Business and Social Networking sites rule the waves and if you haven't done so already then you have to jump on board. 'Why do I need to be on Facebook or why do I need to Twitter or Tweet or whatever it is? It's not like I've ever had to before'. A common enough statement these days from the uninitiated. Or it's: 'I don't have time to network, I'm in business, I'm not interested in making new friends'. Well, I'm sorry my friend but if you want to take advantage of some of the cheapest forms of marketing your business then you have to find the time and after a while it becomes second nature, I can assure you. Take it from someone who not so long ago claimed 'I'll never be on Facebook. I don't need to let everyone know what I'm doing every minute of the day. And, I don't have time to join all these discussion groups and read all the infernal communications'. Yet I probably wouldn't hesitate to play a round of golf with a prospective client or someone who can aid my business development - and a round of golf takes hours. Messaging or responding to messages takes minutes not hours I soon learned.
I started off business networking happily enough moons ago and have generally benefited and thought it time well spent. A quick visit to findnetworkingevents.com helped me here and you can even sign up online for newsletter updates. I also registered with thebusinessnetworkonline.com - the folks here connect you to potential leads across the spectrum of the regional network of Chambers of Commerce. In the past I have also dipped my toe in the waters of BNI (Business Network International) but I hesitated (he who hesitates....) in joining my local branch and as their rules mean that they can only have one company (or person) per business type, I was beaten to it! Other people I know who have joined have said: 'Yeah, I know there's a cost but the returns have far outweighed the overhead'. Speak as you find and as with anything networking-wise you get out from it what you put in - reaping, as they say, what you sow.
Missing out here then a friend was amazed to learn that I wasn't on LinkedIn so within a short space of time I had become one of the million people a week and signed up as an individual and connected myself (in the world's eyes) to my business and a link to my website. Inserting my CV saved time as the magic of computers dropped all the relevant information onto my profile. Note here that the only downside was that a couple of people I once worked with and never wanted to ever see or come across again popped up as 'potential friends'. I presume I came up on their profiles and as I (fortunately) haven't heard anything from either of them they harbour the same feelings as me.
Facebook came next upon realisation that I could promote my latest enterprise and treat it from a business perspective. Since doing this I have begun to notice how many small businesses (especially retail/leisure/hospitality) have a page on Facebook instead of a website.
Lastly (and to be honest the one I'm still really getting to grips with) comes Twitter where I can, theoretically communicate with over 200 million users. The format is simple text like - Tweets that in a condensed format (as opposed to LinkedIn and Facebook) can give not only snapshots of what you personally are up to but what is happening in your business.
So, in conclusion, jump on the band wagon, join the millions upon millions of people who successfully utilise the social and business networking opportunities now available to all.
No comments:
Post a Comment