This is the day of the social networking sites. That is where folks of all ages are hanging out. Kids banned from such sites join anyway, faking their age to join the crowd. Marketers see the potential of such a large group of people. Better still, there are specific groups of people of common interest. So now we have social marketing. Given here are some hints on how to do it.

I use FaceBook and Twitter and a few other social networking sites to announce the articles I place on the Internet. Some of the article sites do this automatically. When you update a lens at Squidoo, it is broadcast to such sites automatically, or almost so. Letting a large audience know about your articles makes you well-known and folks will regard you as an expert and hopefully a person they can trust to supply them relevant content when they read your stuff.

People can follow you on the social networking sites. I have new followers by the hour. I have many articles on the Internet and the last time I put my name in Google's search box, over three million sites came up, mostly referring to articles that I have written. The article writing effect is large. Webmasters pick up the articles and add them to their sites. This links to the writer's sites and these links are noted by search engines and raise the ranking of a site. So, announcing your articles on social networking sites can lead to links back to your site.

Some social networking sites accept paid advertising. I have used this with low response but you have to learn what works and what does not work. Before using the advertising feature of a networking site, communicate with the advertising people telling them what you want to achieve, and listening to their suggestions. Just to go in blind like I did, is not wise. You can lose money there just like you can with pay-per-click.

Some sites like YouTube accept videos. Videos are fairly easy to produce and these sites will tell you how to do it. You can put the videos on your websites too and even in ads at USFreeAds, etc. Videos can double your response.

Social networking sites are like forums. Be polite and helpful and follow the rules. If you get booted off a site, forget about getting back on. They have too many people to deal with to mess with you. Like any kind of marketing, you have to learn the ropes. Despite what the gurus tell you, life is not always easy, especially in Internet marketing.

Fly Old Glory!