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Lisa Orrell, The Promote U Guru 
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Posts Tagged ‘marketing’The Beauty of Branding: What It Means to Your Business SuccessJuly 07th, 2015The benefit of consciously shaping a Personal or Company Brand is focus. When you know with utmost clarity what you want you, or your company, to be known for, it is easier to develop an effective brand platform…and that will impact everything you do as a small business owner, book author, or professional speaker! So, what is a “brand”? It is a person’s emotional feeling about you and your company and it is a promise for a specific experience with you and/or your business. Your branding touches everything pertaining to your company…everything you say and don’t say, and everything you do and don’t do.  Lisa Orrell was voted one of the “Most Influential Brand Gurus in the World” in 2013 & 2014 by over 22,000 industry professionals. A key concept that I strongly recommend burning into your brain is this: When someone has contact with your brand in-person or virtually, one of two things happens: your brand is reinforced…or it is weakened. This is why it is so important to know what your brand value, brand differentiators, brand positioning, brand promise, and brand personality, are. They need to be reinforced and reflected in everything you say, do, write, and create. However, many small business owners don’t focus on this and then wonder why their business isn’t doing well. Once you “know who you are”, it makes it much easier to express it to potential customers. Plus, it enables you to have consistency across all of your business-building efforts, such as: your website, social media networks, marketing & sales materials, PR efforts, etc. And, for those of you who have (or will have) employees or contractors working for you, they need to be aware of your brand promise and values, too. As the leader, you’re the brand evangelist of you and your company, and that means making sure anyone working for you focuses on also positively reinforcing your brand, not weakening it. Basically, they are not only representing themselves, but they are also representing you. One of the best things you can do to create a positive brand platform is focus on being people-centric. This means to: always be open to listening to feedback; have a top-to-bottom commitment to making your customers, employees and co-workers your #1 priority; and always look at your decisions from their perspective, not just yours. Think about it as a consumer of the brands YOU like. You’re a customer for a wide variety of products and services. Why are YOU loyal to their brand(s)? I bet it’s probably because they promise a specific experience with their product or service and consistently deliver on it. So if you can make a person’s experience with your Personal and/or Company Brand consistently consistent with your brand promise, you are heading down the right path. However, it ALL has start with you getting clarity, and then effectively projecting that in everything you do. And, although you may have a tight budget, please be mindful of how your marketing materials look, especially your website. If you need help, hire a Consultant to help you! That may sound like common sense BUT it’s not common practice…think about how many awful websites you come across! Be aware of these fast facts:
Make sure all of your marketing, business, and sales tools look professional, and that things like colors and fonts are consistent across all of them. Don’t have purple and green the main colors on your website but then use yellow and blue on your business cards, collateral, or even on things like your invoices. You also want to make sure your social media page designs are consistent with your website. Again, branding is not just about how you describe and run your business; it’s also about how your business appears visually. In a nutshell, Personal or Company Branding becomes the “behavior barometer” for you as a small business owner. Once it’s established, you’ll find yourself often asking: “Is this decision going to support or weaken my brand?” And THAT type of mindset will enable you to build positive awareness for your brand, increase your sales, and grow your business!  Bad Social Media Etiquette Could Be Killing Your BrandMarch 19th, 2015Hi All! Back in 2012 I wrote a blog post entitled “Do You Suffer from Social ‘Me’dia Syndrome?”. It was picked up by tons of other blogs and also led to my being asked to write variations of it for several online business communities and magazines. I bring this up because yesterday I spoke to a client of mine who was asking me about Social Media strategies. After my chat with her I realized that it was a good time to revisit this topic in 2015. Why? Because MANY people are still clueless about proper Social Media etiquette! And that impacts your Personal Branding!  