Relationship building « All Things Networking

Posts Tagged ‘Relationship building’

Networking Right Side Up

Monday, August 30th, 2010

Many people go about networking backwards. They say, “I need to meet people” and then run out to find an event. They meet people, do one to one meetings and perhaps even have a decent follow up system in place. But often they still don’t get the results they were looking for.

Why is that backwards? Isn’t networking about meeting new people and building relationships with them? Of course it is, but, like anything else in business, you need to network with a plan and purpose. Over the next few posts, I’m going to break networking planning down into discrete steps. Along the way, we’re going to talk about some concepts that will make you better at selling your product or service. How’s that for a two-fer?

I’ve said I don’t recommend starting with the “meeting people” part. So where do I think you need to start? Here’s the progression I recommend:

1. What pain points bring clients to you?

2. How do you relieve their pain? (otherwise known as your value proposition)

3. What are the other complementary (but not competing) businesses that are serving your ideal clients?

4. Where do those businesses network?

5. How can you add value to those businesses to motivate them to refer you?

6. How can you educate them to refer you?

If you can answer those six questions, you’ll have an excellent outline for a strategic networking marketing plan. You’ll be able to evaluate networking venues based on whether they are attracting either your target market or your strategic partners. You’ll have a message and value statement to help you get referrals and close clients. And finally, you and your strategic partners will know exactly how to help each other, which will lead to a stronger relationship. And more referrals!

Tomorrow we’ll start with pain points.

Tags: communication, Networking, Networking Events, Referrals, Relationship building, sales
Posted in Networking | No Comments »

Social Media Roles: Be a Brand Monitor

Monday, August 16th, 2010

Last week I wrote about creating a buzz through social media. Today I want to talk about the other side of creating a buzz, monitoring your brand through social media.

Someone’s probably already told you that there is a conversation going on about your brand. You can ignore the conversation and hope it goes well, or you can listen and join in. It’s your choice, but obviously I believe that joining the conversation is the better option.

Where should you monitor? It depends on the size of your brand. If you are a national/international brand, you need specialized tools to gather all the mentions of your brand in one place. I’m test-driving Trakur right now. It’s one tool, and there are certainly others.

If you are smaller, look at where your audience tends to hang out and go there.

I still recommend accounts on most of the major social media platforms because you’ll want to be able to respond when people talk about you. Remember to respond to both the good and the bad. We like to get feedback when we compliment as much as we like to hear from you when we criticize.

How will you spend your time? Listening, mostly. As you listen, analyze and look for patterns. Does one demographic talk about you the most? Is it good or bad? You might want to plan a campaign to address them specifically.

As you listen and analyze, interact with your audience. The more accessible you are, the more you’ll hear, and that’s good, even if you hear the bad stuff. If you are accessible, the bad stuff won’t be as bad. When people feel they are being heard, they are much softer in their criticism and more likely to thank you for addressing concerns.

How do you get business from this role? That’s easy. If you have the reputation of responding promptly, people will naturally come to you. Remember that we like to do business with companies we know, like and trust. A good monitoring program will feed all three of those.

That’s the end of this series. I hope it’s made you think of your role in social media and how you can make it work for you more effectively.

I’ll add to it when I run across new roles. Things are changing so rapidly that I’m sure it won’t be long before I see some new ones emerging.

Tags: communication, Relationship building, social media, time management
Posted in social media | 1 Comment »

Social Media Roles: Networker

Thursday, August 12th, 2010

The last two days, I wrote about roles that would be good for fairly small business owners and sales people in particular professions. Today, I’m heading in a slightly different direction.

What if your goal in social media is to meet cool people and build relationships with them? Don’t laugh. I have a client who told me that was his goal, so we’re working toward that.

Traditional networking can be done effectively through social media. Choosing the right channels can extend your reach more easily than can face to face networking, and social media can be used to maintain relationships begun face to face.

Who would fall into this role? Job seekers are the most obvious. Owners of multi-level marketing businesses could also use this role effectively.

What are the best channels for the social media networker? Facebook and LinkedIn are the best, though Twitter could also be considered.

LinkedIn is the foundation channel for this role. Using LinkedIn, you can get a detailed view of someone’s contacts. Are you targeting a particular person? Use the Search function to see if you are connected in any way. Targeting an industry? Search again. Once you have found your target(s), request an introduction.

