Making a successful start on social networks

Social networks such as Facebook and Twitter are a fun and interactive way to keep in touch with your friends, or in the case of LinkedIn, to keep in touch with your business network. However, if you're new to social networks there are some things to keep in mind that can make a big difference in how successful your experience will be.

Most social networks can scan your email address book to suggest friends or contacts. This is an easy way to find potential contacts for your network. However, your social network will need more development than just adding email contacts to become successful. While it is easy to just add everyone to your network, you should ask yourself, "What does my profile have to offer so that others will actually be interested in following what I do?"

Many people just start adding anyone in their address book to their social network. While you will see your friend-meter rise quickly, chances are that you will create a low quality network. People who you have maybe talked to once or twice will usually not be very interested in seeing what you're going to make of your social network-page.

The key to creating a successful and high-quality social network, is taking the time to create something interesting. First only invite your good friends and family to your network, people who you see often and that really know you. Take your time to build your profile with interesting stories, pictures and information that will captivate people and make them curious about what you have to say.

When you have solidified your social network-page, you can start expanding your network to people who don't know you as well. At this point scanning your address book is a great idea. You may find that old class-mate that you didn't even really know back in high school, the colleague you only really see when you ride the elevator, or the eBay-seller you may have sent an e-mail once inquiring about a bid. They might not remember you at first, but because you have an interesting page, they will want to get to know more about you and you will be able to build a social network of people who are not just a number on your friends list, but people who keep returning to your webpage because they care about what you have to say.

Once you have a thriving social network, it is important to periodically update both your information and your contacts. Regularly scanning your address book for new contacts will keep your network fresh. Before you connect your address book to your social network, try to first remove duplicate contacts using the Scrubly duplicate contact remover tool. It works with Outlook, Mac, Gmail and Google Apps accounts.  You can scan your contacts for free by visiting http://www.scrubly.com