Have YOU forgotten the word “social” in Social Media? Here’s the deal…you have to participate to make it work for you. If you make it all “about you”, you’ve lost the entire essence of what Social Media is about! I find that many new clients who come to me are not getting much out of their Social Media and online marketing efforts because they’ve forgotten ONE little detail…they forgot about the word “social” in their Social Media strategy. Here are a few tips that will quickly illustrate my point: 1. Comment on other peoples’ blog posts. If you have a blog and want people to comment on your posts, you have to comment on OTHER peoples’ blog posts to start generating traffic to yours. It’s simple: If you read a blog post you like or have an opinion on, don’t just “keep it to yourself”. POST A COMMENT! 2. Retweet other peoples’ tweets: If you like a tweet from someone else, take a split second to click on the retweet button to share it with your followers. That’s why the retweet icon exists! To SHARE info with everyone and help cross-promote each other to help increase awareness for other people. It’s amazing how much more tweet-love and traffic you’ll get if you retweet, reply and comment on other peoples’ tweets. AGAIN…it’s part of being “social” in tweet-ville…and it’s part of Social Media etiquette! 3. Comment or Like other peoples’ posts on Facebook or in LinkedIn Groups: If you want more people to comment and/or click on the “like” button on your Fan Page or Profile posts, then do it more for other people! It takes less than one second to click “like” under someone’s post and sometimes just a couple of seconds to write a comment. Again, if you see a post that you like or find interesting, rather than just THINK to yourself, “That’s funny!” or “That’s cool!” or “That’s interesting!” or “That’s really helpful info!”, move your cursor up to the word “like” under it and simply click. Or type a short comment to acknowledge what that person posted! This may all sounds like common sense BUT it’s NOT common practice…which is why millions of social media hobbyists and small business owners are involved in Social Media but frustrated with it. They constantly just focus on posting stuff about THEM, their businesses, their products or events, their books, their families, their vacations, their kids, the songs they like, food they like to eat, etc., but they rarely take the time to acknowledge what other people post and share online. So…here’s my challenge to YOU: If any of this describes how YOU participate in the world of Social Media, make “improve my Social Media etiquette in 2015″ one of YOUR resolutions this year! You’ll be pleased with the results and will truly be participating the way the world of Social Media was intended. Cheers & Happy Marketing! Lisa Three Ways to Engage and Attract Millennial CustomersAugust 05th, 2014Hi All! For Sellers to more successfully engage, attract, and develop new customer relationships, it’s important to be aware of this interesting fact shared by J. Walker Smith, Ph.D. and Ann Clurman, Co-Authors of the book, Rocking the Ages: “Generationally determined lifestyles & social values exercise as much influence on buying and purchasing as more commonly understood demographic factors like income, education, and gender do – maybe even more.” How Millennials (aka: Gen Y), Generation X, and Baby Boomers each prefer to be engaged with is different. And it’s critical that Sellers educate themselves on these preferences as it can greatly improve the results of their sales and marketing efforts. However, for this article, the focus is on Millennials. Not only are they the newest generation of young, adult consumers, they are the most unique. Thus, they’re worth learning about. Why? For starters, they are the largest generation the U.S. history. Plus, by 2025, 75% of the U.S. workforce is going to be comprised of Millennials. As a result, not only will Sellers and Employers be working with them more as colleagues, but they’re going to be heavily competing for them as customers. There are many ways to attract, engage and build brand-loyalty with this unique generation. Here’s an example of three to be aware of:
