A lot of people seem to think that social media influence is gained in a vacuum. That it’s some geek trickery that can only be emulated by fat guys wearing tin foil hats. The truth about promoting link bait or any website is far less awful, but the first clue on how to gain traction on the social web is in the name itself.

Be social!

Now in an online context, that means making friends and there are a few ways to do that and organise it well. Here are the tools we use on a daily basis.

Pidgin – You are going to need a chat client to organise your IM accounts. We are on AIM, MSN and GTalk and they are essential parts of being social. Be available, help people and be friendly and they will be the same for you. It’s really that simple. If you’re on a mac, then Adium does the same thing.

Skype – In line with the above advice, Skype lets you do much the same, but with voice and video if that is required.

Twitter - A great way to get on people’s radar is by interacting with them. Say something useful and keep saying it, and people will start to take notice. Use it to help people and the good karma will come back around.

Gmail – You can use gmail to receive and send email from ALL of your email account. All in the one spot! It is so easy, and it’s free. If you don’t have an account, then get one and do away with logging into and out of all of your email accounts separately. Email is the primary means of communication any website promoter will use for larger projects, so make sure it’s easy to use!

Active Social Accounts – You don’t need to be a power user, but it is generally well advised to keep your social media accounts in good standing. It shows others that you are active in their world and are not some spammer who expects favours from others but won’t do your bit to help them out by having solid accounts yourself.

The social web isn’t rocket science, but it takes a bit of organisation. Having the above tools at your disposal makes it that little bit easier.