I write this from a train heading into London. I am on my way to a 'Digital Mindset' workshop from Ecademy founders Penny & Thomas Power. The purpose of the event is billed as 'to look at why a "Digital Mindset" and Digital Coaching will grow your business.' The tag line for the Ecademy website is now 'Learning, networking and business development for the digital age'.
If we are in a 'digital age' what does this mean for the Owners, Directors and Partners of small specialist businesses and professional firms? It is mainly these people who go networking as their primary route to market.
Most of the people I meet in this category are passionate about what they do and are open and transparent about what they do and why. It is this passion, openness & transparency that gives them an advantage in this digital age. It is exactly the right approach online.
Contrast this with the news furore over the last few days about wikileaks. Whatever the rights or wrongs the revelations, if true, show some of our politicians, diplomats and representatives of big business taking the opposite approach. Saying one thing in private and another thing in public. The internet has made it easier to judge openness, honesty and transparency. The very things that small business is mainly better at that big business.
You may have heard the expression 'people buy people'. The approach for the digital age is the same as what came before.
Be yourself!
Good Networking!Dave Clarke
Showing posts with label Online. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Online. Show all posts
The same rules apply for online and offline Word of Mouth
I have written before about online & offline networking needing similar approaches. Recent HP Labs social media research concludes that successful influence on twitter does not depend on a large number of followers. That for information to propagate in a network, individuals need to forward it to the other members, thus having to actively engage rather than passively read it.
This supports the behaviours we identified in our research into offline networking and how to proactively create positive word of mouth.
Success in networking (offline and online) comes down to building a manageable number of relationships amongst people with influence amongst the right audience. Then motivating that network to advocate you.
Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
This supports the behaviours we identified in our research into offline networking and how to proactively create positive word of mouth.
Success in networking (offline and online) comes down to building a manageable number of relationships amongst people with influence amongst the right audience. Then motivating that network to advocate you.
Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
Using the Internet to get off the Internet
In 'Using online to get offline' I briefly mentioned Meetup.com Founder, Scott Heiferman, and his talk in London about the importance of meeting offline.
Scott shared that he really began to experience the power of community in post 9/11 New York when people began again to rediscover the importance of looking out for each other. I was in London during the bombs on the underground and on a bus on 7 July 2005 and saw many people going out of their way for others in a similar way.
Scott shared that the idea for Meetup came from that time and he wanted to create a site to help strengthen community. To give people the opportunity to use the Internet to get together in local communities each day with the goal of improving themselves or their communities. Their mission today is to revitalize local community and help people around the world self-organize. Meetup believes that people can change their personal world, or the whole world, by organizing themselves into groups that are powerful enough to make a difference.
As Scott said it's about "Using the Internet to get off the Internet!"
A great insight into how to use Online Social Media and Networks in your Business Networking, a subject I addressed more fully in this article:
'10 top networking tips to increase business with the effective use of offline & online networks'
Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
Scott shared that he really began to experience the power of community in post 9/11 New York when people began again to rediscover the importance of looking out for each other. I was in London during the bombs on the underground and on a bus on 7 July 2005 and saw many people going out of their way for others in a similar way.
Scott shared that the idea for Meetup came from that time and he wanted to create a site to help strengthen community. To give people the opportunity to use the Internet to get together in local communities each day with the goal of improving themselves or their communities. Their mission today is to revitalize local community and help people around the world self-organize. Meetup believes that people can change their personal world, or the whole world, by organizing themselves into groups that are powerful enough to make a difference.
As Scott said it's about "Using the Internet to get off the Internet!"
A great insight into how to use Online Social Media and Networks in your Business Networking, a subject I addressed more fully in this article:
'10 top networking tips to increase business with the effective use of offline & online networks'
Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
Using online to get offline
At a networking lunch last week someone asked about how you get to meet up offline with some of the people you connect with online. Networking online & offline are about about building relationships. You can strengthen existing connections online and make good new connections. Build relationships by contributing to online conversations and sharing your knowledge and connections. At some point you will probably need to meet up to really build trust. You may not be quite ready to meet One2One so consider inviting them along to a networking group you belong to.
