1. Not all sharing is equal: regardless of your intention.
What you share will not suit everyone’s need or interest. Making an impact starts with honest interaction followed by useful data for mutual benefit.
If you share without real interaction and sincere interest in viewers you become the blur of words and pix the reader learns to avoid.

2. You can’t fake social. 
Social media requires one important factor; you must really be social. People need to know you are interested in their stuff as well as your own. Drive-by social media will get you quickly ignored. Find people with like interests or things that inspire you and build relationships that are based on mutual respect and sharing.

3. Give them something to do. 
Okay, you’ve got their attention, now what? Get them to respond, to engage or go somewhere. This is where pinterest, Facebook and tumblr, to name just a few, allow you to find something than repost it sharing it with others, they find your website, your information or something they need to know and the reason you started sharing in the first place.

4. Engagement is not an option-it’s a necessary goal. 
Now you have started a relationship, you need to engage your readers, be available, answer questions or expand on information you’ve shared. Engagement shows that you are not just sharing information you stand behind the ideas, you can support them with knowledge and useful expertise.

 5. Make goals and learn how to reach them. 
You need to share with a purpose. Have a clear vision of what you want your audience to do and a formula for what a successful campaign would equal whether in new connections, reposts and retweets or amount of response and engagement.

 6. Ask the experts-learn from others’ experiences. 
You’ve been growing a following on various platforms. Now it’s time to add to the momentum, see why others who are leaders in social media have larger engaged following-it’s time to take your sharing to the next level-learn from the professionals that have the following and solid content to prove it.

 7. There are no shortcuts; it takes time, work and content. 
In a society wanting everything now, there is no shortcut to creating a lasting impression; it takes many hours of patience and perseverance.

 8. Don’t disappear- stay focused and engaged so your audience will. You’ve done all the work, you’ve taken the time and effort now you must keep yourself and your audience engaged. Don’t disappear and at the same time don’t keep tweeting the same old thing, give them something new, something interesting and keep them engaged.

 9. Social media is a two-way street, retweet and mean it.
A relationship requires give and take. If you only show and tell your own story no one is going to share theirs or yours with anyone, you need to work with your audience and offer them the same respect and appreciation for their thoughts, stories and products.

 10. Don’t cry wolf. Don’t offer false information, thoughts and ideas that are pointless, exaggerated information-make a good first impression and make sure your audience knows your not only going to be there but that they can count on your perspective and trusted information.

Here is just a small list of the experts that have impressed me with their knowledge of social media and wealth of content. These are specific to the creative side of social media.

http://www.artpromotivate.com- a great site for artists-Graham Matthews is the owner and does a wonderful job of connecting and offering artists valuable information. He’s also a gifted artist https://plus.google.com/101360643544552502915/posts.

Jennifer Mattern from All Indie Writers http://allindiewriters.com It’s a great place for lots of information on writers, publishing, blogs, etc.

http://www.angelikafineart.com- a wonderful artist I found on twitter who has so much information to share and a great following.

Let me know if this post was helpful. It’s still a work in progress but social media and marketing in general is a knowledge that grows and adapts in a rapidly changing landscape.