I have been using Twitter since December of 2008 @aliceheiman.  I currently have 897 followers – not 8,000 or 80,000, so I am obviously not the expert.  It took me quite some time to figure out how to use it effectively and I am still learning.  My observation, most people don’t use it well; using it solely to push information which is a one way communication.  Their goal: drive traffic to their blog or website. And if the information they give is valuable, it may do that.  I learn a lot from the people I follow on Twitter through their links and articles, and I in turn share with others.  Sure, it’s a great way to get information out, but I strongly believe we receive more when we engage in conversation and not just gain followers. For me Twitter works best if you can develop relationships with people and in order to do that you have to inspire dialogue.

If you want to get the most out of Twitter use it to communicate with your followers, not just by posting quotes, tips and blog posts – which you certainly should do, but by interacting. Make posts in a way that gets people thinking and encourages them to respond to you not just click your link.

1. Respond to the posts of others, don’t just retweet. Respond back your thoughts on their comment, ask them questions, start a conversation.

2. Get to know some of your followers and figure out who has information that your followers would appreciate and retweet or repost that info. If you click through on one of their blog posts, make a comment on their blog.

3. Find your followers and people you follow on Facebook, LinkedIn, Google + and Youtube and see what they are up to there. Connecting with them on multiple platforms lets you know them better.

If you are not sure what to do, watch some of the experts. Twitter is not designed to be a broadcast system, especially if you are trying to develop followers and elevate your status as an expert. It is best used to help you have a two way communication that develops a deeper relationship with followers and adds value to their lives.

Here is an article listing some twitter resources.

P.S. I am by no means a twitter expert, nor do I always implement very well the things I have laid out for you here, but when I do these things my followers grow and people connect with me so that I can be of service to them. And yes, I have gotten leads from Twitter.

If you’d like to follow me on Twitter click here.

What you can’t do is spam. Kipp Bodnar wrote a great article on Social Media B2B called 5 Ridiculous B2B Social Media Marketing Myths.

Business owners need to learn to use social media. If they are just starting now they are coming late to the game. Social media is part of sales and marketing now and it is not going away. Here’s the link to the complete article.

From new clients to news coverage, it’s a no-brainer that being involved with your community is a great way to boost small business growth.  But what’s the best way to give back – and make sure everybody wins?

http://www.littlepinkbook.com/little-pink-book/business/cash-from-compassion

Why does everyone stop work this time of year?

My good friend Caryn Kopp wrote a great article on why it is so important for salespeople to keep working during November and December.   I have started with several new clients this month and I am doing lots of follow up to move sales through my funnel. Caryn outlines 5 reasons to keep prospecting in December.

Fill Your Pipeline In December

Why spend the last two weeks of December cleaning out files when you could be filling next year’s pipeline with new business?  Most business owners and salespeople believe that trying to reach prospects at year-end is pointless and instead spend time getting organized for the coming year.   In doing this, they miss out on one of the best times of the year to reach decision makers live.  Here’s what we’ve learned about prospecting in December…

1. Companies have fewer internal meetings during the last two weeks of the year due to employee vacations and mid-day holiday parties.  This means decision makers are more likely to be working at their desks and available when you call.
2. Many assistants take year-end time off (especially if they have school-age children), leaving decision makers to answer their own phones…without gatekeepers.
3. Decision makers who are in their offices at this time of year are more relaxed and chatty.
4. Your competitors don’t think this way.  They usually stop calling prospects the 2nd week of  December.  Your “share of voice” when leaving voicemails and reaching prospects live will be higher and you will get more accomplished with each call.
5. Decision makers will typically not accept a meeting from mid to end of December. However, if you request a date to meet NEXT year (which is just days away), their  calendars are usually wide open.  Ask for a meeting in early January and watch your calendar fill up.

This works especially well with hard-to-reach and senior level decision makers.  Connecting with prospect decision makers is just the first step in getting the door open.  Once you have a prospect on the phone you will need to deliver a content-rich message that is so relevant and compelling your prospect will invite you in for a meeting.  Does the message you are using now accomplish this for you?  Of course you must also be prepared to answer the objections that will inevitably come your way.  How much time have you spent pre-thinking answers that will get you past the objections you face?  Don’t forget to couple your objection response with a request for a next step.  How often do you do this?  What are you planning to do to develop new business this December?

About the author…Caryn Kopp, is the Managing Director and Chief Door Opener® of Kopp Consulting, LLC., a nationwide company which helps its clients secure initial meetings with high level, hard to reach, decision makers.  This program is called the Door Opener® Service.  Caryn is the author of The Path To The Cash! ®  The Words You NEED To Bypass Those Darned Prospect Objections!  This is the go-to book for getting in the door with prospects.  For more information go to www.koppconsultingusa.com.  

(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.