The Friend Finder and Search features of Facebook can do something similar, but they aren’t as powerful as LinkedIn’s.

Once you’ve found someone and been introduced, I’d suggest moving to another social media channel for building and maintaining the relationship. Twitter can be good for this because there’s no awkwardness about “friending” on Facebook. A new contact might not want that level of engagement but mutual following on Twitter allows for communication and staying in touch. If the relationship grows, moving to Facebook makes sense.

What about time management? Depending on the size of your network, the time commitment can be manageable. You’ll want to join a few targeted LinkedIn groups, keeps tabs on Facebook updates and monitor your Twitter stream with some regularity. A tool like Nutshell Mail, which sends updates from multiple channels to you via email might be all you’d need. As your network grows, upgrading to a tool like TweetDeck might be prudent.

Your “content” will mostly be conversation and perhaps promoting links. You’ll also want to post updates about what you are doing, keeping them professional and pertinent. If you need help, especially with finding a job, ask for it. You’d be surprised how often requests for help finding a job get forwarded.

If you are a multi-level marketer, how do you get business out of this? Remember that we refer people we know, like and trust. Your social media activities will lead (I hope!) to all three of those. Sprinkle occasional mentions of your ideal clients in your stream, and if you’ve done it right, you’ll get referrals.

Sound like you? Great. Now, you have a place to start.

Are you a business looking to build and maintain a brand? The next two days are for you.

I’d love some feedback on this series. I’ve not seen anyone in the social media sphere writing about roles quite this way. Is it working for you?

Tags: Networking, Relationship building, social media, time management
Posted in social media | 1 Comment »

Social Media Roles: Be a Content Filter

Wednesday, August 11th, 2010

Yesterday I wrote about Content Creators, and how they can effectively use social media to build a following for their ideas. But what about those of you who can’t or don’t want to create content on a schedule? Are you out of luck for being known as a go-to person in your field?

Nope. You have another approach. You can be a Content Filter. And we need you!

If you are active in your field or industry, you are probably already spending time reading articles and commentary. Why not use that time to build your reputation? Disseminate the good stuff and occasionally comment on why the bad stuff is bad, and we’ll keep coming back to you. For myself, I’m interested in a lot of different fields, but I don’t have time to read everything. I value the people in my network who read all the crap and direct my attention to just the good stuff.

Who will be comfortable in this role? Anyone in the real estate, financial or health and nutrition fields are naturals. There is a lot of information being disseminated in those areas. Some of it good. Some not so much. If you are willing to filter and comment on what is being presented, you’ll be valuable.

How do you use social media to disseminate information? The good news is that you have lots of choices. You can use any of the major channels: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or YouTube. How?

Facebook: Set up a Business page and use that as the repository of all the links to good content. You can write your own commentary on both good and bad articles, and you’re not limited to just 140 characters.

Twitter: Obviously tweeting links can work. If you want to build relationships with the major players in your industry, that’s easier here than on Facebook. Lots of business Facebook pages are maintained by a PR company, and it can be difficult to interact directly. But many Twitter accounts are maintained by the people, and some of them will respond back to your @Mention.

LinkedIn: Join a Group, participate in Discussions and post links in your status updates. It’s not quite as easy to use LinkedIn for this purpose, but if your industry in more active on LinkedIn than the other channels, then definitely use it.

YouTube: If the content you are filtering is primarily video then YouTube is the natural. You can create a profile and use your “Favorites” as a repository for the content you want to promote.

How do you manage your time? Obviously, the majority of your time will be spent reading and/or watching content. But you should already be doing that, so it’s not a new demand on your time. Other than the time spent reading, you’ll be selecting the content to share and sharing it. You’ll want to leave time to engage in discussions around what you’re sharing. Over time, you’ll want to build and maintain relationships with the major players in your field. And they should want to know you. If you are promoting them, it’s in their interests to be on your good side.

How does this give you business? Go back to who I said were naturals for this role. All of them are in professions requiring a high degree of trust. This role will build that trust and, over time, lead to customers and referrals. After all, if you are the one we’re going to for trusted information, why wouldn’t we go to you when we need your services?