Smart companies are investing a lot of time, effort, and money into learning everything they can about the Millennial mindset; both as employees AND consumers. Furthermore, Sales Teams all over the globe are learning how to better engage with them as our next generation of key decision-makers in the workforce. With $1.5 billion in annual spending power, and being a generation 85 million strong, it’s easy to see why companies ranging from small businesses to Fortune 500 corporations care about them. The eldest Millennials are now around 30 years-old…so they’re not just “clueless kids” anymore. Cheers & Happy Marketing! Lisa Customer Service Lesson from Carnival Cruise Ship DisasterFebruary 20th, 2013Hi All! By now I’m sure most of you have heard about the recent Carnival Cruise debacle that occurred on their Triumph Ship in the Gulf of Mexico on February 10, 2013 due to a fuel line leak, and that left 4,200 passengers stranded on board without power or working toilets for five days. Not a fun way to spend a vacation! And also certainly not a “fun” time for Carnival either. However, now that everyone is safely off the ship, this unfortunate situation made me think about what I could learn from Carnival’s recent public relations, business, legal, and Customer Service nightmare. I don’t plan to dissect “how” they handled everything on board during the fiasco, but rather wanted to focus on what they did during and after it from a Customer Service standpoint “off the ship”. According to news reports, Carnival is not only refunding all passengers 100% BUT they are also providing travel vouchers for future cruises. And, according to cruise experts, this type of compensation is not “normal” in the cruise world; normally passengers are only given a partial refund when things go bad (or even really bad) on a cruise. That said, all small business owners should adhere to the following: When you have a client or customer who is unhappy, go above and beyond what is expected of you to repair the situation! I know many business owners who look at customer complaints as an “annoyance” and complain the person(s) is simply whining…but that’s not always true and that’s NOT the right perspective. Here’s a personal example: Recently someone purchased my e-book, Promote U Thru PR: How to Get Mass Media Coverage to Build Your Brand and Income, and for whatever reason there was a technical glitch in my shopping cart for THAT one order, that one day, that caused his credit card payment to process but it did NOT deliver the buyer a link to download the e-book. I received a scathing email from the person saying they were ripped off. But, rather than just email them the e-book directly with an apology (for the sake of keeping the $17 bucks), I refunded their credit card, AND sent them the e-book, AND offered them a FREE 30-minute consultation. That was WAY more than I needed to offer for a $17 product ordering mishap, but the effort to maintain my brand integrity was worth it. Why? Because the person ended up hiring me for on-going Marketing, Branding, PR, Publicity and Social Media consultation…which yielded way more revenue for me than losing a measly $17 bucks on the e-book sale. However, even if he hadn’t hired me, I could walk away from that situation knowing I did everything possible to make him happy. My prediction is that MANY of the passengers who went on that awful Carnival Cruise WILL use their vouchers in the future with Carnival and have a great time…like a majority of people who cruise every year yet never experience any mishaps, large or small. So learn from this recent news story, and learn from the personal example I provided, and when things (possibly) go awry with a client you may have, go above and beyond to fix the situation…it’s YOUR brand and it’s YOUR job to protect it! Valuable Lessons for How (Not) to Market on FacebookOctober 05th, 2012Ever since its initial public offering in May, Facebook’s life as a public company has been scrutinized, analyzed and commented on by the hour. During the lead up to their public debut, everything seemed rosy for the social media bandleader. Even General Motors pulling out of their $10 million ad campaign the week before the campaign didn’t do much to slow the company’s initial roll up to $38 a share. Unfortunately, the gaping problem that GM pointed out hasn’t gone away. Facebook’s sidebar ads suffer from a dismal click-through rate. Although the internet average is just .1 percent, Facebook’s click rate settles around a pathetic 0.051 percent. So is marketing on Facebook worth it? Of course! But not in the manner you might have previously thought. Social media is all about engaging. The point is to start a dialogue with customers. Just like your blog, the posts on your Facebook wall, Twitter feed, or Google+ page should be insightful, thought-provoking, and most of all, useful. Whether you’ve had success or failure in the past with social media (or you’re just getting started), remember these integral lessons whenever you’re launching or updating your campaign: Don’t Be a Broken Record Player Although tools that allow businesses to aggregate all their social media accounts in one place are useful, recycling a post across different platforms, this isn’t always the wisest approach. If a consumer likes your post on Facebook enough to follow your Twitter account as well, they might soon unfollow you if they’re bombarded with the same messages from multiple outlets. Of course, some outreach is best shouted from the rooftops. In