Your success depends on whether or not people like you. If people like you, all types of opportunities will be available to you. People want to do business with, learn from, interact with, and tell their friends about people they LIKE.

Getting people to like you is a major part of marketing.

So, how can you get people to like you?

Disclaimer: I’m going to tell you a bunch of things you already “know,” but the reason I’m mentioning them here is that by paying attention to what I’m about to share with you, you’ll notice more people liking you, wanting to be involved with you, reading your messages, adding you as a friend, wanting to do business with you, referring you to their friends, buying your products, and thinking you’re pretty cool

I know that sounds like an incredible claim. It is an incredible claim, but only because it works.

Here’s a phrase that you’ve probably heard all of your life:

Golden Rule: “Treat others like you would like to be treated”

I know: “C’mon Brian, tell me something I don’t already know.”

How much have you applied the golden rule recently? Knowing the golden rule isn’t enough, following it is where the magic happens. The reason why the golden rule has almost become a cliché is that it’s so profound and works so well it’s become common knowledge.

The golden rule makes things simple. You don’t need to learn a lot of advanced persuasion tactics to trick people into opt-ting into your list, buying your products or promoting you.

By following she wisdom of the golden rule, you get the benefits naturally.

Think about the people you respond well to. What is it that they are doing that attracts you to them? Aren’t they doing ’something’ for you that they would like done for themselves? If you think about it, you’ll see that they are.

A core principle that I teach in almost every lesson to all members at my social media marketing system website is to look for ways to create and add value. Now think about the golden rule. You need to “give value” because you would like to “receive value.”

The way “you would like to be treated” is exactly how you should treat other people! We intuitively know how to get what we want, by simply looking at what we want and then seeking to provide it to others! I know it’s a simple concept, but it’s such an advanced principle.

Let’s look at some practical applications:

If you want to be liked, simply like everyone you come in contact with…

You need to be genuine, there’s no faking it. Look for the good in other people and share it with them. If you actually like them, they’ll like you in return. Think about it for a minute. How many people do you know that think you’re great, but you don’t like them? I don’t know about you, but I like everyone that likes me. Why wouldn’t I? They obviously have great taste by liking me and I should trust their other opinions implicitly

It’s my intention to like everyone. Especially people who don’t like me. By liking them and letting them know about it, it tends to soften their hardness towards me and we often become friends.

Let’s think about how to translate this into networking on facebook (this also works on any other social website, on the phone, or meeting people live):

You like being encouraged, so encourage others.

You like being complimented, so compliment others.

You like being served, so serve others.

You like being empowered, so empower others.

You like making friends, so help other people to make friends.

You value your time, so value other people’s time.

You like receiving recognition, so recognize others.

You like receiving opportunities, so look for ways to create and share REAL opportunities with people.

You like learning how to do stuff that works, so teach others how to do stuff that actually works.

You like receiving stuff for free, so give stuff away for free.

You want to be invested in, so invest in others.

You know what you want, so help other people get what they want.

You know how to do this on facebook by posting on people’s walls, creating videos, sharing pictures, writing notes, messaging your group. Just put out the types of messages that are in harmony with what would be an acceptable way for someone to contact you and you won’t have to worry about following a set of external rules written by someone else.

You’ll attract the people with similar values and those that would be offended will go somewhere else that’s compatible with their values.

If you look at things from a spiritual point of view, you’ll see that giving and receiving are the same thing. Don’t think of other people as separate from you, look at them as brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, friends and cousins. By giving to others, you are giving to yourself. You don’t have to understand this or even believe it, you just need to practice it and you’ll see that it’s true.

Since facebook changed it’s layout, a new strategy has become more effective than under the old layout. Writing notes and tagging people has become a lot more effective due to facebook’s recent changes and by shifting your strategy new opportunities are available to you.

The main reason for this is the new facebook profile design. Now when you look at someone’s profile the wall posts mixed with the feed of related activity are now displayed very prominently while they used to be hidden under a mess of applications and “junk” taking up the profile page.

In a previous blog post commenting on the new facebook layout, I alluded to the fact that you should take actions that have you appear on your friend’s profile feed. One strategy that allows you to get a lot of exposure on many people’s profiles is to create & comment on notes.

Writing a Note

Anyone on facebook can write a note. You can access notes under the “Applications” tab from the menu at the top of every page on the new facebook layout. Once you click on “Notes” look for the button that says “+ write a new note.”

You can also import a note from your blog. If you’re reading this as a facebook note it was imported from the IMU blog,which is where it was originally posted. I’ll discuss how to import a blog as notes on facebook in a future IMU blog post.

