There are many social networking sites that have become the place to hang out in today’s “Connected” online world.  It’s a place to go to visit friends, rekindle old acquaintances, touch base with childhood schoolmates, chat with people you used to work with and meet new people that have similar interests as you do.

Facebook has over 300,000,000 active users.  That’s a lot of people having many conversations.  Conversations are what social networking is all about.  It’s a dialogue.  It’s not about selling, it’s not about making money and it’s not about building a brand or a business.  It’s ALL about making friends and cultivating relationships.

If you run into an old friend that you haven’t seen in many years and decide to go to dinner to talk about the ‘good ole days’, what do you do if your “old friend” starts selling you his products half way through dinner?  You will most likely finish dinner quickly and politely excuse yourself to make a bee-line to the door.

There is a fine line between social networking and SELLING.  The bottom line is that you can’t put it in their face.  If someone you’ve been talking with asks you at some point “so, what do you do for a living?” or “I hear you do “X”, tell me about that.” That’s when you fill them in on what it is that you do and what you might be able to do for them.  They will respect that and even if they are not in the market for your services, they might know someone who is and refer them to you.  That’s the power of social networking.

Social networking is about “The Conversation”.  If you remember that, you’ll be ahead of the curve.