subject: Social Media Is Just Like Being At A Really Big Meeting [print this page] It would be nice if you did not have to mail prospects to generate leads, if you did not need to advertise, if customers just phoned you up wouldnt it?
You know that every now and again you get a phone call out of the blue from a new lead saying - a friend of mine recommended that I called you... This is referral marketing, and whilst it is absolutely the best way to get business, it is also one of the most to get to work.
A few years ago networking became a new phenomenon to sweep the business world, the idea was that you would go out and meet people, tell them about your business, and that they would tell all of their contacts who would flock to buy your product. Sadly, the lovely ideal did not really pan-out like that. The problem was two fold, firstly everyone is too busy selling their own business to worry about selling yours! Secondly, in order for one of your business contacts to remember you and have the confidence (and motivation) to sell you in to one of their clients, they have to know you very very well indeed... that is an awful lot of breakfasts.
However, the fact remains that this is still a darn good way to get business, because these guys phone you up wanting to buy.
Well, have you ever thought that social networking is a bit like a very streamlined version of real world networking... perhaps that is why it is called social networking!
The fact remains though that most people do not seem to recognise that they are very nearly the same thing. Social networking is kind of like having breakfast with an ever increasing group of people every day, but without all the calories!
- You can tell a large number of people what you do, often.
- You can share some of your expertise
- You can listen to what they say, and make comment/ask questions
But unlike real word networking, you do not have to be in the same room at the same time as these people, and it does not matter of the meeting is 100 strong, rather then the more usual 30 of a face to face meeting. But perhaps the best thing about social networking is that unlike face to face networking where you rely on the ability of the people you meet to be able to sell YOUR services, with social networking your message is passed on in as pure a for as when it left you.
