Dustin Luther has more than 1,000 ?ans?on the social networking site facebook.com. He has a profile and more than 1,400 ?onnections?on linkedin.com. And upwards of 1,400 ?ollowers?receive one or two ?weets??messages of 140 characters or less ?he sends each day via twitter.com. The 33-year-old, who lives in Winnetka, also founded raincityguide.com in 2005, a popular real estate blog in Seattle. And when he? not blogging, tweeting or catching up with fellow Facebookers, he is a social media consultant and runs 4realz.net, a web site that offers social media strategies, tips and links. ?ocial networking is a great way to continuously engage people on things related to business,?says Luther. It? not just for the younger generation, he says. There are potential upsides for professionals who use these sites to promote their businesses and stay connected to colleagues. But there are also things to keep in mind to make sure social networking does not become a liability. Question: How can people use social networking to promote their business? Answer: For me, the trick is to understand the audience you want to reach and community you want to create around your business and brand. Then it? about engaging people appropriately. For example, Twitter is a way to banter and talk with other people ?in 140 characters or less. It? good for the local community networker type, and for people who like to engage in conversation. Those who can do professional-type banter will do really well on Twitter. But, it? time consuming. Linkedin.com is great for more of the business networker. There? less banter and it? more about swapping business cards. Facebook is a fascinating tool because it offers personal profiles designed to let you connect with close friends and family, and then a business page that gives you similar tools to connect with ?ans?in the business community. Q: What type of banter is appropriate? A: Posting links to interesting web sites, videos, photos and other things on the web can be good. The key is focusing on shared interests, things that engage other people in the business community and potentially in the community where you live. And when using a social networking site for business, you don? want to talk about how drunk you got last night. On a professional level, I use these sites to start a discussion. It? a way to reach out to people who have given you permission to market to them by becoming a ?an?of your business. And the most interesting thing about Facebook is that it? built for you to be able to reach friends of your fans. Q: How does blogging fit into social media? A: Blogging is one of the most effective website tools you can use to generate interest in your site, product and business. The main reason is that the blog is done on a site that you already own and control, so you have tremendous flexibility in the types of calls-to-action you put out there. With blogs, you write regular updates on whatever you think may be interesting to your readers. In-bound links coming into your site from other sites with good rankings increase your search engine results. And there are all kinds of ways to connect the blog to social media sites. For example a Twitter feed can connect directly to your blog as a post. And likewise, you can add a link to your blog on a Twitter post. I use both as a way of bringing people to my blog and social media sites. For many new bloggers this can be their largest source of traffic. Q: How do you engage people and not come off as a hard-sell? A: The hard sell rarely works in social media settings. It? too easy to ?n-friend,??n-follow,?and ignore somebody who? trying to sell you something. People don? like to feel like they are being marketed to constantly. The trick on a site like Facebook is to be relevant?omment and post things on the profile that your audience is interested in. It? not about posting what you want them to be interested in. That concept can be hard for somebody who treats social networking like a business. When done right, businesses reach and engage with an audience that either sends them business directly, or more commonly, through referrals. That one step removed is where most business is done on social networking sites. It? about trust and relevance. You earn people? trust by being interested in them and relevant. Q: Are there ethics to consider when using social networking for business? A: One popular web site was having people write fake reviews of their products to generate sales. Getting caught doing something like this looks really bad, especially with how fast information spreads on the Internet. People need to remain skeptical about anything they read on-line, which makes generating trust all the more important. The thing I ask myself is, ?ould this be appropriate in an off-line environment??There is also an organization called Word of Mouth Marketing Association that has developed a code of ethics. But social networking can also be a way of diffusing situations related to a product or company just by addressing them and letting people know you are taking them seriously. For example, there? one guy on Twitter whose job it is to respond to people who are having problems with their Comcast account. This has significantly boosted the company? reputation, at least on Twitter. That can be great from a public relations perspective. Q: What do you recommend as a starting point for people who are still skeptical about social media? A: Sign up for a linkedin.com profile. It? hard to look bad there and is pretty safe. They can start to engage other people, and it? not as active as sites like Facebook and Twitter. Do a Google search and see where the audience you are hoping to reach is active on the Internet. And know what conversion means to you. Have a way to drive traffic back to a central business web site. Sometimes the softer the sell the better. SNAPSHOT Dustin Luther Title: Social media consultant and founder of rain cityguide.com and 4realz.net Location: Winnetka Intro to Social Media: Launched raincity guide.com in March 2005, a popular real estate blog, to market his wife? business in the Seattle real estate community. Most Admired: Paul Hawken who co-authored the book Natural Capitalism Favorite Social Media Site: Blogging and Facebook business pages. He updates his Facebook site, dustinluther.com, several times a day with links, status videos and photos. Also enjoys Twitter (his site is @tyr) for ?anter,?saying 99 percent of the messages he sends are non-business related. Other Experience: Was director of interactive marketing at Move, Inc. where he helped build and drive the implementation of tools that better enable a community to be built around realtor.com, move.com and Top Producer brands.