How is social networking like a chamber of commerce meeting?
The same things that make you successful at your local chamber of commerce are going to make you successful networking online.
Usually when I say that people gasp, so I’ll wait in case you need to tell your monitor I’m full of it.
Okay, now that we have that out of our system, let me explain. Sure there are different types of people online than at your local, stodgy, Chamber of Commerce. But if you can work a Chamber meeting, you will be a superstar with people you already have a love of the Internet in common with.
The number one way to be successful (in person or online) is the compliment. The honest compliment. If you’re in person this can be as simple as “Wow, nice watch” and then you follow up with a statement/question, “My name is Jen, what’s yours?” and then flow the conversation from there.
If you want to bond with someone online you feel is a total rockstar (Problogger, anyone?) you don’t start off by saying who you are and what you do and then sit back and wait to see what they do with the information. Why would anyone care who you are? You have to let people know why they should care. You have to let them know why you’re giving them the information. You can’t just throw it out there and hope for the best. You have to engage someone in a conversation.
I know I’m saying “you” a lot, and I’m doing it for a reason. Stop thinking of your social networking experience as separate from all the other things you do. It is a valuable part of your marketing repertoire, and you need to pay it the attention it deserves. You. Not your virtual assistant, not your secretary, not the guy down the hall that makes all the personal phone calls. You.
If you’re communicating with them on Twitter, go to one of the links the person posts, read it, comment on it, then come back to Twitter and @reply to the person that posted the link thanking them with a tidbit about what you just read. Sure they know what they posted, but giving a little bit of it back shows that you really did read it. Everyone is skeptical on the Internet; make it easy for people to take your compliments by not giving them barriers to believing them.
Have a blog? You should be responding to comments left on your blog posts. Continuing the conversation is critical to retaining someone’s interest. If someone leaves a comment on your blog and you never respond, they will eventually stop. They don’t even know you’re reading those comments. That will dawn on them eventually. Just like if you’re at that Chamber meeting and someone says to you “Wow, this is a nice venue.” Sure, it isn’t a question, but it still deserves a response. If you just stood there and didn’t say anything people would think you were a moron or a jerk. Your job as the networker is to show that you are neither moron nor jerk – but active participant.
Never forget all those people you’re interacting with out there on MySpace or Twitter or Facebook or Maholo Social are all people. They have lives and bad hair days and they have dogs that run away. If you always keep that in mind, your responses will be more human, more interactive, and you’ll be perceived as a much cooler person than one who can’t be bothered to continue the conversation.
Jennifer Gniadecki is an active blogger and social networker. She can be found at her Blog, Twitter, LinkedIn, and a bunch of other social networking sites. You can even send an email.
Tags: chamber of commerce, Facebook, LinkedIn, maholo, Myspace, social-networking, TwitterRelated Stories
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