My Space on MySpace

There has been a lot of talk this past year about MySpace Marketing, or how to tap into the huge database of active users on the MySpace.com network. There are even software programs that will help you to 'spam' MySpace by collecting friends and posting mass comments and classifieds and bulletins.

But just like any other social community online, such as discussion forums for example, spamming doesnt gain you a positive long-term reputation. You may make a few sales or get a few click-through's upfront at best, before you lose your account.

Curious to know more about MySpace, and what makes it so popular, I decided to get involved with it myself and check it out firsthand. Here are a few of the things I have learned in the process so far:

• You should create your own unique MySpace URL for your profile. You can do this under the Edit Profile screen in the Name tab. I used my name "my space dot com slash lynn terry" as its easy for people who know me to remember. You do want to pick something that is easy to say, remember and spell...

• Add personal photos. It is a social network, and people love to see and comment on your pictures. Its a way for people to get to know each other, learn more about you as a person, etc. You definitely want to make your main profile image a personal photo and not a business logo or abstract image - something that 'defines' you.

• Add friends, approve friends, search for new friends. A good mix is fun: potential business contacts, peers, local friends, local people that look interesting, long distance friends, people you went to high school or college with, people with similar interests, etc. The more friends the better 😉

• The Top Friends section is prime real estate. This is usually the "top 8" friends that show on your main profile page. You can move these around, selecting who is displayed in your Top Friends list... and it's "a big deal" (it makes a significant statement) to make it so someone's "top 8" or to put someone there.

• Post blogs. These show up on your main profile page, and I find that people enjoy subscribing to personal blogs of their primary friends. When you subscribe to a blog, it shows you a notification message in your admin panel when you log on anytime someone has posted a new blog. Interesting to note is that they call each post a "blog" instead of a "post".

• Post bulletins when you add new pictures, post a new blog, change your layout or anything else of interest. Bulletins show up in the admin panel of all of your friends, so it is a great way to contact all of your friends at once and generate some new interest in your profile.

• Select a cool layout for 'your space'. It was easier to do than I thought it would be - you can get one from any number of places, I got mine from UltimateMyspace.com. I would choose something simple that loads fast but looks nice - I really dislike profiles that take forever to load or are incredibly difficult to read because of the flashy or dark layout.

• Keep things interesting. Change your tagline at least weekly. Change your main profile image. Add new pictures now and then. Change your top 8 around from time to time (I change mine almost daily) - it gets peoples attention. People notice these things, and they'll comment on them. Stale MySpace profiles collect dust and dont get as many repeat visits from the friends list... constant changes, no matter how small, keep your friends checking in 😉 .

Above all you want 'your space' to reflect you as a person, and to serve whatever purpose you have. If your sole purpose is business networking and gaining clients or making sales, then you'll want your profile to reflect that.

Mine is probably a bad example as its a cross between personal and business details... but I am making a lot of interesting friends, meeting tons of new people, and most of them eventually ask me more about Internet Marketing and what it is that I do in my online business. So it works for me...

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