Seems like everyone today is interested in learning more about Internet social networking. For some people, interacting on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social networking sites is fun and just seems to come naturally. They quickly realized the value and understood almost instinctively how to make the most of these new tools. Others seem to be more cautious and are choosing just to dip in a toe to see what all the excitement is about. Another group seems to be coming in kicking and screaming. They don’t really see the value and don’t get the rules of the game.

I am hoping this article helps all of these groups have more fun and be more successful social networking by laying down some ground rules that will help you get the most out of your time on line. In no particular order:

When you sign up for the sites, use your real name for your profile. For instance, on Twitter I am @frankkenny. I am FrankKenny on all the sites. This shows that I am a real person and that I am not hiding my identity behind a made up name. Even if you own a company, you should use your personal name for your profile, not the business name. After all, people like to network with other people, not businesses. As I tell the participants in the social networking classes I teach, I want to network with the bank manager, not the bank.

We all know that people, when first meeting, make judgments about the other person in about two seconds. This happens online just like in real life. Choose the right picture for your profile that reflects how you want to be perceived or branded. For example, if you are family focused you could choose an image of you with your family. This will immediately convey the impression of what you value. Alternatively, perhaps you are an entrepreneur and wish to be “branded” as a successful professional. Then use an image that conveys that you are successful, dependable, smart, trustworthy, and good with people. Don’t use a logo as your image because people want to see who they are networking with.

When people come across your profile, they are going to want to glean information about you so they can decide if they want to interact. Create a short biography, or bio, that you use on all the sites. This is similar to the image issue above. If you have a compelling bio that shows that you are a real person who cares about others, is fun and down to earth, and have something of value to share, then they are much more likely to want to network with you. If your bio is blank or has other problems, like misspelled words, then people will be less likely to think favorably of you. Use the same basic bio on all the sites.

When you post on these social networking sites, focus on others, not on yourself. A good rule of thumb is to make 10 comments that provide value or interaction for every self-promotional post. If you are too self-promoting, you will find that people won’t respond well to you after a while. Just like in real life networking, you must provide value before you can expect to receive value.