By: Bert Zethof

As we discussed at The Surge Group's recent High Voltage Business Networking Breakfast, the spirit of Social Media Networking (SMN) is one of connecting, sharing, and supporting each other - it is not about sales and marketing.

Yet, marketing is an inescapable aspect of interacting with others. We create an impression and the other person gets an impression, for better or worse.

Think about the power of SMN for people in "service" based businesses, where the product is the person (e.g. consultants, engineers, lawyers, hair dressers, health practitioners). By being a valued member of the SMN community you are creating credibility as a service provider.

So when we connect anywhere, any time (virtually or live), we are marketing, even when we aren't intending to. Marketing is not an activity you can turn on and off. When we are interacting with others the marketing switch is on, whether we want it to be or not.

More than anything, SMN amplifies the importance of the age-old value of relationship building for effective marketing.