Five social networking faux pas to avoid

                                          Spam sammich!


Mass messaging friends and not fans is a fast and easy route to surefire deletion. Opening Facebook messages to a sea of spam from ‘friends’ touting their services is frankly just annoying. Often these promotional mail outs are socially, geographically and economically irrelevant and have been sent to every Tom, Dick and Harry in the friends list without a second thought as to whether or not any of these people would be remotely interested. If you’re going to mass message anyone, make sure they’re fans who have taken the time to ‘like’ your page and have a genuine interest in your services.


Control yourself!


Status updates every hour. It happens all the time on every social network – some misguided fool unable to control their compulsion to spread the word about their latest cup of tea. If you’re trying to promote yourself as a serious freelancer, this will say one potentially damaging thing: you have too much time on your hands. That said, spam updating about your business every hour (rather than simple inanities) it is likely a bigger bugbear than your latest cup of tea announcement. Updates should be well constructed and relevant rather than another irritating reminder of your existence. Stop annoying your friends and restrict business updates to business pages.


Don’t believe all digital hype


Advertising campaigns solely conducted through online social media can be restrictive and if not executed with foresight and precision can end in disaster, as furniture retailer Habitat learned the hard way. Despite some protests to the contrary, traditional advertising remains relevant. Although virtual advertising is boundless, it’s also saturated with people like you struggling to be heard, and even if you’re savvy enough to stand out from the herd, continuing to captivate your existing and appeal to a new broader audience . Check out our networking tips.


Stay on topic

If the sole reason you’re using social media is to make money, frequently deviating from your business message is a major no-no.  Unless you’re Stephen Fry or Kanye West, philippic outbursts (indeed on any subject) are likely to turn people off, particularly if the material bears no relevance to your business page or profile. Sticking to subject little and often is key.


Personal space – know the boundaries


Linking your personal profile and your business page can hinder your business reputation. We’ve all heard horror stories about people being sacked, arrested or just plain failing to get past the interview over Facebook content, so why as freelancers would the rules be any different? Keep your page profile colloquial and professional; keep your personal profile completely and utterly private. A transparent Linkedin profile will do you more favours than a Facebook one.