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Guest post by: GT Bulmer Become an Author

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Are you doing too much “marketing” when using Social Media for marketing? Maybe it’s the other way around: too much “social” in your marketing?

Social Media and Social Marketing have become a boon to modern Internet Marketers, but many are finding that a balance is needed when trying to “do business” on social networks.

We all know how important balance is in our lives. The same respect should be given to our social marketing activities. Balance in this area will be good for us and good for those we connect with, whether it is for social reasons or business reasons.

A few years ago, before contemporary social media sites began springing up left and right, most social networking was done through chat rooms, forums and membership sites catering to specific groups. In those early days it was considered bad form to promote your business interests in these social networks, unless they were specifically focused on the purpose. Otherwise, a person could quickly get banned, banished and ostracized for such blatant indiscretion!

That attitude towards marketing and marketers carried over into the new breed of social sites that began developing, and for a time, any form of marketing and promoting was penalized on those sites.

Fortunately for Internet Marketers, it didn’t take long for Social Media sites to realize that business and marketing came part and parcel with many of the members who joined and supported those sites. Many of these members expressed the desire to be able to share their business and marketing interests with others in their social groups. As a result, many of the social networking sites began providing ways and means for members to do this.

Since that time, other social sites have sprung up that cater specifically to marketers.

Even so, it is wise for an Internet Marketer to establish a comfortable balance between marketing and socializing when using Social Media for marketing purposes.

The purpose of social networking is to establish relationships, not to do hard selling. You expand your circle of contacts, get to know people better, allow them to get to know you better, and develop a relationship of trust. Then, when THEY feel the time is right, they will look further into your profile, your interests and your activities outside of the social group and MIGHT decide to inquire further about your marketing interests.

If you try to rush or force this relationship of trust you risk pushing your social contacts away and losing them. If you spend a disproportionate amount of time “recommending” your products or services, rather than simply being friendly and social, chances are your contacts will begin avoiding you. They will see through your ruse of “friendliness” and recognize your true commercial motives.

At the same time, keeping the need for balance in mind, you must be careful not to let your daily routine become too much play (socializing) and not enough work (marketing). After all, you are a marketer and you’ve got to keep promoting your business and making sales.

For your own good, regulate the amount of time you spend each day in your social networks and devote sufficient time away from those networks doing other marketing tasks. There are many good ways to promote your business besides social sites.

Using Social Media for marketing is a great idea, as long as you balance the amount of time you spend on social sites, and when there, you are careful not to let the marketing side of it overwhelm the social side.

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