Sound like you? Excellent. You have a place to start. But maybe you’re not all about the content. Perhaps your focus in on relationships. Not a problem. The “Networker” is the role for tomorrow.

Tags: Referrals, Relationship building, social media, time management
Posted in social media | 1 Comment »

Social Media Roles: Be a Content Creator

Tuesday, August 10th, 2010

An important role in social media is to be a go-to person for good content. There are two ways to act in this role. One is to be a Content Creator. The other is to be a Content Filter. I’ll cover Content Creator today and Filter tomorrow.

Let’s start with why you might want to fill the Content Creator role in social media. Probably you want to be known as an original thinker in your field. Or you might want to write a book, and you want to use social media as a way to build content and a future audience. Perhaps you are a free-lance writer or consultant and want to build credibility with your future clients. All of these are good reasons to be a Content Creator.

Where do Content Creators promote themselves in social media? A blog is the obvious place to start. A blog provides a foundation for all other interaction. Much of your time in social media is aimed at driving people to your blog so they can read and share in your content.

By the way, that blog doesn’t have to be written. A video blog or podcast are good options as well, depending on what content you are promoting. Are you a writer? A written blog is essential. Are you a trainer or speaker? A video blog or podcast might promote you more effectively.

Once you’ve set up your blog and decided on the format, what other forms of social media are going to work well to promote the blog? I’m a fan of Twitter for blog promotion. Twitter has better tools for promoting outside of your immediate contact sphere. While Facebook has introduced a “retweet” function, it isn’t used as commonly. Facebook is excellent for maintaining close relationships. It’s not as good at promoting or making something “go viral.”

If you are doing a video blog, YouTube is required. It’s a good place to host the video, and it has excellent search functionality. With the ease of liking or reviewing a video and the tracking of times the video has been watched, it’s a good platform for promoting your content.

So most likely, you’ll have your blog on a schedule, and you’ll be using YouTube and/or Twitter to promote your posts. Where does this leave you from a time management perspective?

Obviously, you’ll need to allocate time to write or film your content. For most of you, this will probably be your biggest time commitment. The rest of your time will be monitoring your blog for comments, Twitter for retweets and comments and/or YouTube for reviews.

In addition to monitoring, you need to be engaging with your followers. Perhaps someone in your field has written a related blog post? You can comment on it and link to it. This allows you to engage with other writers in your field and promote them. What goes around comes around. If you promote them, they will likely promote you in return. Over time, you can build a close relationship with your audience and other influential people in your field.

How does this get you business? If you are selling a book or tele-series, your blog allows people to get a feel for who you are and if they might be interested in paying for your content. If you’re a speaker, people can see your style before they book you. Consultants and other professional service providers can build a reputation as a go-to person in their field. Once you are known as the go-to person, people use and refer you.

Does any of this sound like you? If so, great. Now you know where to start. If not, don’t worry. I’m going to cover several other roles over the next week.

Tune in tomorrow for Content Filters, the flip-side of Content Creators.

Tags: blogging, Relationship building, social media, time management, writing
Posted in social media | 1 Comment »

Get Out of the Office!

Wednesday, August 4th, 2010

I have a couple of clients who spend too much time in their home office and not enough time out meeting people. (You know who you are.) Obviously that’s not ideal from a networking perspective, but it has another, more insidious effect.

Most people struggle, to one extent or another, with self image. The people we spend time with act as a mirror for us. When the person we spend time with is ourselves, we reinforce our less-than-ideal self impression. This often leads to a feeling of futility about our efforts.

Other people seldom see the faults we see in ourselves. Other people tend to see us as better than we see ourselves, and we need that.

A few weeks ago, I was feeling frustration with my social media efforts. Then I met with a new client, and I was able to give him some ideas. We had a great strategy session, and I walked away energized. I had some ideas to try too, but more importantly, my client reinforced to me that I do know what I’m doing. I needed to see myself through the eyes of another.

How do you view yourself right now? If you’re frustrated, how much time have you spent by yourself? If you’re like my clients, get out and meet someone. Both of you can view each other through different eyes and walk away better for it.

Tags: Networking, Relationship building
Posted in Networking | 1 Comment »

How to Get “Liked” on Facebook

Tuesday, July 27th, 2010

For what it’s worth, I’m not a fan of the new “Like” on Facebook. I thought “Fan” worked just fine, but obviously no one asked me.