general, however, treat each platform as its own. Make Each Post Unique The broken record player analogy works individually within an individual outlet like Facebook, as well. A week-long sale shouldn’t be touted in the same way each day (3 more days! 2 more days!). Try to think of a witty or relevant post to highlight the sale each day. If you’re a shoe store, post a photograph of yourself in a favorite pair and solicit follower feedback. Or, if you own a spa, reward followers with a Facebook-only giveaway for users that ‘Like’ your post that day. Don’t Over-Market Facebook recently launched ‘promoted posts,’ allowing business pages to pay a small fee in order to maximize the number of their existing followers they reach with a status update. Although this tweak can be highly useful when you’re hosting an event or a major sale, it doesn’t change the rules about what you post. If your update is a blatant and boring marketing pitch, it won’t convert the extra views into further sales. Use your website to promote your products directly, and use Facebook to talk about them. This spring, Facebook even launched a paid post beta program for regular users in New Zealand, allowing posters to make their updates ‘stickier’ on their friends’ news feeds for an extra dollar or two. If these become a regular option around the world, it could change the way our news feeds work, increasing the pressure even more for marketing content to be of a high quality that stands on its own, sales pitch aside. Stay Engaged Many businesses make the mistake of devoting themselves to a social media marketing plan and committing to a certain number of posts each day or week. But is it better to post three posts each day that get zero comments, or one post that results in a long stream of back-and-forth between followers? Ask questions in your posts and invite followers to ask questions in return. Be quick to reply when they post, helping to foster a conversation that will promote you as an expert in your field, building trust that translates into sales. Not to mention, the more comments and ‘Likes’ a post receives, the higher it ranks within Facebook’s news feed algorithm. Sometimes You Say it Best When You Say Nothing At All Are you totally unmotivated to post to your Facebook account today? If you simply can’t think of anything good to say, keep your mouth shut. The last thing you want is to lose followers due to boring posts or updates that shamelessly try to sell product. If you’ve got a case of ‘poster’s block,’ just log out and don’t post anything. Something good will come to you later. With Facebok struggling to further monetize and convince investors that it’s worth more than $20 a share (where it’s been hovering for most of August), there’s no telling what changes may be in store. Whatever alterations Facebook does make to its marketing options for businesses, the rules offered here are universal — with social media, start a conversation, establish yourself as an expert, and trust that the sales will follow. Blog Post Courtesy of: Senior executive Anita Brady is the President of 123Print.com. They are a leading resource for high quality customizable items like business cards, letterhead and other materials for small businesses and solo practitioners. How to Create Unique and Encouraging Facebook AdsJune 02nd, 2012Hi All! The following Guest Blog post is courtesy of Craig Robinson, Editor for Qwaya, a Facebook campaign tool that’s run through a web interface. If you’re a small business owner who currently runs ads on Facebook, or plan to, you do NOT want to miss the incredibly useful tips and strategies he, as a Facebook Advertising Expert, outlines to make your online ads much more effective! So…let’s jump in to Craig’s article! With so many different software options out there for you to choose from, you can realistically churn out ads by the hundreds every single day if you wanted to. You’re only limited by your imagination and the speed of your software. However, as most advertisers ultimately learn when dealing with Facebook, quantity never bests quality. One original, inspiring ad from one source can get 10 times the conversions of an entire army of shoddy ads. People left places like MySpace for Facebook because Facebook was of superior quality. No jumbled mess of advertising for porn and dating sites and other garbage. So, to make the most out of this social media giant, you need to post high-quality ads. Below, we will go over a few great ways in which you can hone your ad-making skills. A Five-Step Guide for Creative Ad-Making: 1: Emulation is Not Theft You can think of emulation like trend-watching in this context. The idea isn’t to steal ideas from anyone; and it’s definitely not to outright steal ads. But you need to keep up with trends. As you’re operating a business, it’s difficult to know what groups of people are liking on