I went to a conference on Social Media in Frederick Maryland yesterday and as usual I’m excited about what we do here. In that spirit, here’s an interesting little video for a Friday distraction. The statistics are amazing.

Social Media is reaching people in numbers and with a frequency that we’ve never seen before in any other form of media. Still think your business can get along without a Social Media strategy?

There were a lot of companies that thought that way about websites 10 years ago. I’m fairly certain that most of them have now changed their minds.

The World Is Obsessed With Facebook from Alex Trimpe on Vimeo.

WARNING – This post requires a leap of faith.

I spent the last post trying to impress upon you the need for, and benefit of, using Social Tools to supercharge your networking.

In this post, I’d like to convince you that you should STOP networking entirely.

Networking

You’ve had the event on your calendar for weeks. When you agreed to go you thought, “it’ll be a great networking opportunity”. Now that the day is here, the last thing in the world you want to do is actually go.

You start to picture the scene in your mind. You drive into the parking lot, by yourself, in your best business attire. You grab a stack of business cards and maybe a couple of brochures and head into the building. As you walk in you say to yourself, “this time I’m not going to stand in the corner with Jim talking football, I’m going to actually meet some new ‘prospects’.”

Surprisingly, you actually avoid Jim and begin your work. In the two hours you meet a bunch of new people but in each case the vibe is the same, you might as well be selling vacuum cleaners. People listen politely, waiting for their turn to sell YOU a vacuum cleaner. Business cards are exchanged and you move on to the next “opportunity”.

Connecting

Same event, the difference is that this time, you accepted the invitation with no thought of selling anything. This time you accepted because you believed in the cause or you just wanted to go. You’re a little more casually dressed, you probably still have some biz cards because, after all, you ARE a super networker. When you walk through the door you see Jim, spend a few minutes on football and then remember that Jim is looking for a job. “Jim, I see Kristine across the room, I’m pretty sure she’s looking for an IT guy. Let me introduce you to her.” And you do.

The night continues like this, you’re not networking, you’re connecting people. Sure, you take the opportunity to update the folks you meet on what  you’re doing, but your real mojo comes from helping out. It’s comfortable to do, after all, you’re just introducing people to each other. You aren’t selling, you aren’t even networking.

Value

The difference between the two is value. When you think about it, it’s such a simple concept. Every single relationship you have with another human being is somehow based on the value exchange between you. Sometimes it’s enjoyment, sometimes affection, at times it’s something with tangible value but there is always an exchange of value. When that exchange becomes unbalanced, the relationship falters.

Social Connecting

You’ll hear people say today that content is king when it comes to online marketing and it’s true. It’s the primary way to contribute value to a community. Everyone we work with underestimates the knowledge and value that they have to offer. We hear it all the time, I have no idea  what I’m going to – write, blog, podcast, talk – about. The funny thing is that once we’ve gotten a short way into the process, they always realize that the problem is going to be finding the time to publish all of the things that they do have to say.

So, my recommendation is, stop networking and start connecting. Pump as much value into your online and offline relationships as you can and operate with the firm belief that it will come back to you in ways you’d never expect.

Social Media and Online Communities give us tools to create an amazingly complex web of connections. The leverage of that web becomes exponential. Use it to your advantage.

We all know that person. The one who’s everywhere. Every networking event. Every Meetup group. Giving talks at conferences. Meeting and greeting at the hot charity event of the week. Always smiling, always networking.

It’s hard to do. It takes a lot of time and, let’s face it, most of us just aren’t cut out for it.

The one thing you can’t argue with though, is that it’s remarkably effective. The question you often hear, when that super networker has left the vicinity? How do they get any work done with all the marketing they do?

Well, in truth, many of them probably don’t get much work done outside the marketing and networking. If your company can afford one of them fulltime they’ll pay for themselves. But what if that role falls to you? And as we know, YOU, do have to get some work done. And, maybe your spouse or kids would like to see you once in a while.

In my opinion, the answer is leverage. Today’s social tools give you that leverage. They aren’t the answer to everything but they have a couple of benefits that you must take advantage of:

1. Social tools allow you to be everywhere, all at once.
2. Your physical presence is optional.
3. Social networking self qualifies, only interested people will listen.
4. Unlimited scale.

[Read more...]

Social Media and your Small Business

Well, I’m not sure I can answer that on a personal level. However, when it comes to Social Media and your business, I think I can help.

The answer, unless you do a little planning, is no. They won’t ‘like’ your business. They won’t ‘like’ you on Facebook, or ‘follow’ you on Twitter. In fact, they might think it’s strange that you asked. After all, who ‘likes’ the local gas station?

If you haven’t already noticed, these signs and decals are popping up all over the place. Several months ago Facebook began sending window decals to local businesses. Many other sites have been doing the same for some time and quite a few are now scrambling to follow suit. Local business are ripping open the envelopes and promptly applying the decals in the most prominent place they can hoping people will see it and beat a path to their online door.

The results aren’t fantastic. In fact, they’re downright depressing. One local store proudly placed a Facebook sticker in the window and over the next four weeks was the recipient of ZERO new fans. The owner, I won’t mention his name, told me he would normally get 8 or 10 in a month. Maybe the sticker had the opposite effect? I told him I didn’t think so, but it got me thinking.

Why should I bother to take the time to “like” a business online just because they put a sign in the window? I wouldn’t, and neither would you.

However, give me something of value and I might change my mind. How about, “follow us on Twitter and get 15% off your next purchase.” Or, “If you’re our Mayor on Foursquare let us know, your next drink is on us!”

Give Value. Do it often, and with a smile. It’s the key to developing relationships online and on the ground.

You can’t compete with Starbucks on Facebook (they have over 18 million friends). Fortunately, you don’t have to. Here’s a list of things you CAN do that will drive traffic to your online communities and right back into your business.

1. Give them a reason
   This tip is related to the suggestions above. Make it easy for new customers to take the plunge with you online. Give them something they want. They’ll appreciate the gesture and you’ll stand out from the business down the street with the lonely “please be my friend” sticker in the window. If you need another example, does anyone stop at the trade show booth that isn’t giving something away? Nope. [Read more...]