This is taken from my mentor and mastermind coach Patricia Drain of www.patriciadrain.com.  Enjoy!

Seven Secrets to Success

Before you jump in, consider what you’re going to need to do to be successful. You must commit to:

1. Authentic participation. Be ready to share your authentic self online.

2. Consistent participation. Establish a regular schedule for networking online—typically in a brief status update or “tweet” one to fifteen times per day.

3. Building relationships first. Be genuine in your intent to connect with people and give before you get.

4. Adding value to the community. Make the world a better place by sharing your expertise, writing recommendations, answering questions, providing useful content, and referring helpful resources.

5. Building a positive online persona. Represent your personal brand consistently in every social network you join. Be professional, personable, interesting and memorable.

6. Choosing your connections strategically. Strike a selective and strategic balance between personal and professional, between those you know well in the real world and those you’ve only met online.

7. Staying on target. Distractions abound, so keep your focus. Try out a number of networks, but invest at least 80% of your attention on the top three that work best for you.