Last week I attended an Event on 'How real time web is facilitating offline interactivity'. One of the speakers Meetup Founder, Scott Heiferman, was talking about the importance of meeting offline and said Meetup itself was all about:
"Using the Internet to get off the Internet!"
A pretty good approach to keep in mind with your online networking.
Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
Get 10 top networking tips to increase business with the effective use of offline & online networks
offline business networking | business networking events
Last week I attended an Event on 'How real time web is facilitating offline interactivity'. One of the speakers Meetup Founder, Scott Heiferman, was talking about the importance of meeting offline and said Meetup itself was all about:
"Using the Internet to get off the Internet!"
A pretty good approach to keep in mind with your online networking.
Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
Get 10 top networking tips to increase business with the effective use of offline & online networks
offline business networking | business networking events
Are you clear about what you do and who for?
After a seminar yesterday on building business with the effective use of offline & online networks I had a conversation with a couple of the attendees about clarity of message. During the seminar there was general agreement that the more specific you can be about proposition the better. If people know exactly what you do and who for it is much easier to find referrals for you. One person mentioned someone they knew, liked and trusted but found it too difficult to find opportunities because they positioned themselves too generally and for any business whatever the size.
It is much better to be a specialist than a generalist. It is also much better to have a specific target market or market sector. Being a generalist for everyone is a very crowded space. The following image helped people to focus on this:
If you do not consider yourself to have a specific market sector then at least try to position yourself as a specialist. And if you really are a generalist at least try and define a market sector. That could be for example by business type, size, geography or a particular problem that you solve.
Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
Get 7 networking secrets for business success
business networking | business networking events | business networking podcast
It is much better to be a specialist than a generalist. It is also much better to have a specific target market or market sector. Being a generalist for everyone is a very crowded space. The following image helped people to focus on this:
If you do not consider yourself to have a specific market sector then at least try to position yourself as a specialist. And if you really are a generalist at least try and define a market sector. That could be for example by business type, size, geography or a particular problem that you solve.
Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
Get 7 networking secrets for business success
business networking | business networking events | business networking podcast
Faster relationship building with Social Networks
In 'Can you accelerate trust?' I wrote about the process of building trust in business networking. The question of the time it takes came up again today in an NRG seminar on building business with the effective use of offline & online networks.
It takes time and regular interaction to build relationships as this graphic illustrates:
That can help to make it all much quicker!
Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
Get 7 networking secrets for business success
business networking | business networking events | business networking podcast
It takes time and regular interaction to build relationships as this graphic illustrates:
The old tools we had - address book, phone, mail and various face to face interactions have been supplemented by email and now social media and social networks.
Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
Get 7 networking secrets for business success
business networking | business networking events | business networking podcast
Are you keeping up with your conversations online
I have blogged before about using Social Media and Social Networks to listen and engage in conversations. Here are a couple of examples from the last couple of days to illustrate this.
On Friday I blogged 'What is this #FollowFriday on Twitter?' and one of the people I mentioned was Jon Davey. Yesterday I received an email from Jon in reply because he had been alerted by Google Alerts. One of the thing he uses that for is to listen for mentions of 'Business in Berkshire'.
Yesterday I blogged 'Does it really cost that much?' and Nigel Morgan replied on Twitter, "If you question the value of networking, check the mirror!". A couple of people replied to Nigel on Twitter and then Nigel replied again, but on my Linkedin profile this time.
Are you listening and engaging online about things relevant to you and your business?
Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
Get 7 networking secrets for business success
business networking | business networking events | business networking podcast
On Friday I blogged 'What is this #FollowFriday on Twitter?' and one of the people I mentioned was Jon Davey. Yesterday I received an email from Jon in reply because he had been alerted by Google Alerts. One of the thing he uses that for is to listen for mentions of 'Business in Berkshire'.
Yesterday I blogged 'Does it really cost that much?' and Nigel Morgan replied on Twitter, "If you question the value of networking, check the mirror!". A couple of people replied to Nigel on Twitter and then Nigel replied again, but on my Linkedin profile this time.
Are you listening and engaging online about things relevant to you and your business?
Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
Get 7 networking secrets for business success
business networking | business networking events | business networking podcast
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