(In an earlier post, I discussed whether or not you should be on LinkedIn. If you’re new to LinkedIn, you’ll want to read that article first to learn how to build a strong network.)

There is lots of talk about the new LinkedIn company pages. For some it is just another place on the internet they need to keep current. It can seem daunting at times. I currently have business pages on LinkedIn, Facebook, Google +, and Youtube that I need to update regularly, along with all of my personal profiles. Not to mention this blog that needs new content weekly. It does take a lot of time, but so does any sales and marketing plan. The better you get at it the faster it is and the more results you get. That said, it is a lot to keep up with and it is constantly changing, so I do recommend you train someone at your company to help you or hire and train an intern.

There is plenty of good information out there on how to put up your company page and I have linked to those at the end of this article. What’s missing is what to do once you complete your company profile. It’s like any other social media, if you are posting things and no one is watching you don’t get results. So here are 5 things I am doing to get people to follow my company page. First and foremost, I let them know I have one and share the link in the following ways:

1. Add a LinkedIn button to your website – when clicked it will take them to your company page.

2. Follow your clients. When they see you follow them, they may follow you.

3. Post an update on your personal profile and include the link to your company page. (See example below.)

4. Get the url for your company page (like this http://www.linkedin.com/company/alice-heiman-llc) and put it at the end of your LinkedIn email messages.

5. Add a link to your LinkedIn Company page in the signature of your email (see below) and have it link to your company page. If you need to know how to do this, watch this screenr.

But don’t forget, once you have followers, you have to add value. So make a plan on what you will post and when. Then go back and check frequently to see if people are interacting and be sure to connect with them.

Below are some other resources to help you with LinkedIn Company Pages:

• Social Media Examiner - 5 Tips for Using The New LinkedIn Company Pages
• HubSpot’s ebook - How to Use LinkedIn for Business
• HubSpot - 11 Reasons Your LinkedIn Company Page Sucks 

If you’d like to learn more about how to use LinkedIn to generate leads, join my interactive webinar on December 15th at Noon (Pacific). Learn more…

Here I sit, the queen of follow up, writing a post about follow up because the past few weeks I have failed miserably at it.  Everyone blocks time on their calendar to attend an event, whether it be a trade show, conference or a professional organization’s networking event. But rarely do they schedule time to do the follow up.  I always recommend putting time on the calendar the next day after the event to sort through the business cards and a take appropriate actions.  But the past few weeks I have been so busy, I now have 3 stacks of business cards from recent events that are collecting dust.  Well this weekend I plan to do something about that and I thought I would share my plans with you and give you the list of follow up activities so that you can use them the next time you have follow up to do from networking.

1. Schedule time to do the follow up!  The very most important tip and the one I failed to do recently.  Block at least two opportunities for follow up in the 2 to 3 days following the event.  That way if something comes up and usurps the first scheduled time you have another planned.
2. Pre-plan you follow up.  Think about why you are going to the event, what you hope to accomplish, the types of people you will meet and use that information to decide what you will do to follow up.  You may end up drafting an email that you can tailor after the event or prepare a postcard with a specific message.  Or you may craft a message that you will cut and paste into a LinkedIn or Facebook email.  You might write an article that pertains to the event and prepare to post it on your blog and then email that link out after the event or post it on the corresponding LinkedIn group.
3. Use your smartphone.  This works really well when I am at a conference.  As I collect cards throughout the day I use the Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn apps on my phone to connect with people.  I also use Card Munch, which allows you to take a photo of the card with your smartphone and add it to your database.
4. Hire Someone.  If you don’t have an assistant, hire someone to enter the contacts into your database so that you can easily contact them.  I do have an assistant, so I write on the business cards and then bundle them together with a note of where I collected them.  Then my assistant enters the data and a note for each that reminds me where I met them and any notes I may have written on the card.

Why do I keep writing about Facebook, I am not a Facebook expert.  Yet I use Facebook daily for business as part of my marketing strategy.  I do believe that small businesses can generate interest and find new clients via social media and for some of you Facebook is where your target audience hangs out so you need to be there and be active.

