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Posts Tagged ‘events’

Ten Tips for Effective Networking In-Person

April 23rd, 2011

Nowadays, 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:

  1. Show-up with your business cards! People often forget their cards, or only bring a few, and that’s embarrassing. Bring a good-sized stack with you so you don’t run out. Some people you meet may ask for several because they may know other people that need your product or services!
  2. Don’t be shy. Remember, everyone is there to meet new people, so you are all in the same boat. Find someone standing alone or a small group of people, walk up, extend your hand (for a FIRM shake), smile and introduce yourself. It’ll feel weird the first couple of times but people who network a lot are used to strangers approaching them. And if you say it’s your first time attending the mixer, they’ll normally want to help you meet other people.
  3. Practice your 30-second “personal infomercial” before you arrive. When someone asks what you do, be able to explain your business in 30 seconds or less. DO NOT bore people with a long sales pitch or a bumbling explanation about your small business.
  4. You should take an interest in the people you meet first. It’s common to blab on about yourself when you’re nervous, so make a conscious effort to ask people questions and LISTEN to what they share closely.
  5. Depending on the length of the mixer, try not to spend more than 5-10 minutes with each person. You’re there to meet people! Now if you’re really enjoying yourself with someone, and/or you’re talking to what may be a potential client, maybe spend a bit more time. BUT, KEEP IN MIND, they may want to be moving on to meet more people, too, so don’t monopolize their time. They might be too shy to excuse themselves, so be mindful of time, and watch their eyes and body language!
  6. If alcohol is being served, don’t overdo it. I’ve seen quite a few people start the evening making a great impression and then, after a few drinks, it spirals downhill.
  7. Make a lot of eye contact with people and smile! It’s all about human contact, and smiling will draw people to you. Yet when most people get nervous they sit on the sidelines and hope people will come to them. A genuine, warm smile will relax people you meet and will make connecting with you more inviting.
  8. Practice being a good conversationalist. Rather than just talk about you and your company (or theirs), have a few interesting questions memorized, and ask about kids, travel, previous jobs, pets, sports, current events, etc. Also, by really listening to people (which many people aren’t great at!) questions will come up naturally that you can ask to keep the conversation going. And, personally, I avoid topics around religion and politics.
  9. If someone approaches a group you’re talking to…immediately extend your hand, smile, and make them feel welcome. 
  10.  Send a hand written follow-up note to all the people you meet (mail them within 1-2 days). The immediate thought is to send e-mail, but a good ‘ol fashioned “Nice meeting you” thank you card, sent via snail mail, makes a BIG impression on people…because people rarely send them nowadays!

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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How Do I Find My Target Audience on Twitter & Get Them to Follow Me?

April 18th, 2010

Hi All!

Many of my clients, and audience members in my seminars and workshops, ask this question: How do I find and get the target audience that I WANT to attract to follow ME on Twitter?

As business owners, professional speakers, authors, consultants, coaches, etc. (whatever your business is), it doesn’t do you much good to have thousands of followers if most of them are people who would never have interest in your services, products, etc. I’m a firm believer that it’s all about quality and NOT quantity.

But that’s a very hard concept for many people to grasp…everyone gets so hung up on “how many” Fan Page fans they have, how many Twitter followers they have, etc. But I can tell you that Twitter benefited me in many ways even when I only had around 100 followers…why? Because I had the “right” followers. I started building relationships with other experts (who followed me) who I am now doing strategic partnering with, online events with, etc. So even though some of my followers are not potential clients of mine, they will refer clients to me and we’ll generate revenue together by doing paid events together.

And this may shock you, but a recent marketing report answered this question: How many Twitter Followers does it take to affect lead generation? Answer: At least 100. NOT 1,000! NOT 10,000! NOT 1 million! 100. Read the article with details by clicking here.

However, as I was saying before that tangent, is that it IS possible to find the people you want to target for business on Twitter…the people who CAN become your clients or buy your products!

Here are (3) ways that will enable you to find them:

1.) http://search.twitter.com : Type in keywords that describe the people you’d like to reach (example: Event Planners) and search results will come up.

2.) http://www.twellow.com: Twellow describes its service as a “directory of public Twitter accounts, with hundreds of categories and search features to help you find people who matter to you”. And it’s FREE!

3.) http://listorious.com: Listorious describes its service as “…makes it easy to find who matters on any topic with the best Twitter people search on the web. We empower thousands of people to curate Twitter by allowing them to tag their list in our Twitter list directory.” And here’s the basic benefit: You can find lists that other Tweeps have created that are of your target audience.

So you may be asking yourself, “Great. I’ll find a ton of people to follow who I really want to follow me. But how do I get them to follow ME?”

Short answer: Begin to follow them, and over time (if you retweet them a lot and send good content vs random junk), you have a good chance of them following you. And if they post questions or comments, reply to them. It’s all about being “social”!

And I’d like to say “Thanks!” to Mirna Bard, Social Media Expert, for sharing the Listorious.com tip with me 🙂

OKAY! You have 3 ways to get you started on finding YOUR target audience on Twitter. Get movin’!

Cheers & Happy Marketing!

Lisa

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