***Social Networking Tip: Top 10 Things To Outsource

Entrepreneurs involved in social networking are already feeling the time crunch when it comes to adding this effective marketing tool to the mix. Smart entrepreneurs utilize other people’s talents and energies in their businesses by outsourcing administrative tasks, so it begs the question: can you outsource your social networking too? Yes and No. Successful social networking is built upon relationship building and credibility. If you have someone else doing all your social networking, then at some point it’s going to become obvious that it’s not really you. How will that help your reputation, your credibility, and the relationship building you’re setting out to achieve? Think of it this way: if you were invited to an in-person event where you could meet some amazing contacts, would you send your assistant to represent you? Most entrepreneurs (especially solopreneurs and consultants) wouldn’t be able to do this. When you’re representing your company, YOU are the one who makes the impression. The following lists show simple tasks that can be delegated out, and things that you want to make sure you’re personally doing. You don’t want to risk your reputation by farming out sensitive communication to someone other than yourself so read on and safeguard yourself. nn10 Things you CAN Outsource: 1. Short birthday greetings 2. Grouping Facebook friends into mailing lists 3. Inviting people to join your groups (provide a template invite and criteria of who can be invited) 4. Setting up post dated Tweets on the site Tweet Later. 5. Signing you up for all the many social networking sites and uploading your basic bio, photo, URLs, etc. 6. Social bookmarking articles and blog posts 7. Uploading photos, videos, etc. 8. Optimizing photos, videos, etc. 9. Integrating your many social networking profiles with sites like FriendFeed, Ping, or Hellotxt. 10. Making sure your Twitter Tweets pop up all over the place, like on Plaxo, LinkedIn, or MySpace.nn10 Things NOT to Outsource 1. Any kind of generic “Thanks for the add!” response for people’s Facebook walls. 2. Fake blog comments that are veiled attempts to get people to visit your web site or buy your stuff. 3. Status updates. Do I really need to explain why that is ultra lame? 4. Boilerplate promotions for a class… that you “just happened” to leave on people’s walls. 5. Answering your personal messages. 6. Proposing joint ventures. This can come across as arrogant if not done well. People like to feel special, like you noticed them (not like you’re a royal subject being summoned by the Queen!) 7. Writing on people’s Facebook walls. Once again, it’s super obvious that it’s not you. 8. Any kind of comments (especially the generic ones) on people’s photos, videos, etc. OK, maybe “Nice picture!” is passable, but even that is kind of shallow. 9. Rabid friend acquiring. 10. Recommendations (unless you pre-wrote and pre-approved them) on LinkedIn. Share this list with your team members and brainstorm other ways you can ease up your time spent online without losing the personal touch.