Social Media Optimization and You: Networking to Grow Your Online Business

Social Media Optimization (SMO) is a term coined by Rohit Bhargava and refers to the optimization of a website in order to make it more accessible, visible and linkable in social websites and search engines. The central focus of SMO is to structure a website so that its content and ideas can easily be transmitted virally through media like blogs, podcasts and vlogs.

Bhargava came up with a list of 5 rules for social media optimization, which provided some guidelines on preparing a website for rapid and continuous exposure in a wide variety of social networks.

These 5 rules gradually expanded into 17 rules, with the help of notable bloggers like Lee Odden, Cameron Olthuis and Loren Baker and Jeremiah Owyang.

Here’s the full 17 points as taken from the NewPR wiki on social media optimization

1. Increase your linkability
2. Make tagging and bookmarking easy
3. Reward inbound links
4. Help your content travel
5. Encourage the mashup
6. Be a User Resource, even if it doesn’t help you
7. Reward helpful and valuable users
8. Participate
9. Know how to target your audience
10. Create content
11. Be real
12. Don’t forget your roots, be humble
13. Don’t be afraid to try new things, stay fresh
14. Develop a SMO strategy
15. Choose your SMO tactics wisely
16. Make SMO part of your process and best practices

All of these rules are very useful tips for anyone who wants to utilize the massive potential of social networks for their business or website. I’ve decided to include an additional rule which wasn’t explicitly mentioned in detail by the contributers.

My 17th Rule: “Before Everything else, Self-Optimize for Social Media.”

Before catering to your online community, putting up those social bookmark buttons, or launching into podcasting, I would suggest social media optimizing your online persona.

This also involves asking the question: “Am I virally connected to my audience?” Take for example, a website. No matter how often it is updated, it remains a static platform of accessible information that is structured by tags, categories and archives.

A website is an representation of your authorial self or online persona. To inject the website virally into the bloodstream of social media requires the creation of an personality or face that extends beyond the About or Contact sections of your website.

Active interaction through social platforms also allows you to understand social media and their potential for your business or website.

This brings us to the main question: How do I social media optimize myself?

Four Steps to Self-Optimize for Social Media

While we could delve into abstruse details about the virtual and physical self, self-optimization for social media is actually a fairly straightforward process.

It simply refers to creating an online persona that is open and accessible through various social networks. This includes four steps:

1. Join several popular social websites and networks which are relevant to your website/business.




2. Create a social media bio which lists your professional affiliations and social website profile or openly encourage audiences to reach you through these channels.




3. Explore alternative forms of communication with your audience.




4. Develop two-way interactivity with your audience by enabling them to contact you easily through different platforms.

Social Media Optimization and Dosh Dosh: Networking for Online Success

I haven’t had the time to fully develop a social media bio because I’m a member of so many websites, it would be difficult to list all of them. Revamping my current bio and including the social elements will take some deliberation and effort.

Therefore, I’ve decided to skip to point 3 and provide some alternative forms of communication. In some way, this was partly inspired by Robert Scoble, who is known for bravely displaying his cell phone number and email on his blog sidebar.

While I’m not going to put out my cellphone number (yet), I’m going to share some alternative ways all of you can use to contact me.

Let’s start with some Instant Messengers. Do note that when you add me as a friend, please write a short note to say who you are as well as which website/blog or business you represent. This makes it much easier for me to know who I’m talking to.

I’m usually online so if you have any questions, business proposals, news tips or just feel like chatting, hit me up. If you often use social websites like Digg, StumbleUpon or Reddit, adding me to IMs would also probably be very helpful indeed.

• MSN: doshdoshy [at] hotmail dot com




• AIM: doshdoshy




• Yahoo: maki_doshdosh




• ICQ: 426845459




• Skype: ergoproxyz

I’m also looking towards adding more forms of interaction, perhaps Twitter (shudder!), shout boxes, chat rooms and bulletin boards. I’ll need to do a search on the web and see which one complements my needs and goals. Will do an update on that soon.

These alternative modes of communication will provide more interactivity between you and your audience. Having a large number of contacts and actively networking with fellow bloggers and webmasters is one of the most important aspects of successfully growing your blog and online business.

Talk to y’all soon!