Facebook these days. You might decide a humorous Rage Comic ad would create a social context buzz, but you may be two years late for that if you’re not keeping up with the trends. So when we speak of emulation here, what we’re really speaking of is keeping an eye on the competition to make sure that you’re not missing the ball. 2: Text and Context are Different Things You can’t always type your way to social context and high conversions, so remember that leaning on text too heavily isn’t how you create an original ad. You want your text to be very specific to the purpose and to provide a call of action without making bold promises and guarantees that cannot be matched. But you don’t want to only rely on the text for a creative ad. For example, a press release style of ad is good, but it’s even better with an image(s). Trying to type your way to popularity isn’t nearly as efficient as going with a blended approach. 3: Target a Complete Niche A lot of advertisers make the mistake of not targeting a large enough niche. Did you know that women over 50 years of age click at higher rates than anyone? Yeah; it’s true. You don’t want to only cater to 18-35 or whatever popular demographic you read about. You want to cater to all inside of the niche. Expand on your main keyword (for instance: stereo equipment) and think of every instance in which it can be used, regardless of age and even of location. Expand, expand, expand! 4: Visualizing the Goal Optical illusions and humorous images and the like are all big draws for people. Remember, the Facebook expert advertises in the realm of social context. The amateur advertises dry business slogans to a narrow niche. Be very visual with your ads and entice attention by causing people to actually focus on what they’re looking at. Your main goal is conversion, but that’s not your only goal. Popular, enticing ads will catch on. 5: Always Test Your Ads The best part about advertising is that you’re never going to rely on one ad and you’re never going to leave an ad out there that doesn’t perform well. As long as you’re testing, you will know which areas of the ad to tweak and how to proceed with a successful campaign. You always need to test what you’re doing. It’s not a complicated thing to advertise with Facebook. Just make sure that you’re always adapting and are always looking to be creative. Thanks, Craig, for those helpful, quick-hit tips for improving your branding and sales using Facebook advertising! Cheers & Happy Marketing! Lisa Why Not Understanding Social Media Etiquette is Impacting Your EffortsJanuary 11th, 2012Hi All! Back in 2012 I wrote a blog post entitled “Do You Suffer from Social ‘Me’dia Syndrome?”. It was picked up by tons of other blogs and also led to my being asked to write variations of it for several online business communities and magazines. I bring this up because yesterday I spoke to a good friend of mine who was asking me about Social Media tips. After my chat with her I realized that it was a good time to revisit this topic in 2012. Why? Because MANY people are still clueless about proper Social Media etiquette! Here’s the deal…you have to participate to make it work for you. If you make it all “about you”, you’ve lost the entire essence of what Social Media is about! I find that many new clients who come to me are not getting much out of their Social Media and online marketing efforts because they’ve forgotten ONE little detail…they forgot about the word “social” in their Social Media strategy. Here are a few tips that will quickly illustrate my point: 1. Comment on other peoples’ blog posts. If you have a blog and want people to comment on your posts, you have to comment on OTHER peoples’ blog posts to start generating traffic to yours. It’s simple: If you read a blog post you like or have an opinion on, don’t just “keep it to yourself”. POST A COMMENT! 2. Retweet other peoples’ tweets: If you like a tweet from someone else, take a split second to click on the retweet button to share it with your followers. That’s why the retweet icon exists! To SHARE info with everyone and help cross-promote each other to help increase awareness for other people. It’s amazing how much more tweet-love and traffic you’ll get if you retweet, reply and comment on other peoples’ tweets. AGAIN…it’s part of being “social” in tweet-ville…and it’s part of Social Media etiquette! 