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Social Networking: 10 Keys to Increase Your Networking Success Online (Part I)

Posted on January 30, 2008 by Dean Mercado in Networking, Social Media Leave a comment

Social Networking is all the rage! Web sites like MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, Ryze, and more are popping up every day and working their way not only into our personal lives, but our professional lives as well. As a business professional, Social Networking can be your biggest boon… leading to new connections you may have not been able to make any other way – without great difficulty that is; Or, it can be your biggest bane… enticing you to continuously waste your most precious commodity, your time. The choice is yours. Social Networking can become whatever you want it to become for both you and your business. Now anticipating that you want value for your efforts, in this 2-part series, I’m going to share with you 10 keys that can help make your online Social Networking efforts a success.

1. Personalize Your Invitations to Connect
Just because you can hide behind your computer doesn’t give you an excuse to be lazy. Give people a reason to want to connect and network with you. Don’t send dry and impersonal invites to connect … ever! I don’t care who you’re looking to connect with. In my opinion, because of its already built-in cold nature, social networking requires even more personality and vitality injected into it, than traditional offline networking.

2. You’ve Got to Give In Order to Get
Nobody likes to hang out around the proverbial “taker”. You know… the type of person you don’t pick up the phone for when they call… thank you Caller ID! So to make sure you don’t end up like our friend “taker”, always be on the lookout for, as Dr. Stephen Covey says in his much heralded book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, opportunities to make deposits into the personal bank accounts of others.

3. Think Quality, Not Quantity
Social Networking shouldn’t be a popularity contest to see who has the most connections. You’re better off having fewer mutually lucrative and beneficial relationships than having tons of connections that bear no fruit.

4. Be Authentic
Nobody likes a liar… a cheater … a fake… a phony… or whatever you call someone who presents themselves as something they’re not. Be true to yourself and others and your natural magnetism will shine through. And it’s that magnetism that brings stronger more genuine connections that can really bring results. Yes we can all improve our game a bit here or there but, trust that you’ll bring more to the table when you’re being yourself.

5. Open the Door and Let Them In
The more you’re willing to share about yourself, the more parallels others can draw between you. These parallels can serve as a great stimulus for conversations to begin. Having things in common certainly helps break down comfort-level barriers. People tend to be more willing to connect and engage in conversations with others who share similar backgrounds, experiences, tastes, hobbies, et cetera. So be willing to share a bit about you. Just be careful not to share anything you wouldn’t want everyone in the world to know because once it’s posted online, it’s available to all to see.

So in closing, remember that these keys only work if you diligently and consistently apply them. And I firmly believe that much like the offline world, strong relationships lie at the core of any and all business success.

Copyright 2008 Online Marketing Muscle — All Rights Reserved.

 


6 Ways To Help Turn New Contacts Into Sales

Posted on September 11, 2007 by Dean Mercado in Marketing Strategy 1 Comment

You attend local networking events meeting people and exchanging business cards; you participate in lead exchange groups like BNI in hopes of getting referrals; you create profiles on popular social networking sites like Ryze, LinkedIn, and MySpace; yet you’re still wondering why all this networking isn’t translating into increased sales.

Well while many business professionals work very hard to gather new contacts, the area where I see so many of them break down is in their ability to nurture those new contacts into long-term relationships. Relationships that can eventually turn into the increased sales that most of them are looking for.

So how do you go about nurturing those new contacts?

Well here are 6 ways that can help you take your professional relationships to a deeper, more prosperous level for all:

  1. As humans, we’re never too old to enjoy positive attention. So if you stumble upon someone you know being quoted, discussed, or acknowledged publicly either in the media or by other professionals in their absence, give them a call or send them an email to let them know and congratulate them.
  2. Acknowledge them on holidays, birthdays, and other cultural or religious special days. For example, in Greece, a person’s name day is highly celebrated — so familiarizing yourself with what’s important to your contacts, and reaching out to them on those special days can go a long way in building a solid bond.
  3. If you witness them doing something great or selfless, let them know how their actions touched, moved, or inspired you.
  4. Always be on the lookout for opportunities to connect people. Someone’s looking for an electrician, refer one. Someone’s target market is Dentist’s and you know a few, introduce them. Someone’s looking to join a networking group, connect them with someone who runs one. Two people that you’ve met separately at the same networking event share a common interest, become the conduit and introduce them. My point is, helping others connect typically doesn’t go unnoticed, and is a win-win for all.
  5. Forward along timely, useful, and/or entertaining information. Stumble across a great article on golf, send a copy to those you know who are golf enthusiasts. Read a great book on sales that has helped your business grow, recommend it to others who may also benefit from its wisdom. Don’t be stingy here, share the gift of knowledge whenever possible.
  6. Inform them of events that may be of interest. Now when I say events, I mean any professional networking, entertainment, or educational events. Some examples might be, if you have a contact who is struggling with their finances and you know of a financial guru giving a free teleseminar, let your contact know about it. If you’re attending an event that you expect to be excellent for networking with real estate experts, and you happen to have a contact that serves that target market, invite them along. In other words, always be in the know of what events are happening around you and always ask yourself who else do I know that may be interested in this event?

