Facebook recently updated their mobile app for the iPhone, and I’ve been using it for about a week now. It’s a good update and makes it even easier to keep up with my friends on the go. Which reminded me that I haven’t written anything about social media for a while.
Follow up is the part of networking that trips people up the most. Many of you have heard me say it. We meet someone new, decide we like each other and will definitely refer each other. Then six months later, nothing has happened. The main culprit for that is lack of follow up.
But what is follow up? At its core, it’s staying in touch with people and becoming a part of their personal (if appropriate) and professional lives. Remember that we refer people we know, like and trust. Follow up incorporates all three of those, and Facebook is an excellent tool for the liking part.
Why and how?
Mostly through status updates. If you’ve been on Facebook, you know what I’m talking about. Status updates are the running feed of what people are doing. They range from significant (my mom died yesterday) to frivolous (eating a ham sandwich now). They can be personal, like the previous examples, or professional. I often use my status updates to announce new clients and networking events I am attending.
A question I often get is “why do I care what other people are up to?” When I get that question, I know people are missing the “know, like and trust” part of follow up. We care because we are human beings, and we need to connect with people on a personal level. We like to share what is going on, and we want other people to respond to us.
But as we network more and more, it becomes harder to stay in touch in person. We get to a point where we have to do some of our staying in touch virtually. And that’s where Facebook can be a good tool. We can keep an eye on what people are doing, offer encouragement, and let them know what we are up to.
When you’ve told someone “way to go” when they landed a new client and offered condolences on a recent loss, you’ve moved well along the road to mutual liking, and that gets you closer to great referrals.
Tags: iPhone, networking on the go, social media