Have you ever wondered how some people get thousands of Like’s on their Facebook post and others get thousands of Re-Tweets of their tweet?  I know I have wondered for sometime now what it takes to get that kind of popularity.  Not that I want to be one of many I see online with the mega inflated egos.  Just want to know what the millions others out in La-La-Land are not doing right since they are not getting that kind of attention.  So, as is my nature, I looked into how this happens.

I could go on and on with discussing the science of social networking and how social media does impact everything online, but let me just cut to the chase on this one.

In the study I did I found the people who get the thousands of likes to their Facebook post, thousands of comments on their blog and have trillions of Followers on Twitter all have one thing in common.  Ar you ready for this?….They all have a huge Offline network of real friends. WOW, are you shocked?

Over 90% of my contacts who get large numbers of responses to their posts said the people responding to their every breath online are mostly people they have had drinks with or met at a seminar..or are actually longtime friends.

Yes, there really is no secret after all to how these numbers are obtained.  It is not the online presence these people have..not the snappy photo..not the expensive web design…not the cool job these people have.  (Ya, all that helped)  It was the offline effort these people made to create their community of friends.

This means that for those of you who are Tweeting until you puke (please stop) or who sit at a terminal posting Facebook posts all day will never obtain any popularity staying just online.  So quit trying.

To get the attention you feel you need you will have to go meet people.  Yes, I know that is hard for those hardcore unsocial introverts amongst you.  However, if you really are after getting more hits to your site you are going to have to seek some counseling or get some help to get over the phobia you may have with meeting people

The Power of a Tweet-Up, Meet-Up

Whoever invented Tweet-Ups should get some credit for helping onliners to develop an offline presence.  The site Meet-Up.com is now evolving to be a resource to help people get involved with a group of people or create a group of people to network with.  Both of these endeavors are great for meeting people and making friends.

The power of offline social networking is really the key to building an online presence.

Try This

During my study of this issue I headed over to one of the near by local watering holes and found a quiet spot at the end of bar to sit.  I flipped open my Laptop and ‘bada-bing’, I had the two people on either side of me start asking me questions about the internet.  Both had Facebook profiles but never used it since they have no idea what they were doing.

I proceeded to get on my Facebook account and started chatting with a few of my friends.  These two guys started waving over other people they knew at the bar and before I knew it I was chatting with someone on the other end of the bar who was on their iPhone.

I changed the channel and showed the gathering of people around me my blog sites.  I spent 30 minutes proving a blog seminar for this group of people.  All of whom wanted me to look at their blog site.  This went on for two hours when I had had my fill of free drinks from these people and needed to get home.

As soon as I got to my office I saw where I had 55 people wanting to be my friend on Facebook…all of whom I just met at the bar.  These people follow me everywhere online, comment on my blogs and..yes…Like my Facebook posts.  However, overtime they all fell off from responding to me..why?  Because I quiet going to the bar..DUH!  Really, it was because I did not reach out the them online to visit (I do that now and it really works to keep friends).

I am still not getting thousands of responses, but I could see that if my liver and I could hold up to it I could go to a different bar each night and probably gather more and more real friends.

Now, this is just one way to go about building your community.  Going to seminars, conferences or other gatherings of interesting people also helps to get people to know who you are so when they see you online a TRUE connection can be made.

Staying totally online has a limiting effectiveness.  To get where you feel you need to be online you are going to have to cut back on the time you spend in your BVD’s in front of the desktop and step out to a function or a gathering for the purpose of meeting someone.  It really works.  Let me know how I can help.