There are hundreds of ways to exploit social media to help your business or to build your personal brand but one that should stand head and shoulders above any other is the simplest of them all and has been around for as long as we have been on the planet….help other people. It sounds really really easy and you probably don’t even think it warrants you reading the rest of this post but if you stop and think about it for a second do you really help others? Do you consistently go out of your way to help others and put their needs above yours?

Let me let you in on a little social media secret…Helping others is the key and any work you put in to help others will come back to help you in the long run 10 times over. The beauty in this day and age is that it is so easy to help others through social media now. You just have to want to.

It’s not going to happen in a week or even a month (although it can) but if you make it your mission to help people online in whatever way you possibly can it will always come back and make your day when you least expect it. I am not just talking about re-tweeting somebody or linking to them in your blog but actually going properly out of your way and helping somebody else to achieve their goals. Not your goals, their goals.

There is no set formula on how to do this but you might start by passing business on to others (even within your own niche), taking a little time to write recommendations for people you have worked with on Linkedin without them prompting you, taking the time to connect 2 people you know and who could work together, writing a blog post to help somebody you know and a whole host of other ways that are only capped by your imagination.

Don’t do this as a one off. Make it part of your DNA. Make it one of the first things that you do every morning. Don’t go out into the world trying to constantly sell yourself. Promote others, help others and I can guarantee you it will come back and give you a massive boost when you least expect it from the most unlikely source.

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