Online Networking Anyone?

This week I finally took the plunge and got very involved in two "Social Networking" groups - LinkedIn and Facebook.

For my purposes, the term "Online Networking" seems more accurate as you are making connections, having conversations, exchanging ideas and resources, as well as promoting your services - just like live networking, but all online.

Look, I'm very new to this but I'd like to share my perspective.

Like any other marketing activity that I engage in, I use the same "Marketing Ball" model. Let me take you step-by-step:

Affiliation

This is joining a network that can ultimately lead you to prospects and clients. As soon as you join, you have an affiliation, no matter how weak. Joining gives you access to potentially thousands of people in a relatively short time.

LinkedIn and Facebook are quite different, but both afford the opportunity to make these kind of connections and they are very popular with Independent Professionals and other small business owners. Both are free to join.

Attention

The first thing you need to do in both of these networks is to develop a profile. In LinkedIn it's more in-depth, listing your current business and jobs (or projects). In Facebook it's more flexible but you can also list information about your business and give people a good sense of what you do.

Using appropriate keywords that can be searched by members (in both networks) will help others find you. And don't forget to include a picture that actually looks like you! Since you are using these networks professionally, look professional, both in words and visually.

Familiarity

Now that you are affiliated and have an attention-getting profile, it's time to start getting known. There are many ways to do this in both networks. You could spend most of your free time doing this, so you need to pick your highest-leverage activities.

In LinkedIn, one of the best ways is to both ask questions and answer them. You can ask up to nine questions a month and answer infinite questions. Some answer dozens every week. This can be a great way to position yourself as a credible expert.

In Facebook there are even more opportunities for connecting. You can update your current activity once a day (or more) and everyone in your network will see what you're up to. You can interact with friends on your network in various ways and join different groups and participate actively.

Information

When you connect with other network members, you can add links to information on your web site. You can add a blog feed to Facebook and include such things as podcasts and videos. The opportunities to offer information are practically unlimited.

On the other hand, you don't want to overdo it and be pushing a lot information to people who don't want it. Like a good web site, you can have this information available 24/7 online for those who want to know more.

Experience

I haven't gotten to this level yet, but your long-term online connections could lead to such things as events, teleclasses and webinars, etc. For instance, in Facebook, you can hold an event (live or virtual) and then invite everyone in your network.

In my recent Fast Track to More Clients Workshops I discovered that one of the biggest beliefs that stop people from marketing is the idea that, "I have to know how it all works before I can start." Is that true? No it's not! Jump in and poke around. Both LinkedIn and Faeebook are simple to get started with and figure out.

Once you get people to Experience, there are always opportunities to follow-up and make appointments with qualified prospects who now know, trust and like you.

I read a few books that helped me get started: 

I'm on LinkedIn - Now What? by Jason Alba
I'm on Facebook - Now What? by Jason Alba, Jesse Stay
LinkedIn Personal Trainer by Steven Tylock

All good reads and mercifully short! You can read each in less than 45 minutes. Check 'em out and then get networking.

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The More Clients Bottom Line: It's time for you to get into Online Networking with Facebook and LinkedIn. You'll be amazed by how many of your friends, clients and associates are already there. And you can start growing your network faster than you think.

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How are you already using LinkedIn and Facebook? Please share on the More Clients Blog.

Comments

[David Yates]

I have a presence on LinkedIn because it's an extension of my address book that crosses over several networks - but in my experience for my business in the UK, it's useless.
What does work is www.skillfair.co.uk. It's a membership network matches consultants profile with substantial leads then presents them weekly. It also enables consultant members to talk to one another. For 3 years I made a good living from the leads before being asked to consult direct for Skillfair - so I know it works and why it works. But its not available in the US.

[Kimmo Linkama]

I am also using LinkedIn to keep tabs on people I know (or used to know) when they change jobs. If nothing else, sending them a congrat note for their new position probably creates a good feeling and, I hope, increases preference when it comes to future assignments.

These online communities are also a great way of keeping me in front of my potential clients, because face-to-face meetings and participating in events are difficult as I do not reside in the country where most of my clients are.

By the way, your new-found activism on these forums coincided nicely with my own: I had just begun to think I should exploit LinkedIn more. Let's see where it leads!

[Deon Gordon]

Robert,

Welcome to the wonderful world of Facebook.

I just wanted to toss you a copy of my Facebook 101 Getting Started Guide.

Since you're new to the social network, I figured it might be of somevalue to you (and anyone else who might stumble across this).

That's all... Hope it helps. And thanks for your service.

I'm *definitely* enjoying going over your materials... they're
extremely helpful.

Thanks, again. Here's the link to the guide, if you or anyone else is interested.

http://www.deongordon.com/facebook101/facebookguide.pdf

Deon Gordon

[mikegarth]

Hi there

I've used Facebook for just over two months now and have already picked up a couple of clients.

With my niche fully defined, it's easy to get contact details of my target customers and make them aware of how I can help then.

Mike Garth
Sun1400
Helping racing drivers perform better
www.sun1400.com

[kerry dexter]

Robert,
Two things to add: on LinkedIn, I’ve recently begun exploring joining groups. Someone I know professionally in real life started one and that got me looking. We’ll see what happens with that.

