Blog « All Things Networking

What Is Follow Up?

July 29th, 2010

That may sound like too obvious a question, but it came up recently in an email exchange with a contact.

In the exchange, I was using “follow up” to mean touching base with anyone from a potential client to the guy I met at a networking event last night. The other person was using it just to mean staying in touch with clients and prospects.

Both are valid definitions. Depending on your business, follow up may even mean something slightly different. Understanding exactly what follow up means to you will help define your strategy.

If you are like me, you need to stay in touch with a lot of people, on a regular basis. I use lots of tools, including social media and an e-newsletter, to keep on top of it. I would hope that any of you reading this keep in touch with a variety of people.

But what if your primary follow up is with clients and prospects? Does that change your strategy?

I think it changes it a little bit. My follow up can be free form. When I think of someone, I can touch that person. I don’t necessarily require a schedule. I do try to create an action plan of follow up immediately after a one on one meeting, but once that’s accomplished, I don’t need a specific plan.

If you are following up with prospects, an action plan after each touch is extremely important. If you and the other party mutually agree on the next action, it makes it much easier on both of you. Each knows what to expect, and neither of you feel like the interaction is another way of saying “Ready to buy yet?”

Always keep your follow up goals clearly in mind. Let those goals guide your strategy, and it will feel more natural to all involved.

Tags: Follow up, sales
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Working When You Don’t Feel Like It

July 28th, 2010

Yesterday, I didn’t want to work. I felt sort of blah all day. But I still got stuff done, and I had a productive day.

Does this happen to you? I’m sure it does. Part of being a small business owner is having to find the self-motivation to work when we don’t feel like it. Without a boss checking to see if we’re playing Solitaire on our computer, it’s easy to fritter a whole day away.

How to manage the problem? I recommend having “Rainy Day” items in your action list. These are things that need to be done but don’t take a lot of creativity. Cleaning up my Twitter followers is a good example. Doesn’t take much brain power, and it’s something I hate to do when I’m at my best, but it’s perfect for “brain dead” days.

I also worked on editing and rewriting my urban fantasy story. It did require creativity, but it was also fun and didn’t feel too much like work.

What kinds of (productive) things do you do when you don’t feel like working?

Tags: task management, time management
Posted in Time and Task Management | 1 Comment »

How to Get “Liked” on Facebook

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 »

My Book Rewrite is Finished!

July 26th, 2010

Remember back in May when I took a week-long writing retreat to work on my networking book?

Well, I finished the rewrite last Friday, and I’m very excited about it. Some of you have followed the saga of changes in the focus of this book, and I’m happy to let you know that I’m through with changing its focus.

For those of you who haven’t followed the saga, it started out as The Networking Trap, a book about traps people can fall into while networking and how to get out of them. I might still write that book someday, but that version didn’t come together.

Then I shifted to a more general book on networking, with a focus on how to develop your unique networking presence. People liked the idea, but when I finished the draft and started editing, it just didn’t work.

Then I started researching social media, and I realized that was what was missing. The words started flowing, and I realized that there is room for a book on how to mesh face to face networking and social media.

That’s the book I just finished writing. I’m soliciting beta readers right now, and once they have gone over it and given me feedback, I’ll be ready to get to layout and printing.

It’s been a long journey. Sometimes boring. Sometimes exciting. But I’m finally getting close to having a book published!

Tags: writing
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Goals and Face to Face Networking

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 »

Goals and Social Media Strategy

July 22nd, 2010

Several months ago, I wrote a post on how your goals will affect which social media channel you use. Today I’d like to expand on that by discussing how your goals will affect how you engage in social media.

This idea came out of my Netmasters group last month. When I asked about social media goals, I received some interesting answers, all of which dictated slightly different engagement strategies.

1. Become a creator of content

Not surprisingly, a couple of people wanted to be known as experts in their industry. But not all of them were going about it the same way. One attendee was a writer. Obviously she wants to use social media as a way to get the word out about her services. As we brainstormed on her business, it became obvious that she needed a blog. What better way to showcase her talents? So her strategy for engagement was to use social media to promote her blog and to publish a list of short writing/grammar/spelling tips. Self-created content is going to be a significant part of her social media stream.

2. Become an aggregator of content

The real estate agent in the session also wanted to be known as an expert in his industry. But his approach turned out to be different from the writer. His goal was to sift through all the often-conflicting information in his industry and be known as a place to go for the best and most up to date information about real estate. He doesn’t have to create content. He needs to read, filter and promote the best articles he can find. He might also want to discuss some of the bad articles to show people the difference, but he won’t need to do much writing. He can get away with posting links and doing a lot of re-tweeting.