Notes can be about anything you like. A note is essentially an article expressing an opinion, news, how-to or any other topic you would like to share. Notes also provide a place for comments, so conversations take place in response to an interesting note.

Tag You’re It!

In my opinion, the ability to “tag” someone in a note is the most compelling reason to write a note.

You’re also able to “tag” people on pictures & videos so anything I say about “tagging” also applies to tagging someone in a picture or video as well.

When you “tag” someone, it displays a message in the tagged person’s feed on their profile page. This gives anyone viewing their profile a chance to see your note and have an opportunity to view it for themselves.

So if you tag people in notes who have a huge number of friends, you can get a lot of exposure to a lot of people just by tagging them. When you tag someone in a note, it also gives them exposure to everyone reading the note.

So both the tagger and the taggee benefit. I don’t know about you, but I like it when everyone wins

Comments that Build Relationships

Tagging someone in a note is a great way to get their attention and to draw them into a conversation. This currently works well to get someone who would typically ignore your requests to pay attention to what you’re doing. This will change as more people start tagging more people. For now it’s a great relationship builder.

So far, I’ve made an effort to comment on all the notes that I’ve been tagged in. I’ve also watched all of the videos and looked at the pictures I’ve been tagged in. I haven’t managed to do this perfectly, but it’s certainly gotten my attention.

I also read ever single comment that is posted in response to one of my notes. This has deepened relationships with certain friends as we’ve commented on each other’s notes. As the conversations move between notes, there’s a growing group of us who are tagging each other as a way to stay connected and exchange opinions about topics of interest to us.

Tagging is an excellent way to engage someone in an ongoing conversation. This works well for friends you’ve known very well on facebook and even for people you’re getting to know as well.

By tagging someone on a note that you write, you’re bringing people into a little community which has emerged around the discussions created from the note. As more people start to comment on the notes and join the discussions, you can start tagging the most frequent participants and your notes will start to go viral.

A Huddled Crowd

I was born on the Island of Oahu in Hawaii and lived there for several years during my childhood and also as an adult for some time. In Honolulu, there is a busy street in Waikiki full of beautiful beaches, shops, restaurants and street performers. It’s the main tourist district of Hawaii.

Occasionally I would see a few people standing in a circle in front of one of the shops. Not being able to see what was happening, I would usually go to see what everyone was looking at. Seeing a group huddled in a circle arouses curiosity among people. Usually it would be a guy playing a ukulele, doing magic, or doing some special type of eclectic performance.

After standing there for a few minutes I would often turn around and notice anywhere from 15-30 people gathering around to see what was happening. More people were attracted to the performance to see what was going on just like I was. In fact, I was partially responsible for everyone else coming to see what was happening because I was one of the people standing there!

Comments on a note on facebook (or on any other type of social media platform) are the huddled crowd that captures people’s attention. Once you get a few people to comment, it draws the attention of any passers by and people want to see what’s going on at the center of the huddle.

As more people comment, more impressions go out in the feeds thus drawing more people into the conversation. It all starts with tagging people in the note & getting them to comment.

I’m afraid that some people are totally missing the point of what facebook is all about! I’m sending this message out to all of my facebook friends about a new policy that I’m adopting personally (I’ve actually always had this policy, I’ve just never explained it to anyone else this way).

I’m simply going to explain my policy. This is an open invitation for you to experience new growth and tap into the power of the connections that I’ve made on facebook as I’m giving you permission to have free publicity!

By reading this entire post you’ll have access to more opportunities through what I’m doing, but you’ll have EVEN more opportunities if you adopt this policy for yourself (or a similar policy).

I, Brian Campbell give you FULL permission to:

1. Post a link to your website on the wall of my facebook profile.
2. Tag me in a note that’s on a topic you think I may be interested in without mentioning my name in the note itself (unless you would like to mention me of course ).
3. Ask me a general question on my personal profile’s wall.
4. Post a link to any videos, pictures or websites that you think that I might enjoy or that the majority of my friends might enjoy.
5. Say hello, initiate a conversation or let me know more about you.
6. I trust your judgement to post whatever you think is appropriate. If it helps you, please post!

I ask that you post something that you think has value. This is for your own sake, not mine. If you spam my wall or feed with an affiliate link that’s completely unrelated to anything that I’m publicly interested in it won’t offend me, it will simply waste your time and possibly hurt your reputation by wasting everyone else’s time.

If you spam my wall and I see it, I’ll probably just delete it.

