Part 2 of a series

Social Media Marketing (SMM) has both advantages and drawbacks. While many SMM strategies are free and readily accessible to anyone willing to invest the time and effort, you have only so much control of peoples’ perception of you and your business once you put yourself “out there.”

One benefit of SMM is the potential viral nature of the spread of a message. We’ve all seen how a certain email joke or home video can rocket to superstardom apparently overnight, raising the question for entrepreneurs and established businesses: how do I become the next big thing?

Though there are those unlikely instances where some random tidbit hits global status, but most of us prefer to take a little more control over our positioning online. For some, the natural response to the overwhelming scale of the online world is to withdraw, but just because your company isn’t actively involved in social media doesn’t mean your customers and constituents aren’t. Following are a few hints to help guide your Social Media Marketing campaign.

Define Your Own Image – While the word-of-mouth nature of publicity online can cause a message to spread like wildfire it can also get similarly out of control if we don’t know how to manage it. Although we can’t control how people evaluate or recommend us, we can help ensure that our message is consistent and that it gets at the heart of what we are as a business.

There are networking sites such as Biznik, LinkedIn, Plaxo and Naymz where you can develop profiles for yourself, your company or product. Make sure that you’re presenting a common message in all cases, and take advantage of the options to tie in websites and personal pages from MySpace, Facebook and the like so people can easily learn more about you.

The more that people encounter a consistent and positive brand associated with your company, the more likely they are to entrust you with their business when the need arises. With Facebook for example, you can add HTML, Flash, or even Facebook applications to your pages to extend their functionality and the depth of experience users can have with your brand.

Pick Your “Friends” Carefully – Some people believe that the larger our circle of acquaintances are online, the better off we are. However, this is not necessarily the case. For example, for every legitimate “friend” request on social networking sites, there can be a handful of false profiles looking to use your profile as a billboard to promote their less-than-savory services.

If you automatically approve all new friend requests without screening them first, don’t be surprised if the next time you sign in you find questionable content posted in your comments sections. When possible, always set public comments and images so that you have to approve them before they appear.

Many people find that swapping links with other websites is a great way to get your website in front of more folks, but keep in mind that any links you post on your site or personal pages will be associated with you. It’s better to be discriminating about the affiliate partners you choose than simply to play the numbers and link with anything and anyone who asks you to.

Establish Your Expertise – “Group” sites like Yahoo Groups, MSN Groups, Google Groups and AOL Groups are excellent ways to create dialogue with people of similar interests. You can do a quick search on each group site to find existing groups that align with your business interests. Join the groups, introduce yourself, ask substantive questions and offer thoughtful comments and advice to others. In time, you will build a reputation as someone who not only knows what they are talking about, but who is willing to share your knowledge to benefit others.

Can’t find a group that meets your needs? You can also easily start your own group and invite people to the conversation. However, take the time to consider the audience you are attempting to attract. Are you trying to network with other business owners, or directly with consumers? Are you more invested in building rapport and trust, or in promoting a product?

It only takes a few bad experiences for word to get around that you’re little more than another opportunist, trying to exploit the open networks online solely for personal gain. But if you invest in others, the social collateral you can build in return can be invaluable for your long-term business.

There are always stories of overnight phenomena where people rise from obscurity to fame in a matter of days or hours. However, such a meteoric rise is not only rare, but it also is unpredictable. Rather than gambling your online reputation on a sensational message or by spamming strangers, the best approach is to deal with people the same way you would in person: with respect, over time and with their needs and interest at the top of your mind. It’s a more gradual build, but the benefits of a solid professional reputation are worth the careful effort.