F.A.B. Tid-Bits
Marketing and communications advice is all over the place in the news today. Watch this page for interesting articles or reviews I’ve found specifically geared toward you, the small business owner.
May 29, 2011
DISC Profile from tonyrobbins.com!
I love this personal profile! It is by far the most complete, accurate, and detailed “personality test” I’ve taken. And it’s free!
http://www.tonyrobbins.com/ue/disc-profile.php
May 24, 2011
Networking With New Media
Old-school relationship building meets new media methods.
Jill Becker
…
Big Business for Small Companies
“The high-tech methods of networking give us opportunities to meet new people, to have direct access to our markets, to pull people in rather than just push out information,” RoAne says. “We now have so many additional methods by which to communicate that it’s wonderful for the small businessperson, who can appear to have a larger presence.”
Taking It to the Next Level
“Businesses that blend both old-school and new-media methods for networking stand head and shoulders above their competition,” says Smith, author of Facebook Marketing: An Hour a Day.
“To give you an example, any time you’re going to be attending an in-person function, here is a series of steps you can take: First, do your research online. Does the event have a hashtag (a special phrase preceded with a # sign that you can then find on Twitter)? Follow everyone talking about the upcoming event. Tweet to specific attendees that you’re looking forward to meeting them. Make a Twitter list of attendees, and Tweet about it to help others network with each other more easily.
“Identify key individuals you particularly wish to meet; do further research on this smaller group by finding them on LinkedIn, Facebook and through Google searches. Then subscribe to their blogs and e-zines. Check out these key individuals’ headshots online so you’ll be better able to recognize them when you meet them. You’ll also have gathered key nuggets over which to build rapport.
“Once at the event, be sure to have a mobile device and Internet connection so you can live Tweet the event, with the hashtag, and you’ll be adding value to all your followers, building further rapport with other attendees and creating coveted visibility with the event organizers.”
You Can’t Do It Alone
“Today, we network for pretty much everything we need and desire. You might be a genius in some areas of your life, but you’re going to need others to assist you where you’re not strong. That’s where networking comes into play,” says Bob Beaudine, author of The Power of WHO. “Each of us comes to a chasm in our business sooner or later that we can’t cross without someone’s help. Going it alone is like trying to speed walk on the moon. It’s hard to get traction. Conversely, tapping into your network is like walking on one of those people-movers at the airport. You just step on, and all of a sudden there’s a power underneath transporting you to your destination faster than you could get there by yourself. People are bridges you must cross to get where you want to go. They serve as catalysts. The value for business owners is that networking the right way can provide the power to help them achieve their goals a whole lot quicker than they could ever do it on their own.”
Managing Relationships
“The Dunbar 150 theory, which holds that humans can realistically only have meaningful relationships with up to 150 people, still prevails. The average number of friends that Facebook users have is 130,” says Smith. “However, for those of us who are natural connectors, as described by Malcolm Gladwell in his book The Tipping Point, our ability to build meaningful relationships with hundreds, even thousands of people, is a breeze. Others can learn this skill, too. With reliable social customer relationship management tools, you can easily keep detailed notes on a vast number of connections. And tools like Gist.com and Rapportive. com display the social profiles of everyone in your social network and email inbox, making continuous networking easier and much more effective.”
To read the full article, click here.
