8 ways to be extraordinary online

The secret to being extraordinary is simple – go against human nature.

“Real leaders are ordinary people with extraordinary determination.”
~ Anonymous

1. Ordinary: Rush to get in every game, pitch a tent on every platform and call yourself an “expert” after six weeks of non-stop twittering with the rockstars.

Extraordinary – Be patient. Listen and read a lot more than you tweet and write. Concentrate on one social media network at a time. Experiment, observe and learn what works and what doesn’t.

2. Ordinary: Go the lazy route. Set up auto-replies everywhere you can so you don’t have to interact with people. Stretch yourself so thinly that you can’t have any meaningful conversations. Blurt, broadcast and bluster, then disappear only to reappear randomly weeks later to ask people to help you get more followers, friends and links.

Extraordinary – Build relationships. Answer questions. Talk to people. Read and comment on blogs. Consider your audience and provide information they’ll appreciate. Listen and look for feedback. Build slowly on solid ground.

3. Ordinary: Promote yourself and your products or clients exclusively. Horde information and connections like a fat and greedy rodent stockpiling for winter.

Extraordinary – Lift others up. Look for opportunities to promote people’s work. Help people connect with one another. Find someone behind you on the learning curve and throw her a line. Offer encouragement. Be inspiring.

4. Ordinary: Write for volume, not quality. Blog three times a day, every day. Don’t do any research before you post and don’t link to other resources. Feel free to blather on and on, and never edit for readability.

Extraordinary – Consistently deliver value. Do your homework before you post. Put some effort into finding new information or synthesizing a new idea. If you have nothing to add to the conversation, don’t. That just means it’s your turn to listen.

5. Ordinary: Hide behind a stuffy online persona and don’t reveal anything about yourself.

Extraordinary – Let your personality shine through. Social media is anything but buttoned up and “all business.” Let some humor, sensitivity and even anger come through once in a while. People will remember you if they can get to know you a bit.

6. Ordinary: Always play it safe. Agree without thinking. Don’t ever provide new insights or perspectives. Ape the most popular bloggers.

Extraordinary – Take chances. If you disagree, say so. If you see something that doesn’t make sense, ask questions. Take a different point of view. Present a strong case and respect people who challenge you. Great ideas are born from debate and discussion.

7. Ordinary: Your family thinks you’ve moved out and you respond to twhirl’s chime like Pavlov’s dogs.

Extraordinary – Take it analog. Connecting online is not enough. Take relationships you make online into the real world. Have lunch. Go to conferences. Meet for drinks. Smile. Now you’re really connecting.

8. Ordinary: Spend every free minute blogging, tweeting and friending people on Facebook. Blog about using social media for business like an authority, even though you’re only talking about it. Stay virtual and inside the fishbowl, peering out only to eat and use the bathroom.

Extraordinary – Take it to the streets. There are plenty of people with no real-world experience waxing poetic about social media online. Don’t be one of them. Find case studies, talk to people about how they’re using social media, get your hands dirty. Find new and better ways to use social media tools. Forge new ground.

So how do you put the “extra” in extraordinary?