Cooresponding article found here: http://www.tmcnet.com/channels/communities/articles/224974-8-ways-subtly-connect-online.htm

1. 8 Ways to Connect with Social Customers October 2011 By Erin Korogodsky, Social Strategist @erinkoro

2. What’s the right tone? What should I say? What should I share? Where do I start? 2

3. Online engagement can be overwhelming It can be difficult… 3

4. 8 Ways 4 To connect with social customers online

5. 1. get a Twitter account 5 Twitter is a great starting point to watch the flow of conversation. It’s public so it is transparent which allows for trust to be established. Twitter is a great place to describe yourself in a few short words.

6. 2. click “favorite” on a Tweet 6 The Tweeter will get a message that says you ‘favorited’ their Tweet. It’s a subtle way to say, “ I think that was awesome!”

7. 3. set up a Twitter List 7 Call your list something meaningful – you will surely get noticed for noticing them.

8. 4.comment on a relevant blog post 8 Comment in response to a relevant blog or post. It’s a great way for you to stand out and demonstrate that you have something valuable and sincere to contribute, even if it’s just "thanks for your post, I learned a lot!".

9. 5. share blogs 9 Or share a blog using the “share tools” directly on the post. Not only will you be sharing something valuable with your network but these things are all measured and tracked by the person that posted. You are establishing yourself as part of the conversation.

10. 6. add blogs to company newsletter 10 By adding their blog post to your Company News Letter, They'll notice you and probably read that edition of your newsletter too. Send a message to the blogger letting them know you loved their post, along with the newsletter that it got "picked up" in.

11. 7. help people boost Klout 11 Klout is a measure of a person’s social currency – how active they are in social media. It measures a user's influence across their social network. +K is Klout’s version of the “like” button on Facebook with one big difference - Kloutwill show the categories where a person seems to be engaging the most.

12. 8. start a dashboard 12 Build your own Dashboard with HootSuite or Co-Tweet or Seesmic or TweetDeck. Choose one and sign up for free. Its an easy way to manage all your social accounts on one dashboard. It also saves time and energy.

13. Key Take Away 13 Make the time and meet people where they already are!

14. 14 About Lithium Find us on the Social Web The Lithium Social Customer Suite helps great companies turn social customer passion into marketing, product development, and customer service assets. The Lithium Social Customer Suite offers complete social monitoring, a comprehensive community platform, and actionable analytics across millions of blogs, forums, and social networking sites. For market leaders such as Best Buy, AT&T, Research In Motion Limited (RIM), Univision, and PayPal, Lithium is the leading provider of social customer solutions that deliver real business results. Follow us on Twitter Find us on Facebook Follow Us on LinkedIn Join the Lithosphere Additional Resources Subscribe to SocialMatters Lithium Resources Lithium News & Events

15. why Lithium? 15 DeepEngagement Social Science Social Success Rich data for analysis, benchmarking, and optimizing your social investments. Great experiences for your most passionate contributors—your superfans. Driving real business outcomes. www.lithium.com.

16. recognized leadership 16 Lithium is Number 1 in: Current offering Features Strategy Clients November 2010 “The Forrester Wave™: Community Platforms, Q4 2010” www.lithium.com.

17. Lithium Resources 17 Social CRM: What is the purpose of Twitter? Social Support with Online Communities Facebook and Beyond The Lithium Social Customer Suite Lithium Community Platforms Lithium Social Media Monitoring Lithium Customer Intelligence Center LevelUp for Facebook