If you’re not adding any value, you’re never going to be successful anyway.

If you post something that is valuable, I may take the time to view it and perhaps I’ll share it with others. I might comment on it, or say nothing but simply remember that you’re a value creator and I’ll have a positive impression of you that may lead to a business relationship or friendship at some point in the future.

If you have a blog, website, product or service that you’ve created that my network would like to know about, feel free to tell me about it by posting on my wall. Feel free to include a link to the site with a brief description of what benefits someone would achieve by vising the site.

If you tag me in a note that’s related to something you know I’m interested in (social networking, Internet marketing, creating wealth, helping people, law of attraction, giving, healthy living, or spirituality) then the people who are connected to me for those purposes will come and read your note and if it provides value, you’ll build a loyal following.

If you tag me in all of your notes just to get free publicity for yourself, you have my blessings. Even if you think you’re a competitor of mine, go ahead and promote yourself. I don’t have any competition anyway because the value I create cannot be diminished by the value you create.

I’m glad to provide a platform for you to reach people with your message through me.

I want you to provide value to the world and I don’t want to hinder your success. I believe that my network of connections on facebook is one of the most talented, creative and caring groups of people with a true commitment to success and by allowing you the freedom to promote the value that you give to the world, you’re helping me fulfill my mission in life by serving my friends.

There’s one other thing I’ll point out about allowing you the freedom to post freely on my wall, tag me in notes, or do other things to get in my mini-feed. This action benefits me too. That’s right! By posting your opportunities on my wall, you’re actually helping people find out about me and helping me deliver my value to more people. So we both win!

When I asked you earlier in this note to adopt a similar strategy, I did so because by allowing people to tag you and post on your wall you will experience more rapid growth.

Facebook is designed to send new people to you if you allow people freedom to connect with you in the ways I’ve explained above. If you try to restrict people, you’re restricitng your own growth.

It’s a very ineffective use of your time to worry or complain about spammers because focusing on a perceived problem only creates more of the problem. By focusing on the benefits of using facebook as an amazing tool, we are creating more benefits for ourselves and those around us.

If you’re reading this IMU blog post as a note on facebook, I’ve tagged a few people. I’ve tagged my friends and colleagues that I think would benefit from adopting a similar open-door policy. Many of the people I’ve tagged already have this type of policy, although perhaps they aren’t aware of it.

The people who I’ve tagged are my friends, and the message to potential “spammers” mentioned is not in any way addressed to the people tagged above.

The message to potential “spammers” is more of a mindset that I have towards these type of people that I would like you to adopt, and as my friends I know that you have no intentions to spam. I’ve simply shared with you how I feel about what everyone else calls “spammers.”

Since this post was originally posted,  there has been an intense discussion in which a lot of people share their even more insight into the topics discussed above.  Join in on the discussion by visiting this facebook note. (you’ll need to be a friend of mine on facebook to view the note and comments, but you can add me by visiting my profile here).

Yesterday’s blog post explained the wake up call that marketers have been receiving due to the new changes on facebook. This didn’t need to be a wake-up call for those that were using facebook properly under the old facebook design by building their own personal asset outside facebook as described in my free 3 ½ hour video training series at the SMMS website.

The “wake up call” blog post dealt with building your own asset primarily as your own website and opt-in mailing list. My best possible recommendation for anyone serious about making money online is to obtain your own website as soon as possible.

The two most essential things you need to get started online are web hosting and an autoresponder. Those are the only to crucial items for you to obtain to get started and you can get both for about $20-$25 a month. I teach you how to setup your own website in my free IMU course, “Website Creation Toolbox,” which enables you to create your own website in just a few hours.

Diversification in 3 simple steps

You’ve probably heard the expression “don’t put all your eggs in one basket” a gazillion times, so I don’t need to convince you to diversify.

Diversification of your social networking should be easily understood. Here’s a simple formula:

Step #1: Find people online
Step #2: Get them to opt-in to your website
Step#3: Get them active on other social networking site communities that you control

This principle is one of the primary features of P.R.I.S.M, which helps people to get the maximum leverage from their social networking contacts and allows marketers to help each other behind the scenes. There’s a free version of P.R.I.S.M. available when you join this facebook group and a premium version for premium SMMS members.

A simple social diversification strategy

If you follow the formula above you can migrate the people from one site to another and onto your websites as well. You want to initiate a lot of activity on the various social sites because it attracts new people to you and also builds value for all members involved.

