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.
![Trust Worthy](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3239/3289447227_ba0849bb58_m.jpg)
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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