Also, sometimes finding on line networking possibilities related to your specific niche is helpful. I write about/work in music, and for a long time people had urged me to join myspace music. I was really wary of main myspace (and still am) but have found myspace music helpful, both for staying in touch and making contact, and also, even though I work in folk and country music, not mainstream genres, as a calling card . That’s true of another networking site I belong to gather.com. I joined there because they offered me a small gig writing a regular music column (it’s a general interest site, not a music one). I’ve learned useful stuff through the community interaction and observing how gather is building site traffic and defining content. My home page there also gives me an additional professional presence on the web.

[Lisa Claudia Briggs]

Hi Robert- when I got your newsletter last week it moved me to follow your lead and get going on FB and Myspace. It's been a flurry of activity and more fun than I had anticipated. My teen boys are on FB all the time, as are my teen clients, and so I was not aware of how powerful it could be for our business networking purposes.
I also feel very "popular"- but can see how this could potentially be a huge time and energy drain- as you mentioned.
So much more appealing and compelling than going out to the typical "networking" events, which I have completely avoided all of my years in business,for many reasons.

Anyways, thanks for the inspiration, and for becoming a new "friend".

Peace and blessings-
Lisa
[email protected]
IntuitiveBody helps women and teens with eating disorders find freedom through learning to connect with their bodies through their intuitive knowing, and their senses.

[Lisa]

I am just getting started so this was just in time! I'm a bit overwhelmed so thanks for the helpful ways to actually use these sites.

[Rachel Green]

Great to see you on Facebook Robert.

You can put product pages on there too - I have three I am just developing on confidence for women at work, in public speaking and socially ... please have a look and become a fan http://www.facebook.com/pages/Confidence-for-women-in-everyday-life-by-Rachel-Green/33835475880?ref=ts

There are also lots of interest groups you can join and thereby have immediate access to hundreds and in some cases thousands of people ...

and make sure you put links to your social networks on your home page too ..

Look forward to meeting you on facebook –please become a friend
Rachel Green
[email protected]

[Wendy R]

Robert - One of my favorite things about LinkedIn is the question and answer section you mentioned. I have actually added a widget on my iGoogle page that pulls in the top 3 most recent questions. When I get online in the morning, I can easily click on a question if it interests me.

Good luck in your social media ventures!

[schmoozii - Business networking]

I think it's important to point out that Linkedin is designed for developing leads, finding candidates, or job searching. If you are not looking for one of those 3, then you probably won't find much use for Linkedin.

[Linda Smith]

I also recommend Twitter, it was Chris Brogan's twitter post that led me here. I'm new to LinkedIn and just learning my way around. Thanks for the great information in this post.

[Beth Jones]

Robert - I too would advise you to join twitter as it was Chris Brogan's twitter post that sent me here as well.

I am also fairly new to social networking in relation to business use as i have only recently graduated but am trying my best to use these networks to link and gain contacts. So thanks for the tip about the Q and A's on LinkedIn, I will get right to it!

[Krishna De]

Robert - great to see you on LinkedIn and at Facebook. Being an active member of social networks has led to new business opportunities for me - from joint ventures, consulting opportunities to speaking gigs.

I also know some people who have secured new roles through these platforms.

One thought in terms of your personal brand across all these platforms - if you use the same name to register your profile it makes it easier for people to find you as they move across from one platform to another.

If you would like access to my podcasts and articles on social media and social networking you will find links on my main page of my blog.

You might even consider setting up private groups in Facebook or LinkedIn for your ActionPlan coaches or for participants of the different courses you are running in your summer series.

You could also set up a Flickr account for the photo's of your events and all the great travelling you do ten add tose photo's to your blog posts.

However, as you know, the same good practice applies though that you know from networking offline - building relationships is what counts rather than pitching (or bitching as some people like do!).

See you online!

[Donna Donohue]

Robert:
I've been following your actionplan for a while now. The marketing ball etc. Twitter fits into the game. It is instant communication, instant networking and a great player. You should get an account and just try it out. One thing that got me here? Chris Brogan's "tweet" about your entry into social media. Faster than me reading my RSS this morning. So consider it. Use Twhirl for your desktop client.

[Lara Kretler]

Welcome to the wonderful world of social/online networking. It's great for business, plus it's just plain fun. I blogged this weekend about ways to maximize LinkedIn - you might want to check it out. I'm still figuring out ways to use Facebook, myself!

[James Januszka]

Another Social Networking tool you could look at is Twitter.

Twitter allows you to post your thoughts and ideas, using less than 140 characters.

You can also follow other people and see what they are thinking.

[Steve Portigal]

One simple use for LinkedIn - keeping track of people as they change jobs (there's an RSS feed of changes you can subscribe to). Competitors become clients, clients move to other firms, etc. Keeping in touch with people through changes seems to be an effective way to maintain relationships in one's network.

[Bonnie]

I've been using a Facebook business profile (almost no personal information) for about 2 months and have connected with some amazing people. I've learned a lot about marketing myself as a solo entrepreneur.

I've been blogging for about that long and am slowly building up my subscriptions.

I've had a Linkedin profile for years, but haven't used it much.