Networking [Taking Your Offline Skills Online]
Bringing Offline Business Online
For the ‘younger’ generation, networking is old fashioned! Going places and meeting people has been replaced by social media groups and texting. The world is moving at a faster pace, and business owners are struggling to keep up. Traditional business owners are trying to adjust to communicate with the new market, but don’t really know how to make the transition. The reality is that traditional business owners have the networking skills to build a business; they just need to tweak them to fit the online community.
The first step to getting connected is finding your community. Yes, there is community on the Internet. Think about who you want to connect with, and then do some research to find out what social sites and groups they are using online. Choosing an online community is the same as if you were looking for a community in which to live. You want a community that is growing, thriving, and interacting. The community should have a good amount of people to talk to – 500 or more is a good place to start. Your community can be on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, or even YouTube. Do your homework to find out the best place to meet people!
The next step is to make a connection. This is easier than you think. When you enter a room full of people, you survey the room to find someone with whom you think you might have something in common. This is easier on social media, because you can take the opportunity to review someone’s profile to find out a little about them before you even say hello. You can survey the group to see how active they are. Just as you would connect with a connector offline, you can connect with an active user online.
After you’ve made a connection, start the relationship building process just as you would offline. Instead of having a one to one meeting, you might become friends outside of the group where you connected. Social media platforms have a direct messaging and a chat feature that allow you to connect one on one. Approach this as if the person were sitting across the table from you. You’ll ask about them! Ask about their family, their jobs, and their goals. Make them feel important. If you really want to take this to a new level, set a ‘Google Alert’ for them, so that you know when something new happens in their lives as soon as it hits the internet!
Make Friend – Don’t Pitch
After you’ve spent some time getting to know the person through social media, take the process a step further and arrange a phone call. Simply ask your contact if they would be open to a phone call. While some people take for granted that a person’s phone number listed in their profile is an invitation to call, it is better to ask first. If you’ve covered the above steps, you will have a better response when asking for a phone call. If by some chance your contact is not comfortable, don’t get upset. That just means they don’t know you well enough yet. Once you’ve gotten to a phone call, you can put that person in your phone call rotation for contact management.
The key to all of this is LISTENING to your contacts. As you get to know your new social media contacts, you may find that they have no use for your product or service. That doesn’t mean you should toss them away. One of the benefits social media affords you is the ability to see who else your contact is connected with. If you’ve built a good relationship with your contact, they will not hesitate to introduce you to someone they know on social media.
Listen To Others Needs
As you build your new network, the key is to become a powerful resource – a connector, or source of knowledge. Just as it is important to grow your network offline, it is just as important to grow your network online. Spend 15 minutes per day just ‘meeting’ new people online – just to get to know them – no hidden agendas, no selling – just get to know them. You will find that you will build a network that is lucrative to your business! Get started today!
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Comments
Thank you Sandy, appreciate that.
Very much appreciate your great advice, Merle.
Thank you Terri, you too.
Very informative post Merle. I have shared it for you. Have a great day and weekend.