The problem is that as a small business owner you may be wasting time on Facebook because what you are doing is ineffective and more damaging than good at times.   For example, using a personal profile page to put up a page for your business is not only against the policies of Facebook but it is not an effective way to promote your business.  Not to be rude but the first clue is you have to state whether you business is “male or female.”  It’s obvious this page is to be used for a person not a business.  Facebook realizes that you want to promote your business so they created Business or “Fan” pages for this purpose.  There is a choice for every type of business.

So why then would you use a personal profile instead of the appropriate type of business page?

Maybe you have one of these reasons.

Reason number 1: I couldn’t figure out how to make a business page.

Go to any business page and in the upper right hand corner there is a button that says, “Create a Page”   or Google,  ”How to make a Facebook business page” and the link comes right up.

Reason number 2: I didn’t know the difference.

You are not ready to use Facebook as part of your marketing plan.

Reason number 3: I don’t want to be on Facebook, I just want to use it to promote my business.

Sorry, but that is not how it works.  People buy from people they know, like and trust.  How will they know you and like you,  let alone trust you if you are not available to them?  Facebook was built on the basis of personal relationships.  If you are not willing to be on Facebook personally, then it is not the right place for you to promote your business, use a different avenue.

Reason number 4: It’s easier to get fans.

If it’s a profile, they are not fans, they’re friends.  Many of us won’t accept a friend request from a business.  Also, you are limited to the number of friends you can have.  On a business page you can have an unlimited number of fans.

Reason number 5:  I can’t get anyone to “Like” my business page.

Have you given them a reason to “Like” your page? See #9 below.

Here is how I suggest  you use Facebook to get the best results.

1. Put up your personal profile. Use a current photo that looks like you.
2. Connect with friends, family, coworkers, clients. If you are connecting with people you don’t know very well or who you recently met, be sure to send a short, personal note explaining how you know them and why you want to connect.
3. Post things that help people get to know you. You don’t have to be too personal but you want people to get to know you so they can like you and trust you, because we know that people buy from people they know, like and trust.
4. Interact with your connections. Click like on their posts or comments. Comment on their posts occasionally. All of this needs to be done genuinely. Don’t just comment to comment; comment on things you are genuinely interested in.  Yes, this takes time, so does meeting with people in person.  Schedule time on your calendar and check in for 15 min. daily and then once a week make a longer visit to Facebook.
5. Don’t post too much business stuff on your personal page.
6. Put up a business fan page.
7. Start inviting your connections from your personal page to your business page.
8. Provide interesting and engaging information on your business page.
9. Get more people on your business page by:

• putting a link from your website to your business page.
• putting a link on your email signature.
• putting it on you business card.
• running a contest.

10. Consider using ShortStack to build a customer business page – it’s easy.

If you’d like help with your sales and marketing strategy and deciding whether or not to use Facebook as part of it, we would love to help.  You can sign up for a free 30 minute consultation or join one of our Sales Success Groups.  You can email or call us at 775-852-5020

P.S. Here is a great resource from Hubspot: How to Use Facebook for Business: An Introductory Guide for 2011

When people ask me if they should be on LinkedIn I always ask, “Is anyone you do business with or want to do business with on LinkedIn?”  If the answer is yes, then you need to be on LinkedIn.

LinkedIn is a very powerful tool when used correctly.  But just “being” on LinkedIn is not enough. Having a profile on LinkedIn will get you about the same thing as going to a party and standing in the corner. Someone might come up to you but you can’t expect any results. If you want to get results you have to learn to utilize the tool and interact.

Having a complete profile is the bare minimum. Review your profile. Be sure it is complete and represents you well. I find so many people without a photo. To be effective you need a current headshot. A photo that looks like you so that someone who has met you in person would recognize you.

Next you need connections. A big mistake many people make is connecting with people they don’t know. What good is a long list of people you don’t know? What can you do with it? The idea is to build a strong useful network. One that you can reach out to for help. That means you need to know them and they need to know you, like you and trust you. Only then will the network be useful to you.

