Think of the messages you put out on Twitter and Facebook and your blog.  Are you having a conversation?  Or – are you sending out broadcast headlines?  Social media is about the conversation.  It’s about building relationships.  (So is traditional networking, for that matter.)  As long as you are having a conversation and building relationships, everything else will fall into place. Chris Brogan calls this “The Biggest Secret of Social Media“.  He’s right.  It is so simple.

Here’s an analogy…

I talk a lot about the “coffee date” – meeting with another wedding pro to network.  The coffee date is less about business and more about getting to know someone else so that business can flourish.  You meet for coffee, talk about life, have a little fun, and exchange some thoughts on business.  But it’s rare that you’ll actually score a deal on that first coffee date.  You’re building the foundation.  Without that foundation there is no relationship, no trust, no business.

Social media is the same as a coffee date.  People on social media don’t want to be talked AT (or worse: preached at or sold to).  It’s about conversing and getting to know one another.  Don’t miss out on the great opportunity to build relationships on social media in pursuit of something bigger.  You’ll later learn you were sitting on greatness all along.