Evern wondered where people get all their twitterings and blog ideas from? Ever wondered what people are writing that makes them so 'followable' (if that's a word)?

Just done a great interview with Rod Sloane where he told me (amongst other gems} that the sensible balance for your online contributions is:

• 80% - pointing to other people and resources which reflect your areas of interest and hold your respect.
• 10% - talking about you as a person. People often want to know who you are before they need to knwo what you do.
• 10% - talking about your products, your services, your business.

I suppose there's a case to be made for spending time doing contributing in the following ways:

• Commenting on the comments, tweets and blogs of others.
• Writing articles and insightful content of your own.
• Asking and answering good questions.
• Introducing people to each other.
• Giving testimonials and endorsements

In addition you need to leave some time for:

• Keeping your profile up-to-date.
• Making connections and answering requests.
• Learning new tools and applications.

Online networks are like offline ones. They only work if you work them. If you want to build a great reputation online (and you're not a celebrity) then it's sharing, contributing, adding insight, connecting and learning. Those kind of things will get you a great name, a great following and a great deal of trust. And that can mean business, wealth, influence and recognition.

Of course, if you're so busy doing all of this, you may not have the time to go out and deliver the business! But that's another problem!