Some business owners are successful while other are doomed before they get started. Most businesses require the collaboration and help of many different people to succeed. The more friends you have the more likely your business will gain clients. The reason why there is a direct relationship between the amount of friends you network with and the amount of business you do is because your friends refer business to you on a regular basis (assuming they are friends). These friends act like the perfect marketing conduit as every referral will have a positive reference point for your business.
Let us say that you are acquaintance with 100 people who know of your business and can easily find your information through a business card or something similar. These hundred people also know a 100 people and that is a close contact of 10,000 potential contacts. Assuming that each of these people refers you 2 clients a year, it would equal 200 visitors at your front door.
Many business owners might want to know exactly how to social network both themselves and their business. The methods are actually quite simple and need not require great pain or suffering. Truly one can enhance their life and social activities while pursuing business interests.
The first step in social networking is to meet as many people as you can. This doesn’t mean you meet people that will not benefit you in someway but that you meet the right kind of people who benefit your business. For example, if you own a tax accounting service you might pass your card out to the gas station attendant and ask him to help you find clients. However, if you are a corporate lawyer it wouldn’t be as beneficial as almost all of your clients are business owners.
Join organizations that have the right kind of people you are trying to meet. Good organizations are social networking clubs, dinner clubs, fitness centers, community organizations, charitable organizations, etc. Certain types of organizations attract certain types of people and you have to know the difference or you are wasting your time.
The second most important component to marketing your business through social networks is to make sure everyone receives your information. Print as many cards as necessary and pass them out to everyone you meet. When printing your cards be sure to include your name, address, email address, name of business, and the industry that you are in.
The final step is to collect other people’s business cards and keep them in a card file. The important thing to remember is that we often lose track of how we met and know other people. On the back of each card write down where you met the person and something about the conversations you had with them. When you are ready to get in touch you have all of the information printed on the card to contact them as well as where you met them and what you talked about.
Social networking doesn’t need to be a difficult process if people simply follow some basic rule. The key to social networking is joining, keeping records and expressing yourself. You cannot draw clients unless you first meet them and then tell them what you are all about.
Murad Ali is a three time book author, a Ph.D. candidate and a human resource manager. http://www.thenewbusinessworld.blogspot.com
