The 8 keys to online networking
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from Crain's Detroit Business
Here are eight tips from local and national professionals about how to use online networking sites effectively:
1. Write for an Internet audience. Linkedin.com suggests you develop a profile that is friendly instead of formal. “Describe your experience and abilities as you would to someone you just met,” the site tells new subscribers. “Write for the screen in short blocks of copy with visual or textual signposts.”
2. Brand yourself with brevity: The first thing people see in your business profile is a line or block of copy under your name. Take time to compose an upbeat, short introduction, said Denise Roberts, a Waterford Township-based networking coach.
3. Create activities: The pace on the Internet is swift for those who zoom around Web sites and connectivity spots. Think about ways to bring your online contacts into your periphery. Keith Stonehouse of Franklin Title Agency in Rochester Hills participates in several online networks, introducing his business contacts to his live networking events. Elizabeth Blondy, owner of Canine to Five in Detroit, announces activities such as dog owner meet- ups for singles on her myspace.com site.
4. Check your networks daily: Kerry Doman, founder and CEO of after5detroit.com, ducks into coffee shops, restaurants and bars with WiFi access so she can check her e-mail and networking links frequently. She uses myspace.com to post opportunities immediately after securing a sale. Her aim is to find every resource to drive traffic to her own Web site.
5. Don't assume everything you read online is real. “Anyone can present anything they want, and there is no way to validate or invalidate if true,” said Doron York, president of Business Edge International in Bloomfield Hills. He suggests closed networking with a clear code of ethics might be more effective than large networks, which he calls “a glorified Yellow Pages.”
6. Don't ignore new possibilities. Linkedin builds opportunities through mining the treasure trove of contacts and identifying people in common, because the profiler's stock with you soars with an expanded reputation. “Identify connections that will add to your credibility and pursue those,” the Web site suggests.
7. Don't use that wrinkled holiday photo from 1999 as your mug shot. Use a recent, in focus, well-composed photograph.
8. Don't assume all it takes is an online billboard to send droves of customers your way. Roberts, the networking coach, said online networking profiles are easy to prepare at home and have a low risk for rejection, but the aim in most businesses is to build relationships that lead to repeat sales and referrals. “The Internet is an extremely effective way to connect with others who don't know that they don't know you, but it is just a start.”
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Charlie, terrific post and "how-to's" we can all use. And, I'll add a few more:
Happy Virtual Relationships,
-Coach Preston