3. Meet cool people

This one was fun, and my favorite. His goal was similar to a face to face networking goal. He wants to meet interesting people who have good stuff to say and build relationships with them. His strategy is going to be to find and follow leaders in the industries he’s interested in. He will see who they find worth following and follow them. It will be sort of a free-form “Six Degrees of Separation” approach. What will his social media stream look like? Lots of re-tweets and back and forth discussion, either through @ Mentions on Twitter or Wall posts on Facebook.

See how it works? Your goals certainly affect which channels you will use. But they also dictate what your engagement will look like. What are you waiting for? Go set your goals now. And share them in the comments. We’ll help you out!

Tags: blogging, social media, task management, time management
Posted in social media | 2 Comments »

How to Win Against Your Invited Speaker

July 20th, 2010

Many thanks to @VoiceofBarry for the title idea!

I had an interesting experience last week as a speaker for a group, and it reminded me of some of the more interesting gaffs organizations have pulled on me when they invited me to speak. For fun, I thought I’d put it in the format of what to do to ensure a speaker will never come back.

1. Take the food away

I was asked to do a lunch seminar, and I had been told there would be pizza. I like pizza!

But there was no time for me to eat before my presentation. Good thing I had grabbed a snack beforehand. Moments after I finished speaking, the left over pizza had been taken away.

Moral: Make sure someone saves food for the speaker.

2. Tell the speaker to arrive 15 minutes early and then leave her waiting in an empty room for 15 minutes

Yes, this happened to me.

Moral: One of the organizers should always be early to welcome the speaker.

3. Ask if the speaker has to pay

I was walking into a meeting and checking in. The greeter asked me to fork over $20, the meeting fee. I reminded her that I was the speaker. She yelled over her shoulder, “Does the speaker have to pay?”

Fortunately, for them, the answer that came back was “No.” I would have walked out otherwise.

Moral: When you invite someone to speak to your organization, it’s understood that the speaker gets in for free.

Anyone else have speaker horror stories to share?

Tags: Speaking
Posted in General | 1 Comment »

Review: Byline for iPhone

July 16th, 2010

My regular readers know I am big on aggregating content and taking it with me on the go.

I use Google Reader to manage all my blogs, and the mobile version of Google Reader is okay for reading blogs on my phone, but it didn’t really do it for me. I like being able to load content and access it even if I’m not connected (like on the Metro).

I’d read review of several RSS reader programs for the iPhone, and none of them excited me until I found Byline.

I’m using the free ad-supported version, and I don’t find the ads intrusive at all. Here’s a screen shot of the preview page. The ad at the top isn’t intrusive. There is one ad per 10 items, so in this shot, I have 9 items and only one ad.

What is really nice about Byline is that it caches longer articles for later reading. See the little blue arrow at the right of an article? That indicated cached content.

Open the abstract version of the article to see if you want to read more.

If you do, tap the arrow in the upper right corner, and it takes you to the expanded version of the article.

Caching can be done over WiFi for those who downgraded their iPhone data plan and no longer have unlimited data.

My usual procedure now is to sync Byline before I leave the house and catch up on blog posts throughout the day. A good use of time and technology, in my opinion.

Anyone else have a mobile RSS reader to rave about? I’m always willing to try a new iPhone app.

Tags: iPhone, networking on the go, task management, time management
Posted in Time and Task Management | 1 Comment »

Networking Takes Time

July 15th, 2010

I met recently with a client who had been very frustrated with her networking. She had been feeling like she’d been out there, doing it for 5-6 months, and nothing had happened. Yet.

Then in our last session, she was bouncing with excitement. Finally, it had come together. People she had seen at several events were talking to her about how they would work together or refer her. She was starting to make connections between other people, and she was slowly learning which events were worth her time and which ones weren’t.

Beginning your networking can be frustrating. You want the magic to happen right away, and then it doesn’t. A lot of people give up just before they hit the sweet spot.

This is why I always recommend you begin networking before you need it. Are you currently employed? Start making connections now, while you still have a paycheck. Thinking about starting a business? Begin your networking now, before you need clients.

And what if you are currently in business or unemployed? Start as soon as possible. It’s much easier to network when you don’t need results right away, but it’s better to start now than wait. My rule of thumb is that it can take 6 months to a year before you’ll be known, liked and trusted enough for the magic to happen.

Starting now means you’ll get through that hard period that much sooner.

Tags: Networking
Posted in Networking | 1 Comment »