imagesCAZXONG1Social media is about giving not taking…

I have a friend who has a brother-in-law (God bless him) that is “Mr. Pot of Gold at the End of the Rainbow”.

Always the short-cut and always looking for the next best way to make it big (without having to work too hard).

I think some view social media this way – the be all end all, without having to do too much to make it a success.

The way some talk about it, you would think that all it took was a Facebook account here, a LinkedIn account there, a Tweet or two, and off you go to the world of endless possibilities. Not so fast Marketing Grasshopper.

Social takes time. It takes effort. It takes persistence. And it takes some creativity.

An article on the “right way” to manage LinkedIn points to 7 principles that one must follow on LinkedIn in order to make it effective.

There is one that stands out that many would argue is just too long term to make it worthwhile: “GIVE”.

The more you can give to people (insights, content, advice, connections), the more people will value you and help you when you need it most.

I interviewed a candidate today who complimented our sister company (www.rswus.com) on the “richness” of our site. She was so impressed with how much we “gave away”.

This act of “giving” has always been a purposeful strategy.

The more we give, the more people appreciate us, trust us, and the more we set ourselves apart from the other agency search firms and other agency new business firms on the market. This approach has helped us dramatically improve retention year after year and has helped us markedly set ourselves apart from other firms “like” us in our space.

Bringing value to associates on LinkedIn (or any other social media site for that matter) takes time, takes patience, takes persistence.

In the end, the “brand” equity that you build for yourself will go a long way to setting yourself apart from others looking for help, or when you, yourself are looking to make connections for the betterment of your career or your company.

GIVE a little and you’re sure to get a lot in the long run.