Now in order to successfully carry-out these 6 ways I’ve shared with you here, there’s one key skill that you’ll need to employ and continually develop, and that is to be a great listener. No I’m not talking about the type of passive listening that many of us engage in most of the time. I’m talking about active listening — The type of listening where you are actually paying attention well enough to learn what’s really important to the person you’re speaking with. It’s through the skill of effective listening where you’ll harvest the seeds necessary to ensure healthy relationships down the road.

So in closing, always remember that people buy from people they know, like, and trust. So it behooves you to continuously look for ways to nurture your professional relationships. Do that effectively and watch their value, and your success, soar.
Copyright 2007 Online Marketing Muscle — All Rights Reserved.


15 Creative Ways to Make Your Business Card Sizzle

Posted on August 20, 2007 by Dean Mercado in Marketing Strategy Leave a comment

In my opinion, probably the most important and misused marketing collateral that small businesses have is their business card. Now I network an awful lot and tend to gather my fair share of business cards and I have to say, I’m often at a loss how people put such little thought and effort into constructing what very likely will become the lasting image that they leave me with. That being said, if you’re willing, with a little effort, you can use your expertly-crafted business card to easily stand out from the pack.

Let’s try a little exercise. Grab a handful of business cards that you’ve received from people you’ve met and spread them out on a table, face-up so that you can easily see all of them. Now take your eyes off the business cards for a minute and then look back at them. Select the top 5 business cards that for whatever reason just seem to catch your eye. Then analyze those business cards. What about them grabbed your attention and why? The idea here is to learn what works and what doesn’t work in terms of having an immediate WOW impact.

Now once you’ve grabbed their attention, at a bare minimum, I highly recommend that your business card contain the following staples: your name, business name, business address, phone number, email address, and web site address.

Now in my book, these should be a no-brainer. However, I can’t tell you how many times I get a business card from someone without one or more of them.

Another possibility for the above list of staples could be your “title”. However, I’m not crazy about titles and often they are more limiting than anything else. So unless they serve a dual purpose of maybe say communicating what you do, such as “Business Coach” or “Certified Financial Planner”, I’d leave it out and use the real estate for something more valuable.

Now are you ready to step up your game? Well alright — here are 15 of my favorite tips that can make your business card really sizzle:
1. Use Both Sides of Your Business Card

I don’t know about you but the majority of the business cards I see very rarely take advantage of this precious real estate. Why? I couldn’t tell you. Just remember to leave a little white space if possible for the receiver of your business card in case they want to jot down a few notes about you.
2. Add Your Photo

Take it from a guy who networks a lot; don’t waste any opportunity to be remembered. A photo on a business card definitely makes your marketing work overtime for you and in my book should become a staple. Three of the most important benefits of doing this are one, that it’s personal, two, it establishes a comfort level with you, and three, it makes you easily recognizable.
3. State What You Do

Don’t make me guess. This is typically the kind of note someone will jot down on the back of you business card unless of course you make it easy for them and include it.
4. State Who You Do It For

Again make it easy for me to either hire or refer you.
5. State a Key Competitive Advantage — Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

Why buy from you? Give me a reason. What makes your product or service special? Include this little tidbit on your business card so your target market won’t soon forget.
6. Have a Call to Action

Clearly spell out for me what action you’d like me to take next (e.g. sign up for your newsletter, visit your blog, etc.)
7. Use an Odd Size or Shape for Your Business Card

Some possibilities may be a larger business card size, rounded edges, a specific and relevant shape like a flower if you’re a florist, etc.
8. Magnetize the Back of Your Business Card

People seem to have a hard time throwing away business cards if they are magnetized. As a matter of fact it’s pretty common that they’ll stick them on something like a file cabinet or a refrigerator.
9. Include Tips Related To Your Business

How about a list of 5 things to look for when hiring someone who does what you do? And obviously you can slant this towards your competitive advantages.
10. Include a Calendar on the Back-side of Your Business Card

This technique is one that can keep people referring back to your business card as often as possible.
11. Include Important Dates Hinting When Someone Should Think of You

If you’re an accountant serving small businesses, maybe you include important tax dates that they need to remember. If you’re a landscaper maybe you provide dates on when they should call you for specific services like mulching in the spring, pruning in the fall and so on.
12. Make It Serve Double-Time As A Frequent Rewards Card

Stamp it every time they buy something from you and after a certain number of purchases, give them something of value for free.
13. Make It Serve Double-Time As A Coupon to Use during Their Next Visit

Just leave a spot where you can handwrite an expiration date to cause some sort of urgency to purchase again soon.
14. Make It Serve Double-Time As an Appointment Scheduler

Just leave spots where you can handwrite the time and date of your next appointment.
15. Include Other Web Site URLs Where They Can Connect with You Further

For example your blog; your pages on Social Networking web sites such as MySpace, LinkedIn, or Ryze; Squidoo pages; etc.
So in closing, don’t miss this golden opportunity to have your business card work overtime for you. Implement one, two, or all of these techniques if they make sense of course and watch your business connections bear bigger and better fruits.
Copyright 2007 Online Marketing Muscle — All Rights Reserved.


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