Here are my recommendations for building a strong network.

1. Connect with people you know. Start with friends, family and co-workers, then add clients and past clients. Add people you meet networking and people in your professional organizations. Don’t try to connect with people you don’t know. That comes later and it will be much easier and more effective once you have connected with everyone you do know.

2. Make it personal. Always send a personalized note, even if you know the person well. The idea is to connect and build the relationship. Example:

Hi John,
It was great to see you at the business networking event last night.  I’d like to talk to you further about the technology group you mentioned.  Let’s get connected on LinkedIn so we can share our networks. I look forward to talking again soon.
Best Regards,
Alice

3.Interact just like you would in real life. Login to LinkedIn daily. Answer emails, post your activity, and check out what people in your network are sharing and click “Like” or make a comment. Find more people you know and get connected.

4. Get involved with some groups. Notice I didn’t say join. Joining is not enough. You won’t get results. You have to get involved in the discussions and share valuable information. When people you don’t know from that group interact with you it gives you a reason to ask them to connect which widens your network. Find professional organizations that you belong to and join their groups on LinkedIn. Join your alumni association. Then search for other groups that would be interesting for you to belong to. This is one of the best ways to connect with people you don’t know.

5. Ask for introductions. If there is someone you don’t know that you want to be connected with find someone who knows you, likes you and trusts you to introduce you. This is much more effective than sending a connection request to someone who doesn’t know you. To increase the likelihood of being connected to people you don’t know by someone you do, you have to spend time getting connected and strengthening relationships with people you know. So go back to point 1 and 2 above.

Once you have done these things, LinkedIn will be a powerful way to stay connected with people you know, develop stronger relationships and get connected with people you want to know.

Read more to learn how to get people to follow your company on LinkedIn.

If your company needs sales training on how to use LinkedIn to get connected and build relationships we offer training webinars  or onsite training tailored to your industry.  Please call 775-852-5020 for more information.

This article is published in this month’s Start Up, a special edition of Entrepreneur Magazine from my interview with Katie Rossomano. It’s available at your  local bookstore or online.

Most entrepreneurs know networking is important, but they may not realize just how crucial it is to the success of their new venture.

“Building a network helps entrepreneurs get their product to market and get the right people in place,” says Alice Heiman, networking and sales expert and author of e-book Connecting Your Way to New Business. Heiman suggests five basic rules for building a trusted network that will help your startup succeed.  Read more . . .

I just finished reading Gerhard Gschwandtner’s 9/21 blog post,  Social Media Is Getting Tired…Social Business Is the New Frontier . I can really relate to the term Social Business.  I agree with Gerhard that social media is looked at as a waste of time and in many instances it can be.  However, for salespeople being present and interacting on social media is a must but the way they do it is critical.  As I’ve said many times, if you put up a profile on any of the social media channels and just sit there, it’s like going to a room full of all the people you need to know and standing in a corner.  Although someone might come up to you, your odds are not good so it’s basically a waste of time.  Utilizing social media channels to build relationships is a good use of time.  Using it to follow thought leaders in your industry and interact with them, and using it to follow trends in your industry and your customer’s industries is critical.  Social media makes it easier than ever to do these things.  Salespeople need to be connecting, interacting, building relationships and sharing knowledge which will all lead to sales.  But as Gerhard points out, “The big question is, why aren’t more salespeople getting with the program?” He shares some things he learned from his conversations with successful sales executives. Click here to read Gerhard’s blog.

And if you are not already subscribed to Selling Power Magazine, I highly recommend it. Their website has a wealth of information for salespeople and those who manage sales.

If you would like to learn how to do Social Business to get more sales, call me for a complimentary 30 minute phone consultation 775-852-5020.

This is a controversial topic. When you are volunteering, it should be from the heart and because you want to help your community. That said, I have met many wonderful people through my volunteer efforts over the years and some of them have become my clients.

