Harnessing the Power of Social Network Service.
This wednesaday: Bringing in Technology and Marketing together for you.
Do you ever wonder (I sound like Andy Rooney!) why so many small businesses fail? Well, there are a multiplicity of reasons just as our MCC’s own Preston True had mentioned as well (Listen to his 30 Min “Don’t Fail” tips) . However, I believe one of these reasons is because small business owners are too slow to move on trends. They think they can keep getting better and better results by doing the same things they’ve always done. (I believe Einstein said that was the definition of insanity).
I build websites for you that are research based, customized to reflect your vision and make a direct relationship to your potentials.But There are also other social websites that you should use to harness the power of these social networks as your internet marketing tool.
The Internet really is like a big net or spider web with billions of connections. Your task is to make sure you have a number of these paths leading back to your website or blog.
MySpace is not just for teenagers and Facebook is not just for college students. There are many celebrities, politicians, and business professionals who are leveraging the traffic that these types of sites can bring.
For example, look at the websites of Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John McCain. If you scroll to the bottom of these pages, you’ll see that they all have links to their MySpace, Facebook, and YouTube pages as well as some links to other social networking sites such as LinkedIn (which by the way, I also highly recommend). These politician hire the savviest marketing strategists that they can find to orchestrate their campaigns. If they are all using the social networking sites to drive traffic, you can place a sure bet on these strategies as being very effective.
Here are some examples to show you how a business professional might set up their page on MySpace in a way that helps them sell products/services, build their subscriber list, and get people to take action:
Cesar Milan, Dog Whisperer on MySpace features prominent links back to his main website as well as his DVDs and other products.
Barbara Boxer, US Senator on MySpace has a bio on the senator and her policies, as well as links to donate to her campaign, to sign up to volunteer, and to take action on bills and causes that she is promoting.
There is a debate among entrepreneurs, bloggers, and columnists as to whether MySpace and Facebook are worthwhile to businesses that are not trying to reach people 18-28.
In my opinion, it is worth the few hours it takes for you or your assistant to set up or Contact DotSign we can help you as well. These social sites have tons of traffic and they are one more path to lead people to your website.
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Just FYI…
What Is Social Network ?
Social network by it self is defined as nodes (human beings) tied to each otherby one or more interdependency. Example: values, visions, ideas, financial exchange, friends, kinship, dislike, conflict, trade, web links, sexual relations, disease transmission etc.
What Is Online Social Network Service ?
A social network service uses software to build online social networks for communities of people who share interests and activities or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others.
provide a collection of various ways for users to interact, such as chat, messaging, email, video, voice chat, file sharing, blogging, discussion groups, and so on.
Popular methods now combine many of these, with MySpace and Facebook being the most widely used in North America. Bebo, MySpace, Skyrock Blog, Facebook and Hi5 in parts of Europe; Orkut and Hi5 in South America and Central America and Friendster and Orkut in Asia and the Pacific Islands. CouchSurfing is a new type of social network called hospitality exchange networks.
Presentation Made Powerful
For many professionals (consultants, designers, architects, etc.) presentation is a key aspect of the sales cycle that can’t be ignored. A successful presenter is one who comes across as confident, creative, and convincing.
Here are some key features of a winning presentation:
1. Be prepared: Know your subject intimately. Be ready to answer questions and describe the benefits to your client in detail. Well in advance, brainstorm your client’s potential objections and have a solution prepared.
2. Create rapport: Don’t be so focused on the presentation that you forget to nurture the relationship you are building with your clients. As you are presenting, continue the conversation with them. Your clients want to know more about you. This helps sell your ideas as much - if not more - than the concepts themselves.
3. Present by objectives: With each component that you present, explain its advantages and how it will help your clients achieve their specific goals.
4. Show one concept at a time: Don’t place all your cards on the table. Each idea deserves special attention. If a client looks at work before it’s formally presented, he or she may form negative opinions before hearing its merits.
5. Describe, then show: It’s important to take it slow, giving your audience time to absorb each concept. Explain the details of each idea BEFORE you display it.
6. Let ‘em hold it: Once you put something in someone’s hands, they begin to feel ownership. Let your client get involved in your creative process. Encourage questions and discussions.
7. Keep it simple: Keep your description direct, clear, and concise. Don’t oversell with long-winded explanations. Good ideas don’t need to be pushed.
8. Leave informed: Make sure you are clear on how you will move forward. You may have to be the one to say, “So, what are our next steps?” Your client may not have a definitive answer, so be prepared to define what you mean by next steps. For example, you may suggest a specific date for a follow-up call or your next meeting.
Practice makes perfect. If you aren’t comfortable with making presentations, role-play with an associate or friend. You can also perform in front of a mirror. Observe your posture and mannerisms. Are you fidgeting? Do you maintain eye contact? Are you ready to persuade and make a call to action? Great body language and a positive tone of voice will help to sell your ideas.
This Wednesday: Influencing as a leader & Networking Tips
Networking and Influencing is a 2 way street, period… A good leader must be both receptive and expressive. Effective networking requires similar traffic flow, both outbound and inbound.
Outbound:
Tell
Reason out
Compromise
Future Projection
Inbound:
Ask
Listen
Identify with audience
Facilitate
Outbound:
Tell:
Clearly express the task, needs, purpose, agenda, suggestion etc. As a leader if you are giving direction, make the directions as clear as possible.
“Read every Wednesday, valuable information from different areas like Technology, Marketing, Leadership, Entrepreneurship and more.
I want our MCC thread to have more discussions as well in addition to just Calendar invites and profile updated messages”
Reason out:
Offer reason for the above task, need, suggestion or which ever one applies. In addition also express the shared value and benefits.
“Sharing a valuable discussion thread or article will help all of us in MCC learn and keep us more informed”
Negotiate:
As a leader ask and accommodate the variable involved in the task. Offer incentives and also describe consequences.
“Discussing as a group and you expressing your knowledge will also make you the expert. If we don’t share we will not grow together and be able to help each other”
Future Projection:
Express your vision for this task and encourage people.
“MCC is a group where we have people who are truly excellent in their fields. And you are one of them…you have the knowledge, passion and right to express – Lets hear it”
Inbound:
Listen:
Listen and pay attention to what your audience or target has to say and repeat to check understanding.
“So from your point of view this weekly input adds value, is that right ?”
Attune:
Identify your self with you audience.
“I am not perfect either but we can learn together”
Facilitate:
As a leader or a person who is introducing your idea, offer to take initiatives, to provide the necessary tools and arrange things if needed.
“What area would be of the most interest to you? I already heard Internet and technology need more light and “made easy” for us I can provide more information in that area”
Additional ammunition:
Be a team player, Work through individuals and assign tasks and give responsibilities to other if needed. Also disengage – rather than going head to head on issues be objective as possible and measure data that cannot lie if possible.
