it’s social.  Your logo is not you – your business is not you.  You may be there to network and promote your business, but people want to do business with people.

Image by elycefeliz via Flickr

2)  Stop selling me– Don’t talk about how good your “widget” is.  Don’t pitch me or tell me that your service can gross me $10,000 a month.  Talk to me, share with me, teach me and I’ll listen.  If I like what you have to share, I will come to you for the sale.

3)  I don’t NEED your product/service – I need air to breath, food & water to sustain myself, and people to love and love me back, that’s about it.  I’ll decide if I WANT your product or service based on the value of the conversation we have.

4)  Truth and Transparency – be honest in your opinions and insights.  Own them – show me the real you and you will win my respect and earn my trust even if I do not agree with you.

5)  Move out of “Spam-a-lot” – If I haven’t said yes yet, you can stop emailing me, really.  I’ll ask you to stop sending me stuff once, if you don’t listen – I will remove you as a connection.

6)  The Opt-In is Mine:  Did I opt into your mailing list or did you add me on your own?  If I didn’t opt in, there was a reason, do not ever make that decision for me.

7)  Strive to make Connections not Sales:  You and I may never have a direct consumer / vendor relationship.  That does not mean that we don’t know other people that our products / services could benefit.  It also doesn’t mean we should not talk to each other.   If you are in the conversation for the benefit of the community, I will share your insights with the connections I think will benefit from them. 

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