Bruce Clay had a good article in his newsletter about the key mistakes companies make in Social Media Marketing. The article was longer than it needed to be. Basically, here is my take on the “Deadly Sins†of Social Media: 1) Thinking Social Media is a place to sell products or services. It isn’t. Use it to create a buzz to create the “thirst†for your product or service. 2) Create / Join / Steer Conversations. Social Media is all about conversations. If you can create, join or steer a conversation, you will create a positive “buzz†about your product or service. 3) Using Social Media Marketing as a “Link Farm.†It is just bad taste and it will do a lot of harm and damage to your company’s reputation. Use it for its intent … to create a buzz in the market. 4) Spamming by Outsourcing. Many overseas companies will Spam with Social Media and post profiles with very little, if any, real content. Choppy copy and sentence structure which reads so poorly you would think words were left out. 5) Lurk and Ask Questions. Often by not showing your presence as a company and just “lurking†in conversations, only asking questions when it is needed, you can learn a lot of what customers in the market want. More importantly, you can find out what their stresses are, focus your pitch on the solution and then target potential searches to gather additional prospects. 6) Once You Start, Stay Committed. Nothing is worse than arriving in a community that is dead. If your are going to be involved in Social Media, give it a real commitment. 7) Don’t Expect Instant Success. This is a learning process, no matter your industry. Take it slow and realize you’re going to make mistakes. If you want to learn more on effective Social Media Marketing, the best course I know is Howie Schwartz’