Social media in business is kind of like dating…

• Tweet
• Sharebar

• Tweet

Your eyes meet across a crowded room

-          You read an interesting re-tweet or stumbleupon them or follow a link on a blog.

Or your friends set you up

-          Mr Tweet recommends them or Linkedin says you might know them.

So you do your homework and check them out

-          You google search their name, read their Linkedin profile, read their Facebook profile, read their Twitter bio, check out their Page Rank and Alexa Ranking.

You kind of stalk them a bit

-          You set up google alerts and twitter search feeds.

You ask your friends what they think

You ask a question on Linkedin, and on Yahoo questions, and post a thread in a Forum.

Now you know they’re not an axe murderer

Now you know :

-          They’re friendly and popular – They’ve got 1951 fans on Facebook

-          They reliable – They blog and tweet consistently

-          They’re intelligent – Their slideshare presentation has been favourited 87 times.

-          They’ve got a sense of humour – They like THAT YouTube clip too

They ask you out

They request to connect with you on Linkedin and they follow you on twitter

They show you a good time

They offer you a free industry report, tweet you a coupon, give you a free place on a webinar.

You’re impressed

You’re impressed

They invite you home

You read their blog

There’s foreplay

They answer your question on Twitter and comment on your blog.

You want more

You subscribe to their blog feed and sign up for their newsletter

You do the deed

You buy their product /service

You’re smiling

You recommend them on Linkedin and become a fan on their Facebook page.

Image credit: JakobT_98