Years ago when I was the president of Nevada Gifted and Talented, a non-profit that focused on the education of gifted children, I sat on the board with a wonderful woman who I got to know very well through all the projects we worked on together.  Through all our time together she learned what my “real job” was and one day she told me that her son-in-law was interested in talking to me about hiring a salesperson and growing his business.  She  already trusted me and she knew that I did a good job with everything we worked on together, so she easily sold my talents to her son-in-law.  I met with him and he was my client for 3 years.  Did I volunteer for Nevada Gifted and Talented in order to get more business? No, but I did a great job, got to know the people I volunteered with and I did find the opportunity to let them know what I did for a living.  I actually learned that part the hard way.

When I first moved to Reno, I joined the Reno Philharmonic Guild and helped them with a big new event called Pops on the River.  I worked with wonderful people and had a lot of fun.  One of the women I met was a decorator.  I asked her to come to my house to help me with a few projects.  We sat down at my dining room table to talk about my project and she looked at me and said, “What do you actually do for a living? Are you a professional fund raiser?”  I started to laugh.  After 3 years of working side by side with her on projects, I had never let her know what I did for a living.  I wonder how many referrals I may have missed?  Did I join the Philharmonic Guild to get referrals?  No, but why not let the people who know, like and trust you know what you do so that they might possibly refer you to someone who needs your services?  Wouldn’t you do the same for them?

I believe that you can meet qualified prospects from your volunteer work and here is how I recommend you do it.

1. Find something your are truly passionate about to volunteer for and commit to it.

2. Work hard for that organization and do a great job.  Maybe even get on the board after you have been on a committee for a while.

3. Get to know the other volunteers by working with them, but also take the opportunity to ask them to coffee and get to know them one to one.

4. When the opportunity arises, don’t hesitate to tell them a bit about what you do for a living.

5. Get to know what they do for work well enough to refer business to them if the opportunity arises.

In my current volunteer work for the Nevada Discovery Museum, I have been lucky enough to do work for one of the other board members and have collaborated on work projects with several others.  Did I volunteer for that board because I thought it would bring me business?  No, it was because I am passionate about kids getting a great education.  I worked hard, put my blood, sweat and tears into it and people notice.

Building a great network is a lifelong process.  Volunteer to do something you love and the rest will follow. Keep working on it and if you need some help getting connected, I am here to help.

Where do you meet your prospects? I’ve met some of my best prospects at my son’s sporting events.

Year’s ago when my son played Little League baseball, I hated sitting through those long games, especially when it was freezing cold outside.  But like you, I went to most of the games and cheered his team on to victory.  At the time I never would have told you that I went to the Little League games to network because I didn’t, but it’s definitely in my nature to meet people and get to know them.  I was just doing what I do and at each game I sat with someone different and chatted in between plays and before I knew it, I knew all the parents and what type of work they did.  By the same token, they knew me and what kind of work I did.

Did I walk up to people at the game and put out my hand and say, “Hi, I’m Alice Heiman and I will help you increase sales.”  Of course not, the parents would have run the other way.  But what I did let them know that inadvertently.   I wasn’t thinking, “If I go to the baseball game and sit with a different parent each week I will surely meet some new prospects.”  No, I was genuinely interested in getting to know all of the parents.

During one of those seasons, one of the parents did happen to have a company that needed my help and because I had taken the time to get to know him he felt comfortable to call me.  I did end up providing sales training for his company and it worked out great.

Looking back, I realize this was a great place to network.  But I didn’t go about it the same way I would if I was attending a business event designed for networking.  I did what came naturally.

I recommend you look around and find some opportunities to network at your children’s sporting events.  Don’t go around selling your products and services to the other parents.  But do sit with different parents and get to know them.  Build relationships that can lead to sales, in the event that person is ever in need of your services.  Be genuinely interested in others and don’t worry about talking about yourself, your chance will come if you are a good listener and get to know people.

Building your network is a lifelong process, look for opportunities at every point in your life, even your kid’s baseball game.

If you’d like to learn how to make connections & build relationships that lead to sales, join my online training webinar, Networking Mastery for Sales Professionals on September 21st.

“Social media takes so much time and I don’t see it generating business.”

