Social Networking

When people hear the phrase social networking, the first thought that typically pops into their heads is MySpace. But social networking today reaches far beyond glitter text and Dashboard Confessional profile themes.

A few grown-up social networking sites include Facebook, Ning, and LinkedIn.

These sites have evolved beyond bored (and boring) middle-school users and have become a powerful way to remain in contact with your friends and even help you make new ones.

I'll discuss more about Facebook and using social networking to help strengthen relationships with viewers in Chapter 12, but here I'll focus on the promotional aspects of social networking. The majority of my friends on Facebook and MySpace are YouTubers or computer professional freelancers looking for work. My friends on these sites are people working on projects similar to mine and promoting projects similar to mine. They understand, and at times are even interested in, the bulletins I post advertising my latest video, my next live streaming event, or where to preorder this book.

Once you've amassed a few hundred, or a few thousand, friends on these sites, the bulletins and notes you post can become very strong marketing tools. However, I strongly suggest you post only when you have an important project or video and post about each project only once. Too much self-promotion, and eventually your friends will stop clicking through. They'll know before they even read your bulletin that you want them to "click here" or "digg this" or "read more…." Also, make sure you occasionally read and respond to or comment on your friends' bulletins and notes. Not doing so will also make them lose interest, rather quickly, in your postings.

YOUR NETWORKING SAVINGS ACCOUNT

I like to think of networking as a savings account. You can't withdraw anything from a savings account until you put something in. Answer private messages, wish your contacts a happy birthday, and if someone hasn't posted in a while, leave them a comment and ask whether everything is okay. These little deposits could pay big dividends later. Be genuine, though. Banks know when you're handing them fake bills, and your friends will know when you're on a profile-commenting spam spree as well.

If you want to be there, it's better than doing it out of a sense of obligation. Make honest deposits, and when it's time to make a withdrawal, you'll find more than enough help there.

The friends you add on these sites may also open opportunities for you. I was invited to record an unaired clip for the prime-time show iCaught on ABC because my friend Jill (www.youtube.com/xgobobeanx) (URL 10.4) recommended me and a few others to the producers when they asked for additional guests. I've written guest blog posts for my friend Kevin's (www.youtube.com/nalts) (URL 10.5) blog, and he introduced me to a new ad agency, who paid me a few hundred dollars to film a mock ad.

Henry Hartman said, "Success is when preparation meets opportunity." You've prepared. You're reading this book, learning your camera, and mastering your editing program. Now help make yourself open to opportunity by networking with the largest circle of friends that you can.

This may all sound cold and calculating. It does involve calculation, but it doesn't have to be cold. Calculation is simply planning. Promoting and marketing are sales. Sales is all about persuading someone to buy or click or watch, but it can be done in a humane and equitable way. (Remember that sidebar about art karma in Chapter 7?) Again, the flip side to this coin—the interacting and the organic relationships that make all of this worth it—will be discussed in Chapter 12 and are equally, if not more, important.