Some of the most vibrant newbies on the Social Media block are the question and answer sites. you've probably seen Formspring tweets inviting questions, which can get quite esoteric or even puerile, but the newer sites are tailor-made for business networking. One of the big must-do's in using social media for business networking is curating content and one of the best ways to get yourself noticed in doing this is to position yourself as a 'Guru' in your field -someone who folk tweet for information or answers to questions. Seth Godin talked about this in his seminal book Tribes



The newer Social Media sites are geared towards this. Three in particular jump out as worth a punt...

Quora, Focus, and Namesake.

Very briefly, Quora is a business-to-business network, Focus is more of an 'Expert' market where you can access downloads, information, and even become a resident expert, and Namesake appears to be much more of a live conversation community, much more chaotic, even anarchic, than the other Q&A sites.

There's a great and much more detailed guide top these sites from Aliza Sherman writing here I'd recommend a read and plenty of reflection.

So, how do you use these sites ? Well, as Aliza suggests, chose one which appears to fit your business or organisational needs best and just give it a go. Its important not to spread yourself too thin, as engagement is the key to success with any of these sites, which after all, exist to promote dialogue, communication and sharing...but do this..

- Make a Splash. Have plenty of content bookmarked in Delicious or Digg accounts managed by your organisation and link to these in your profile and posts on your chosen Q&A site

-Make a Buzz. Engage enthusiastically with the online community. Try to both ask and answer questions. Position yourself as both a 'seeker' and an 'expert'.

-Be Humble. Thank others for their help and pass on their stuff to your professional learning network (PLN).

- Be a Presence. Its important to use your site regularly. Irregular visits are no good for building your profile and keeping it up there in the minds of the community. Set aside time to post and answer questions.

So go on then, give it a go, and above all, don't look at your activity in isolation. Link to your other social media activity. Tweet links to your answers and content, bookmark information discovered and re-tweet it on twitter, share it on Linkedin and above all, blog post and comment. Follow your new contacts if they are on other networks and increase your PLN. Create more contacts, and just as importantly, a bigger audience of prospective clients !


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