I have heard this from many small business owners. It’s true that you can spend lots of time and not get any result unless you are doing things properly. It is also true that some businesses are generating a lot of sales using facebook and other social media sites. 

Here are a few tips on how to make the best use of Facebook for business owners so you can generate leads.

1. Make a plan. Any social media activity should be part of your businesses larger sales and marketing plan. Sit down and plan your posts and how they relate to the other sales and marketing you are doing.

2. Find fans. This starts with having friends on your personal page and driving traffic from your website or email signature to your business page. You have to engage fans so you may want to run a contest or have a giveaway to acquire fans but most importantly give them a reason to be your fan. Deliver great content, ideas, conversations.

3. Connect. You can only sell to people who know you, like you and trust you. Even if they don’t know you personally, they need to know your brand. Spend time connecting with people online just as you would in person. Get to know them, let them get to know you. Don’t just friend them and then never talk to them again. Figure out how to engage them and add value.

4. Be patient. Using social media as a form of marketing is a great idea, but it isn’t fast. You need to be online and be consistent. It could take months to start getting some traction, especially if you are doing it yourself and don’t know much about how social media marketing works.

If you would like to learn more please join me August 9th for an online sale training webinar. Find out more…

Facebook for business owners, a waste of time? Not if you ask me.

Some of you might know that I use to be a reading specialist and that I have a rather large collection of children’s books. So what might you ask does that have to do with sales. Well, often times it gives me a chuckle because as I am working on all things sales, children’s book titles pop into my mind and while preparing for my Facebook training this one popped up, Do You Want to Be My Friend?

I get so many friend requests on facebook but very often I have no idea who the person is, sound familiar? It reminds me of the little mouse, in the book by Eric Carle, running around asking people if they want to be his friend. Everyone is on a quest to gain more “friends” on Facebook, but what is the definition of a “friend”? It’s like running up to people at a networking event that you don’t know and handing them your card. Does this make them your friend? How useful is having a list of people you don’t know anything about? What can you do with it? It’s not even a qualified leads list.

If you want me to be your friend then connect with me, tell me who you are, tell me what we have in common, don’t just send me a friend request. I won’t accept it anyway. When someone takes the time to send a friend request with a message, I feel they are genuinely interested in connecting with me personally and not just ‘accumulating’ friends. I wonder if most of the people on Facebook even know you can send a message with your request?  If they do, they don’t use it. I get about 40 friend requests a month and maybe 2 of them have a message that helps me know who they are. Since I don’t know who 38 out of 40 of them are, I take the time to look up each one of them on Facebook, LinkedIn and Google to decide if I want to accept their friend request. Once I have decided I send them a personal message that goes something like this:

“Thanks for connecting, I see you are a speaker. Are you a member of NSA? Since we don’t know each other I am curious how you found me and what inspired you to connect. I live in Reno, NV near the mountains and love all of the outdoor activities. I enjoy sailing, skiing and hiking. My business is helping companies increase sales. Let me know more about you.”

It’s like writing to a penpal when I was a kid. Some of you are thinking, why tell them all of that if it is on your facebook page? Well, remember, depending on your settings you may not be able to see anything about a person except their name. If they don’t answer my message I don’t friend them. Why would I? I want to connect with people, get to know them and determine ways I can be of service to them. And for business purposes, people only buy from you if they know you, like you and trust you, so how would having a bunch of “friends” that don’t know you help you increase your sales? For many of you the urge may be to just click ignore on people you don’t know and if I wasn’t a public figure I probably would too. There are several each day I do just ignore, but the most amazing things have happened from my willingness to try and connect, even though they didn’t.  Since something inspired them to send me a friend request they were open and willing to answer my questions and now some of them are doing business with me.  It was well worth the extra 2 minutes it tool me to send them a note.

If you have a business and would like to learn more about getting connected and generating leads with Facebook, join me on August 9th at 11:30am (Pacific) for my online training webinar, where you’ll learn:

• Why it’s important to have a business page

• How to interact & get connected

• How to build a fan base

• How to generate leads

Register Now and save with early bird pricing