Social Media and the Comfort Zone
Networking use to be a real chore for many business owners. Before social media hit the main stream, if you were going to make an effort to build your client base and generate powerful connections for your business you really had to add networking to your marketing mix.
Face to face meetings can be fun when you feel comfortable in the surroundings. The thing about many business “mixers” or networking events is that not everyone is equally skilled at meeting people they don’t know and generating a conversation that isn’t overly sales-like, boring or simply awkward. Yet the success of “face-to-face” meetings depends on effective dialogue between people.
Add in to the encounter any nervousness ticks that you or the person you’re speaking to may have and you have the ingredients for a painful 2-hr. event that does little to drum up new business. Social media turned the tables on “networking” by allowing us to focus on what networking is all about – people sharing interests in an environment that is relaxed and suited to personal time tables and, well, personalities.
Not to exclude face-to-face meetings as I think they are necessary and will continue to enjoy them, as needed, but there are many more opportunities to make your business known over a wider geographic region with an online networking forum. In other words social media is now an important part of the marketing mix.
Let’s use Twitter as an example. There are millions of people on Twitter, but you only have to follow those people who interest you. You can then engage those people at a time of your choosing and you don’t have to feel awkward about your outfit or about approaching the “popular” person in the room. You can’t see them and they can’t see you. What matters is what is said and what you learn about others by following their discussions in the Twitter forum and looking into references they put out like their websites and their products or services.
There are dozens of social media forums that have generated world-wide attention but among the most popular and effective forums for business owners today is Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Of equal importance are those niche social media forums where you can meet others from your field of expertise or potential clients in that sector.
For example, Lynn Terry’s Self Starters Weekly Tips “Elite” Forum is not just a place to meet other internet marketers, it’s a place to test out strategies and learn from others who are actively building their business. This group is extremely active bringing together men and women from the U.S., Canada and other parts of the world like Australia for some of the most productive discussions and online teleseminars/webinars.
Or take the growing group of women who have decided to stay home to raise their children but still want to or must generate an income. These are “work at home moms” (WAHMS) and they have become a formidable networking group of women business owners generating enormous revenue online and in the economy as a whole. One of the best networking or mentorship groups out there for women in this sector is Kelly McCausey’s Mom Masterminds.
In describing both of the above networking/mastermind groups I’ve included the name of the owner of each group and I did that for a reason. As much as the online world has made networking easier, it hasn’t removed the “personal” component that makes a forum hum. Both Lynn Terry and Kelly McCausey nurture a certain level of productive dialogue which attracts individuals who not only partake, but contribute to the “sharing” environment that makes a networking forum work for the benefit its participants.
In larger networks like Twitter and Facebook even though there are millions of users, you will only derive benefit when you find or generate discussion that involves honest sharing of opinions and information about a business topic of relevance to you.
That’s an important point because in very large forums you can easily get carried away involving yourself in discussions about non-business issues. That’s the potential downside of social media. Before you know it hours can be wasted, on a daily basis chatting with people who can do nothing to help you to develop your knowledge or your client base. Those hours add up and will cost you in a big way…if you let it.
As a former chamber of commerce marketer I know all about business mixers and how productive they can be for those that approach each event in a strategic and supportive way. Entrepreneurship is no fun if you’re not generating an income and that will be front and center for you if you approach this opportunity strategically.
So as you maneuver your business through the social media banquet be comfortable, be yourself and enjoy the opportunity to network on your terms. But don’t lose sight of your goals. You may be in your slippers, curled up on a chair chatting to a new person on Twitter but just remember that this person or “your conversation” could lead to the big break your business has been waiting for.
There’s much to love and learn in the world of online networking. What is your biggest aha moment as a business owner involved in social media?
To your success,
Sharon
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