A recent article carried by Reuters exclaimed "P**n passed over as Web users become social: author". Social networking sites are now the hottest thing on the internet. This has major ramifications on how people will do business and in particular, what you need to do in your network marketing business.

Social Networking Signals Changes in the Way We Communicate

The fact that social networking sites are now the most viewed sites on the internet points to a fundamental change in the way we communicate. The internet was all about the technology and technology was the driving force behind its initial growth. These advancements have moved us to where technology provides anyone access to more information and knowledge at the click of a mouse than all the information and knowledge that ever existed prior to the 20^th century. But with all this high powered technology, the people side of things got lost in the shuffle. You could even hide behind the technology and go about your activities on the internet virtually anonymously.

But that has left people feeling disconnected and isolated. There is a basic human need to interact, connect, and communicate with others. Part of this need is being satisfied by the social networking sites. Social networking sites encourage and facilitate the interaction and connection of people from all over the world. The theory that there are only six degrees of separation between any two people in the world probably isn't even true any more as the internet has flattened our connections with the majority of people in the world, especially those active on the internet.

People communicate by expressing their interests. And in the internet age, this expression is manifested by the searches we perform and the sites we click on. As Bill Tancer, author of "Click: What Millions of People are Doing Online and Why It Matters" says, "we are, in fact, what we click, with Internet searches giving an up-to-date view of how society and people are changing."

Impact on Internet Network Marketers

What does this mean to you, the internet network marketer? First off, whether you know it or not, people are looking for you. People are looking for business opportunities and they are looking for people who are attuned to doing business in new ways. Network marketing is a great business model but it has been tainted in so many people's minds by the tactics used by people in the past. Nobody wants to harass their friends and relatives and be shunned and avoided by them. Nobody wants to have to go to malls to ambush and prospect strangers who are innocently shopping to try to get them into their business. People want to be involved in something that is professional, legitimate, innovative, cutting edge and preferably fun. Attraction marketing and social media marketing combined with network marketing is all that. Provide those looking for a business opportunity with valuable information and advice upfront at no charge and win them over to this new way of doing network marketing.

The second part is to get active in social marketing. Get out there on the internet. Provide valuable content and position yourself as an authority on internet network marketing. Be active on Facebook and MySpace. Upload videos to YouTube. Create a blog. Write articles for Squidoo, HubPages, and Ezine Articles. Get involved in social bookmarking. Be active in forums. But remember to do this with the other person in mind. Build relationships online. Be a giver. Be real. If you take care of others, you will be taken care of in the end.

I hope this artilce has gotten the wheels turning in your head about social marketing. Corporate America hasn't quite figured it out. But individual entrepreneurs have the nimbleness to take advantage of the changing business and social landscape.

C Doug Mah is an internet network marketing coach whose goal is to teach independent business owners how to use attraction marketing and Web 2.0+ technologies to grow their businesses profitably. Going beyond the old school techniques that are still being taught by some network marketing and MLM organizations, these techniques drive pre-qualified prospects to your business, allowing you to spend more time in business building and training instead of prospecting and recruiting. If you are interested in learning more about internet network marketing, attraction marketing, and social marketing, please join me, C Doug Mah at Renegade University. It's free to sign up.