Just recently, I, along with some really good people, have started to push Symbiocracy forward to a new level, beyond my consulting, workshops and blog. I am really excited that I will now be able to help clients to get further along in their whole internet strategy. An integral component will be a partnership with a well-known and respected technology team, who can deliver the products that businesses need to compete with the global marketplace.

One of the first steps is an updated site that speaks more to our business direction and  capabilities. As a preview of things to come, once the partnerships are finalized our services will include all of the following:

• Strategic social enterprise business plans
• Website branding
• Website architecture
• Website user interface
• Website monetization strategies
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Basic and high-level website creation
• Social media strategy and development
• Social media application creation
• Social media implementation coaching
• Email marketing strategy, development and deployment
• Logos and corporate identity
• Display advertisement design
• Contextual advertisement strategy
• iPhone and iPad applications
• Cause marketing strategy
• Brainstorming

Photo by Michael Grunow

Wall Posts
When asking questions, for which you are expecting a response, write a message. Do not ask the question on the person’s wall.

Comments
Use comments to participate in a conversation about a particular wall post. Do not talk about anything else, for two reasons: First, the person who made the initial post did not intend for it to initiate other topics of conversation, and they may find it difficult to politely redirect the conversation back to the original topic. Second, all of the other people who are participating in this particular conversation about this particular comment will receive a notice about your comment, something they may not be interested in.

If you like a post, click the like button, and if you have something constructive to say about it, leave a comment. Otherwise, the person posting will feel like they are talking to him or herself.

Application Requests
Only send application requests (Mafia Wars, FarmVille, etc.) to all of your friends once. Beyond that, only send the requests to people who actually participate in the application. (Most applications indicate which of your friends use the application.)

Group and Page Invitations
When you are inviting people to your group or page, consider that there is a difference between people who support the topic and people who want to get involved in the topic. Some people will feel obligated to join your group or be a fan of your page just because they like you and/or they support what you are doing. Do not, then, annoy those people with incessant messages that they have to delete from their inbox. If you would like to engage both groups, it may require you to create two different groups, for the different levels of involvement.

Messages to Fans
If you control a fan page, do not bombard your fans with messages. Only use messages to communicate very important information. All other information should be communicated in wall posts.

Friend Requests
Only ask people you know personally to be your friend. If you are receiving too many friend requests from people you don’t know, it might be time to create a fan page. And, if this is the reason you are creating a fan page, nobody will think your creating one is arrogant.

Do not take it personally when people don’t accept your friend request. Some people only use Facebook for their close friends and family. There is nothing wrong with this decision.

Photos
If you post an unflattering photo of your friend on Facebook, do not tag them.

General
All offline ettiquette still applies. If you shouldn’t do it in the real world, don’t do it on Facebook either.

Thinking of starting a social media platform to steal a piece of the pie from Facebook and Twitter? Not so fast. Consider the following before you do:

1. Don’t force it.  A one-sided conversation can be forced, but a real conversation will only happen organically.
2. Consider why people will participate in your particular niche. Not all topics deserve conversation.
3. People will conduct online conversations where it makes the most sense to them. Some of the most popular platforms don’t even advertise; they are promoted only through word-of-mouth (and I don’t mean radio ads).
4. Consider why the potential users of your social media platform will use your social media platform instead of one that already exists.
5. Be creative when you open the platform up to the public. Only so many people will initiate conversations to empty space.

Who benefits from well-planned social media platforms?

• The platform – strategic companies earn much more revenue when they really understand the value of their product.
• The users – people appreciate the value of interacting with others, learning from those who know more than them and teaching others about something in which they have expertise.
• Related companies – companies love to sell directly to their target audience.