Net-Tech Report with Chris Kauza
In my line of work I continue to be impressed with how fast technology changes and yet how many people are still discovering the basics of they tools that are out there. Most of the presentations and guidebooks I review are of the “Fundamentals 101” variety – “How To Get On LinkedIn”, “What To Do When You Are On Facebook”, etc. And yet, almost all of these miss the fundamental point of the technologies in the first place.
You.
No amount of gee-whiz technology or super-fast ability to connect and build rapport will make up for an inability to connect and build rapport in the first place. These tools are there to build connection – not merely to serve as a new, louder marketing platform for your products and services. So what are the “rules of the road” you should remember? Here are three common to ANY Social Media / Web 2.0 platform you may use.
Communication – meaning listening as well as speaking. Using “two ears and one mouth” - in that proportion and order – applies online as well as offline. At its core, networking is still networking, and one should always seek first to understand before being understood. In fact, once you create a relationship with someone at an offline networking event, you should feel comfortable inviting them into one or more of your online networks. Just make sure it is appropriate to the nature and purpose of your relationship.
Participation – when you go to a networking event, you typically get the most value when you give (before or without) receiving anything in return. The same holds true online as well. Join groups in your LinkedIn and Facebook circles. Post comments, videos, essays, presentation – whatever content you feel would be of interest or benefit to that particular community.
“Yea, but I want to grow my business and make money – how do I do that by giving everything away for free, and not letting everyone know that I have things they can buy from me?”
The way to do that is to proportionally share your “free, no-strings-attached” information along with your sales pitches. On a medium such as Twitter, which is built on frequent updates and interactions, a ratio of 12:1 or 8:1 is probably appropriate; meaning, for every “free” bit of information you give or reply to someone else you make, you can justify integrating a “sales” or marketing message in your communication. Just as you wouldn't walk into a cocktail party or a networking event & say, “Hi, my name is “X”; come buy my stuff!”, so to you want to be professionally appropriate with your messaging to the medium
Ask Questions – one of the biggest benefits of participating in Social Media is the same offline as it is online. By tapping the collective intelligence of a larger network, one can theoretically get new perspectives and ideas, gain introductions to helpful people or resources, and grow more quickly than they otherwise would have outside that particular network. “The answer is in the room”, but you'll never know it unless you ask.
I hope this gives you some additional things to think about as you move more of your networking efforts online. With new applications and new ways to connect being introduced almost daily, it's very easy to lose sight of the fact that “networking is still networking”, and many of the principles that have helped you be successful thus far, will also help you online.
For more information, please visit Chris's TNNW Bio.
www.FettMarketing.com
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