3. Comment or Like other peoples’ posts on Facebook or in LinkedIn Groups: If you want more people to comment and/or click on the “like” button on your Fan Page or Profile posts, then do it more for other people! It takes less than one second to click “like” under someone’s post and sometimes just a couple of seconds to write a comment. Again, if you see a post that you like or find interesting, rather than just THINK to yourself, “That’s funny!” or “That’s cool!” or “That’s interesting!” or “That’s really helpful info!”, move your cursor up to the word “like” under it and simply click. Or type a short comment to acknowledge what that person posted! This may all sounds like common sense BUT it’s NOT common practice…which is why millions of social media hobbyists and small business owners are involved in Social Media but frustrated with it. They constantly just focus on posting stuff about THEM, their businesses, their products or events, their books, their families, their vacations, their kids, the songs they like, food they like to eat, etc., but they rarely take the time to acknowledge what other people post and share online. So…here’s my challenge to YOU: If any of this describes how YOU participate in the world of Social Media, make “improve my Social Media etiquette in 2012” one of YOUR resolutions in the new year! You’ll be pleased with the results and will truly be participating the way the world of Social Media was intended! Cheers & Happy Marketing! Lisa Experts Share Great Tips for Using Videos for MarketingAugust 08th, 2011Hi All! I came across this terrific article on SocialMediaExaminer.com, written by Cindy King, entitled: “29 tips to make Your Video Marketing Easy“. Basically, if you are a small business owner wondering how you can begin to use, or more effectively use, short videos in your marketing mix, and you’re on a limited budget, you don’t want to pass up these great tips! Cindy interviewed experts to share some helpful tips to improve your efforts and strategies. Here are a few of the tips shared, and you can read the entire list of 29 by CLICKING HERE! 5 out of the 29 tips:Chris Garrett @ChrisGarrett #1: Try video now My biggest tip is to try video out, see if it works for you. I resisted video for so long due to my shyness, but when I did put some videos out there my audience reacted so warmly (and forgiving of my goofs) that I wish I had tried sooner. You don’t need professional gear, expert editing skills and software, and you don’t need a fancy script. You don’t even need to be super-confident in front of the camera. Just make a good point and deliver content people can use and enjoy. There is no time like the present. Get started! Chris Garrett, author of the popular blog chrisg.com. Kristi Hines @kikolani #2: Use Google Search Stories if you’re shy If you’re shy about videos and not ready to put your face (or voice) on camera, there are still options! My particular favorite is using Google Search Stories to show viewers your best online properties by simply searching for them. You can see mine below that highlights my blog and guest posting contributions. If you’re having a hard time getting particular results to show up, use some more advanced search queries. For example, one of mine was Kristi Hines site: socialmediaexaminer.com, which showed results with just my posts here on Social Media Examiner. You can get really creative too, incorporating results from Google image, maps, news, blog, product and book search to feature photography, a business location, blog posts, stuff you sell and books you have written! Kristi Hines, author of the popular blog Kikolani. Stephanie Gehman @airport_girl
#3: Find your company’s best cheerleader Find your internal cheerleader to be the person you put in front of the camera. Your marketing and sales professionals are not always the most likely candidates to be the star of your company/brand’s videos. Consider the person in the office who encourages and has a smile for everyone, as his/her natural exuberance may be just the on-camera talent you’re looking for! Stephanie Gehman is marketing manager for Harrisburg International Airport in Pennsylvania. Lewis Howes @LewisHowes #4: Start publishing regularly Video can seem like just another challenge to overcome, but I see a major increase in my business and brand awareness all from the power of video. There are a number of tips I could share, but the best one is easy. Simply put, it’s important to start publishing video on a consistent basis. Don’t worry about what camera to use (I use the reverse camera on my iPhone often) and don’t worry about editing it to make it look perfect (the “mess-ups” will make you look more genuine and real) as the most important thing is to simply get your message out there on video. Start with shorter 1- to 3-minute videos that educate your audience, then as you get more comfortable, you can make them longer or do more editing, but for now, the best thing you can do is take action and produce videos on a consistent basis. Lewis Howes, author of a popular blog and soon-to-be-launched Video Traffic Academy. Neal Rodriguez @notifyneal #5: Be transparent and authentic You want to be as transparent and authentic as you can be when expressing yourself on video; talk with a naked tongue. I have generated business through video by communicating passionately and honestly on the topic