Taking a look around the web we now see many areas people like to congregate. While blogs are a favorite stop the social media crowd are visiting some special websites and forcing them into the spotlight nowadays. It remains to be seen just how much one can monetize Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Xing, etc. but what is true is that people enjoy interacting with one another in these virtual social playgrounds. People want to be there, together, and therefore businesses want to be there too.

Unleash the Marketers! In come the snake oil salesman, the sheister, the carpet bagger and the uncreative all whom crowd the social arena along with the good people, businesses and services that really could benefit from one another.  Perhaps it has always been this way when business tries to reach customers but the new(er) social media venues seem to bring an old world, carnival feel.  Everyone and every business of all qualities are mixed together.

From a marketing perspective you do want to be there to rub shoulders with the crowd BUT from a good neighbor point of view the marketer needs to be there with useful information. Metaphorically speaking, every business and marketer needs to leave the bad hair piece and synthetic leisure suit at home and then come and play on the social networks. Be there to share and have your good deal, useful information or worthwhile service at the ready but enter with your personality first, not your product.

It’s about the connections. It’s networking. It’s fun and works very well when properly performed.