Let’s look at an example:

You join facebook and find over 10 hours of really cool social media training that’s absolutely free and you fall in love with facebook, get 500 friends, form a group and get 1,000 people in your group within your first 30 days of activity in a highly targeted niche market.

You’re excited about the opportunity and now realize that the relationships and contacts you’ve formed is incredibly valuable so you seek to diversify to expand your network further and also protect the investment of time you’ve spent connecting with all these people on facebook.

You create a website and give away a free report in exchange for people opting-in to your free newsletter or blog. You’ll be able to use that email contact information to continue building the relationship with your facebook contacts, but now you’re more diversified.

You see the power of the interactivity of social networking and realize that it produces a lot more responsiveness and value for your subscribers than just broadcasting an email to a bunch of people. To diversify further you create a twitter account and encourage people to start following you on twitter by sending emails to your list and messages to your facebook groups.

You go to twitter.com and create an account and start sharing this message: “Follow me on Twitter http://twitter.com/insidesmms.” (you’ll use your twittername instead of mine ) You are now connected with many of your connections from facebook on twitter and new people will start finding you through twitter.

This is the minimum diversification strategy that I recommend anyone have in place who’s serious about building a business from social networking. As your business grows you’ll start getting traffic from multiple sources and you’ll add other social networking elements to your strategy.

Go out and create your website and have people start following you on twitter so you’ve diversified your connections with people to at least 3 different means of communication. You’ll not only protect your contacts, you’ll also be more deeply connected and provide more opportunities for your message to be heard.

Facebook recently changed their layout and it’s been a hot topic of conversation. Although the changes this time have merely been a rearrangement of facebook’s features this sudden change should serve as a warning to those of us that are relying on facebook as one of our primary sources of driving traffic.

Facebook had been planning this new layout for awhile and the new layout was even available on the backend, it just wasn’t highly publicized. The changes in the layout still cause normal users and advanced markers to go through a learning curve to adapt to the changes.

I’m not trying to embed any deep seated fears into you with this post. When I mention “wake-up call” or “warning,” I’m seriously not trying to scare you. In fact the purpose of this article is intended to comfort you and prepare you for the inevitability of what will happen with facebook.

The growth cycle of massively popular sites

Having been a full time Internet marketer for over 5 years I’ve witnessed a lot of tremendous opportunities emerge and evolve with sites like eBay, Google, Youtube and now Facebook. They all go through a similar cycle and Facebook is no exception.

A cool concept is invented like online auctions or sponsored search and then investors pump a lot of money into developing the concept. The site then proceeds to grow geometrically viral until it reaches a significant percentage of ALL Internet users in the world (a significant percentage would be 10% or more).

During this growth phase the revenue generating component of the site is still being developed and there are tremendous opportunities for clever marketers. When the site reaches a certain point it has reached nearly every Internet user and those that are open to joining have already joined.

Once the site can’t grow as fast any more (it’s impossible to reach more people once you’ve reached nearly everyone in the world online), they start to optimize and squeeze the site to make it as profitable as possible. Once the opportunity stops growing, it get’s highly competitive making it require more time, effort & cleverness to get a smaller piece of the pie.

Fortunately for us desiring to make money online, Facebook is still in the rapid growth phase and hasn’t reached the ultra-competitive stage yet. But it’s inevitable and will happen. Since we know this will happen, we need to prepare ourselves for this eventuality.

Create your own asset, not someone else’s

When you spend time on facebook you’re building the asset owned and controlled by the owners of facebook. It’s not wise to put all of your effort building your facebook network without a backup plan.

I currently have over 3,103 facebook friends and over 7,000 people in my facebook groups. I have connected with all of these people on facebook exclusively over the past 2 ½ months, but I have a backup.

Using facebook exclusively, I’ve built an opt-in list of over 3,000 people at my social media marketing system website. Other people are also opting in daily to my IMU website to get my free 200 page eBook. I’ve used Facebook as a way of connecting with people and then I’ve given incentives for people to join my websites to get even more valuable training.

Now I have a list that I own. I control it. If someone comes and reads an IMU blog post and clicks on a PPC ad, I get paid. If someone joins the premium membership at the social media marketing system, I also get paid.

If facebook get’s highly competitive and restricts my actions so it’s not worth my time to be active on facebook, I have permanent access to the list that I’ve built while facebook was worthwhile to participate in and I can move onto the next super sweet opportunity.

If you’re not using facebook to build your own asset off facebook, you’re risking not building your business on a firm foundation. Tomorrow I’ll explain more ways for you to diversify your network so you are less vulnerable and more stable in your social networking activities.