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Part of the reason that these sites are so popular is that the Internet can be such a lonely place. People who run online businesses from home-based offices, as I do, sometimes want to just reach out to others who understand their world. So they drop by social networking sites "just to visit."

Marketers like me look at these sites with millions of users and wonder if they can't be used for something more than just socializing. We wonder if they can't have a business application as well.

Social networking purist will scream "NO." They will insist that you definitely should not sell on these sites. Others teach that you use these sites to build your brand, but lure people off these sites to your marketing site and into your sales funnel.

To those who wonder, "Can't I market while still being social?" my answer is "yes." The key is to do it in ways that feel natural (inoffensive) and in places where it's expected.

Let me give you two quick examples:

1) Many people on sites like Twitter and Facebook are constantly pointing out online videos to their friends. They notice videos on video-sharing sites such as YouTube that are inspirational, touching, or thought provoking, and they want to share them with their friends. They see music videos of their favorite songs, or maybe really sexy videos, and it's natural to share these with online friends that they know have similar interests.

What most people don't know is that there are many ways that they can get paid just by pointing out videos to their friends. I personally do this using the system at: http://GetPaidToShareVideos.com This system pay Google AdSense revenue, plus pays you in other ways just for doing something that you already do.

2) Jane Mark and Phil Basten noticed how popular Twitter was becoming, but also that Twitter wasn't designed for marketing. So they created a site very similar to Twitter, only it's set up to encourage you to market.

Key differences include that it allows members to add up to five links to their favorite sites, it allows members to add their Clickbank ID and display ads for Clickbank product on which they passively earn commission, and it allows members to earn a commission when free members upgrade to membership levels that make more tools available.

This site is called Sokule (pronounced "so cool"), and it is also set up to make it easier to gather a lot of followers. I have often told my students that they should not think of their Twitter following as a list - because they are not "a list." However, on Sokule, you can think of them as a list. Sokule is actually configured so that some levels of membership actually allow you to send a direct message to ALL of your followers.

You are only allowed to send a direct message to all of your followers once every three days, but that does make building a following much like building a mailing list on the platform. When you set up your Sokule account, you enter three areas of interest. Those following you can find you by searching the database for others interested in the same topics that they are interested in.

Presumably, those following you are interested in the same topics and would therefore welcome direct messages from you periodically. If not, they can always stop following you, just as they can on Twitter.

You can see how I've set up my Sokule profile page at: http://Sokule.com/postit/williec

These are just two quick example of how you can get paid for doing thing that you are already doing on the social networking sites. As you can see though, the key is knowing which sites to use.

It is possible to earn more than many "Internet marketers" earn selling affiliate products, just by "being social."

Check out the two sites above today, and I'll share other with you in future articles.