Guest Writer: Preeti Pradhan, blogger at Web Hosting Search
I attended a session at the HostingCon Conference on Social Media and Marketing. To me it makes perfect sense: as a twentysomething female who spends half her life online companies have the perfect prey to target. In an industry that is considered quite boring (seriously, who wants to read about dedicated hosting and grid servers), social media marketing is interesting. Social media is about reading into people’s personalities, likes and dislikes as an anonymous person. What you can learn from this is invaluable. So what can we learn and how do we apply it as say, a web designer with his business webpage?
Know thyself and know others- Join online communities you consider valuable. And do not sit idle. Post, comment, do anything, but contribute positively.
Work out a plan- There are many modes of social media. Some are networks (e.g. Facebook, Myspace), others are news feeds (Digg, del.icio.us ). You cannot pick them all; concentrate on the most important for you.
Be patient- You will not generate income, leads, and magic overnight. Social media is a long term project. It is not even a project; it is a new way of life online. As you continue your journey into the Social media world, you will know more and more about your niche.
Respond- It sounds juvenile to tell people to respond to emails, posts, comment-backs but it is vital. I have a hard time keeping up with my own Facebook, Flickr, and WordPress, let alone anything I do at work. If someone posts a comment on your blog, be prompt and engage that person. The more active you are the more real you are. No one wants to post a comment only to find out the blog is full of spammy crap or was last updated in 2004.
Remember, even though I learned this at a hosting conference, it is applicable to everyone. If your visitors and customers know you make an effort, you will be rewarded.
And good luck on your digging 
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September 2nd, 2008
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