of social media marketing. I have touched on topics and tactics that other people with whom I operate don’t discuss, like the successful use of social bookmarking platforms like Digg, Reddit and StumbleUpon. Success with such platforms is perceived as black magic by most social media marketers and strategists, but I have communicated how I have been successful in detail through video. The other critical component is the marketing of your videos. I have developed relationships by helping other bloggers and webmasters in my niche, who have allowed me to post guest contributions on their websites. This way, a proportion of people who visit another website will visit mine, and a proportion of people who visit my website linked from the guest post will subscribe to my email list, RSS feed, Twitter, YouTube, Digg and Facebook digital assets. Once you have built a community of engaged friends with whom you keep in touch through social channels, some of these people will help you promote your content by sharing it on social media, buying your products or services, or referring you to somebody who will buy your products or services. Neal Rodriguez is an online marketer who teaches companies how to use social media marketing. OKAY! There are 5 tips to get your head around using video in your marketing mix. But don’t forget to check out the other 24 ideas and strategies that Cindy compiled. Cheers & Happy Marketing! Lisa New Book, “Small Message, Big Impact” Worth ReadingJune 03rd, 2011 Teri Sjodin's New Book Now on Amazon! Hi All! When I was offered an advanced reading copy of Teri Sjodin’s, new book, “Small Message, Big Impact: How to Put the Power of the Elevator Speech Effect to Work for You”, I quickly accepted. Why? Because it’s a great topic and one that I see many people struggle with. In a nutshell, I have to say that Teri’s new book rocks! And you can now pick a copy because it became available on all major online book retailers, like Amazon, this week. Here’s the scoop on why I highly recommend reading her book, and why I felt compelled to tell you about it:
Here’s a snapshot of what you’ll learn:
And it’s not just me giving the book great reviews. Business Guru, Harvey Mackay, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller, “Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive”, as well as Selling Power Magazine and many others, have given it rave reviews, too. Are you curious about Teri and why she is qualified to write a book on this topic? Here’s her brief bio: Terri L. Sjodin is the principal and founder of Sjodin Communications, a public speaking, sales training, and consulting firm. For over twenty years, Terri has served as a speaker and consultant to an impressive list of companies, industry associations, academic conferences, CEOs, and members of the United States Congress. She is also the author of “New Sales Speak: The 9 Biggest Sales Presentation Mistakes and How to Avoid Them” (Wiley). Okay! Go get a copy! And thanks, again, to Kevin Small, an amazing Literary Agent, for offering me an advanced copy…also congrads to Teri on writing a great book! Cheers & Happy Marketing, Lisa Ten Tips for Effective Networking In-PersonApril 23rd, 2011Nowadays, most people seem to be solely focused on social networking online. And, yes, while I am a firm believer that social media communities, such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, are AMAZING tools for making connections and business building, I find that many clients I work with tend to forget about “the other” type of networking…attending industry mixers and professional association gatherings! Quite honestly, I find that attending in-person networking events can typically yield me positive business results faster than online networking. Therefore, I make an effort to include in-person networking in my business-building mix. But, I also find that people are not that great at using their valuable in-person networking time wisely. So I often spend time coaching my clients on networking at events so that they are comfortable attending and get the most out of them. That said, here are Ten Tips I recommend to make your in-person networking efforts a success:
Okay, now find some good association mixers and industry events in your area, and try to attend at least 1-2 per month. There is a very good chance you’ll reap the benefits of your networking efforts quickly, such as: See your connection database grow quickly; find new opportunities otherwise missed; and attract new clients to generate more income! And, here’s a great quote I’ll leave you with on this topic (but I can’t remember who said it): Take your offline contacts online, and your online contacts offline…I think that’s great advice. And if you have a helpful networking tip to share, please share it! Cheers & Happy Marketing! Lisa
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