That said, how do you get more people to “like” your business Facebook page? Kind of how you get liked in any other endeavor.

You can buy “likes,” just like you can buy leads for a business, but I don’t recommend it. Generally those purchased leads are not motivated to engage with you. Without engagement, Facebook, like all social media outlets, falls apart. I know someone who bought 2,000 “likes.” None of them respond to any of her posts or updates. Nor do they buy from her. Not a good use of advertising money.

So if you aren’t going to buy them, how do you get them? Basically, by letting people know it’s out there. And no, I don’t mean constantly spamming us with the automated “Juli liked 1 to 1 Discovery of Facebook and thinks you should too.” It’s okay to send that out a few times, but be selective and respectful. If you’ve suddenly acquired a bunch of new friends, go ahead and send it just to them. Sending out the message once a year or so is okay, just in case we missed it the first time.

So how do you let us know otherwise? There are lots of easy ways.

1. Promote your Facebook page on Twitter or other social media avenues

Like with the automated Facebook message, don’t overdo it, but don’t keep it a secret either. One note. If you are promoting exactly the same content on Facebook and Twitter, don’t invite us to both. If you invite us on Twitter, make sure we’ll get added value by liking you on Facebook.

2. Get a vanity Facebook URL and add it to your email signature

In the early days of Facebook pages, the URLs were gobbledegook that would have looked like you were cussing in your email signature line. No longer. Now you can have a URL like http://www.facebook.com/1to1Discovery. That looks okay in an email.

3. Join another on-line community

Nope, I don’t mean join a LiveJournal community or Yahoo group and spam the heck out of the other members. But do join, build some relationships and then let people know about your Facebook page, if it has some relevance to the group.

4. Talk about it

Yes, word-of-mouth does work in social media. When you meet people at networking events, invite them to drop by your Facebook page. People you meet face to face will be some of your most loyal readers and responders.

Anyone else have ideas they’ve used successfully? Or ideas that completely bombed?

Tags: communication, e-marketing, Relationship building, social media
Posted in social media | 1 Comment »

Goals and Face to Face Networking

Friday, July 23rd, 2010

Yesterday I wrote about how your goals affect your social media engagement. But what about goals and face to face?

Naturally, they affect each other. But how? Glad you asked! Let’s examine a few case studies.

1. Networking for clients

This is an obvious goal for many sales people and small business owners. But the strategies will be different depending on your specific goals and number of clients needed.

Need a few clients a year (5-6)? You might network directly for clients by going to where your target market hangs out and talking to and building relationships with the right people. Or you might network your way to a few solid strategic partners. Many of your conversations will be specifically about the benefits of working with you, though of course listening for needs and making referrals is always a required part of networking.

Need more clients each year (10-50)? Your strategy will probably be similar to the example above, though you might cast your net a bit more widely. You might attend more general networking events as a way to get the word out about you and what you do. Strategic partners will still be key. Giving referrals and finding people to refer your clients too will be important because you are in contact each year with enough people with needs. And you’ll want to educate those people you refer so they refer you in return.

Need lots of clients (100+)? Strategic partners will be required. You’ll probably be doing other forms or marketing to supplement your networking efforts. There just aren’t enough hours in the day to network your way to that many clients. In fact, you might network less for clients than for people to refer and those who can refer you.

2. Networking for a job

Completely different goals from above. Networking for clients is an ongoing effort. Well, so is networking for a job, but in a different way. A business always needs new clients while you probably only need one job right now. When you are networking for a job, your message is very direct and your efforts look much like someone in sales. But when you’ve landed the job, your efforts will change focus. Now you’ll be helping and referring others and banking as much good will as possible for when you need to activate your network for the next job. By the way, this is the part most job seekers let lapse. Once they find the job, they quit networking until they are in the market again. Big mistake. If you keep networking all the time, that next job search won’t take long at all.

One person I know who gets this very well is Chris Cooks. Follow him on Twitter. Build a relationship with him and learn what he does, how and why.

There are certainly more examples, but I hope this convinces you that not all networking is the same. Your goals affect not only where you network, but your message and your interaction.

Tags: Networking, Relationship building
Posted in Networking | 1 Comment »

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