It has been awhile since I've talked about building up the "you" brand, but I think it's time to re-emphasize it. With a growing number of marketers going to social networks to practice their trade, I have seen a lot of bad examples of what you should not do in those networks.

Let's look at some of this, shall we?

Stop Selling!

The main thing that people really ought to pay attention to is how they are coming across to other people. The first thing is stop selling. Imagine you're going to a cocktail party, and you know that you're going to meet some really interesting people in there. And you could probably have really good conversations with them. What is also going through your head is that you're a marketer and these people would be a great audience for your product.

Get that thought out of your head right now!

You go to a cocktail party to meet some friends and make new friends. And not just friends for the sake of marketing to them later. It's true that some of them may do business with you in the future, but you can't know that right now. The people you talk to may actually be a great fit for what you offer, but if you come across too strong that's going to turn them off immediately.

Start Dating

One of my favorite analogies in marketing is the dating analogy. This analogy goes something along the lines of you being in the dating scene and looking for a husband or wife. You have a rough idea of the kind of person you'd like to marry. And, lo and behold, you see that person across the room at a party.

You smile at them, they smile at you, and you feel like there's a real match. You walk up to that person and the first words out of your mouth are "let's get married and have babies!" Unless there is something really wrong with that person they are going to run away from you as quickly as they can. But yet, most network marketers use this approach to finding new people for their business.

If you really are in the mindset of dating in order to find a good husband or wife, you'd go about it completely differently. Sure, you'd be attracted to people who matched up with your personality, interests, etc., but you would also take time to make sure you got to know them well. At some point you would have spent enough time with each other that it should become obvious that it's a natural match for you to get married.

The online social networks give you the opportunity to do just that with your business. By becoming involved with these networks as a true user and someone who is sharing their interests with other people, you become trusted and your opinion counts more with that audience.

The Trust Factor

From a pure marketing perspective, the best thing you can do is to build trust with your audience. The best way to build that trust is to really become a part of that audience. Relate to their problems and help them find solutions. If you do that you'll not only find good customers and business partners, but good friends.

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