Converting your OptIn database to a social network

So you have a 20K Opt In database of contacts who are interested in what you have to offer on your site. Wouldn't it be great if you could create an environment where these contacts could network and collaborate on topics that you know they have interest in or on topics that you have to offer.

That's were you could leverage something like Ning to create a social network and send invites to your list encouraging them to join your Social Network on Ning. If you could nurture the network a little bit in the initial stages, it should grow into a self sustaining active network with a lot of users and user generated content. And this would provide you a great channel to showcase your brand, and also promote upcoming Events, products etc that you offer.

Email Marketer's Club is a great example of a niche social network on B2B Email Marketing powered by Ning.

Social Networking Potential of your Contact

Social Networking Potential (SNP) is a numeric coefficient, derived through algorithms to represent both the size of an individual's social network and their ability to influence that network.

As a marketer, you could create a potentially successful viral marketing campaign by targeting contacts with high SNP score with content that is relevant and appealing to this segment.

Here are 6 attributes on which you could assign points and score the social networking potential of your contact.
1)Is he/she an active member of social networking sites like facebook, myspace, orkut...?
2)Does he/she blog or post on websites?
3)Does he/she contribute to publications?
4)Does he/she hold any leadership positions?
5)Has he/she provided you with quality referrals in the past?
6)Is he/she a member of a group you might be interested in?