It’s getting to be quite a social jungle out there, even before the announcement of Google Buzz (which I’ll here on refer to as ‘G-buzz’ for brevity), and that’s a good thing – particularly if you’re an individual or business ever on the lookout to attract new customers and stay connected with existing ones. If social media sites are on your radar screen as business tools – and they certainly should be – you may be a bit torn about which ones make sense to get involved with.

What could it all mean to your business? For one thing, it’s important to know that people are increasingly using social media sites as they would a search engine. Imagine that … If someone vacationing in Miami seeks a day spa, they’re likely to search Facebook or MySpace for ideas. If an ad agency in San Diego needs a Toronto-based publicist, they’re apt to start with a Twitter or LinkedIn, and now, G-buzz search.

How visible you are on a few of the most-visited social sites is becoming increasingly important. That YouTube is now more searched than Yahoo! is a new media trend that shouldn’t be ignored. That Facebook has just celebrated its 400 millionth member is phenomena that you’d be nuts not to properly leverage it.

So the question is, How discoverable are you? We can’t have a high-quality presence on every social networking site, but solid brand marketing on perhaps one or two is increasingly important.

• You can’t just set up profiles on social networking sites and disappear. A consistent presence says something important about your leadership style that you’re to be taken seriously. Having long-ago entries as your most recent leads potential customers to make assumptions about you that aren’t beneficial to your business goals. Visit frequency and “face-time” matter.

• Do your homework on these sites; set up shop where your best prospects congregate. Keep the 80/20 Principle in mind when it comes to social marketing. Don’t waste as much as 80% of your social networking time and energy interacting in groups that don’t have the juice to impact your revenues. Concentrate on building relations with the 20% of targeted, qualified connections in whom you see evidence of meaningful business coming your way.

• Join sizable groups that are relevant; get in there and participate in the discussions. Engage, participate and put forth an informed point-of-view. Give up your knowledge; impress people if you want them to click your way. Let them see how knowledgeable you are, and how what you know can move their financial interests forward. Serve as an excellent resource, contributing good ideas without pitching.

• There must be value in interacting with you. Use your social space to converse, to solve a problem or to educate people, versus using it to talk solely about your products or services. Treat them as if they’re already your best customer. Focus on delivering actionable tips and trend information that people can use for growth or other benefits.

This is how to build a community and position yourself as a leader in your field. The more solid the information you consistently impart in cyberspace, the more discoverable your footprint on Google and those increasingly important search engines within social networking sites, which now include Google Buzz.

Remember: all of these sites are keyword sensitive for search engines. Every message you post, tweet, or buzz has the potential of attracting targeted prospects far beyond your social networking circle.

Image by Frank Da Silva