The more you know about social media, the more you realise you don't know!

It's an absolute labyrinth!

So a week into my 90 day experiment to go from 'Zero to Hero' on 90 days online, here are my top tips for making social media work for you:

1. Avoid comparisons. There'll always be people further on than you, both in the popularity of their online identity and their knowledge of how it all works. Don't get upset about it. They've done their homework and they've served their time. They deserve their 'connections' and their reputation. If I kept on comparing myself to my rivals and competitors who seem to be all over this stuff, I'd soon get discouraged!
   
2. Be yourself. Cloning other identities, trying to be like someone else or doing things somebody else's way has some merits. They say the way to be successful is to do what other successful people have done. But there are millions of different combinations to achieve success and acquire a formidable network in the online world. Work on your own strategy, in your way, at your pace and with your own unique style.
3. Be strategic. Pick a lane. And choose just a handful of online networks and mediums to build your reputation online. I've picked linkedin, ecademy, facebook, twitter and flickr. Later on I'm sure to add friendfeed. But you can't be part of lots of communities and still expect to make a meaningful contribution. It spreads you too thin.
   
4. Have something to say and/or share. It helps to be original, or to take existing ideas and thoughts into new directions. But there's also great benefit and contribution by sharing the original thoughts of others with your followers and your community.
5. Be consistent. Decide who you want to be, and keep it as authentic and consistent as you can. Similar profiles on various sites can instil trust and congruence. People become familiar with you and trust your identity and your profile. I've put the same photo on all of my profiles.
6. Decide on your values and your message. It's no good wanting to be famous or influential (whatever that looks like for you) if you can't yet decide what you want to be famous for or influential about. What's your point? What's your message? What's your personal brand? Who do you want to be? I'm a reputation expert, so everything I do needs to dovetail into that promise; that proposition. Once you've got a compelling and interesting message, you can communicate it with passion and consistency.
7. Pace yourself. I'm scheduling 30-120 minutes a day to build my online reputation. it's about relationships, sharing, contribution and consistency. Those things take time, effort and application. It doesn't matter if you have just a few minutes a day. Make it count!