develop relationships

Twitter Here, Twitter there . . . . 3 things to improve the way you tweet!

by Alice Heiman on February 4, 2012

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.

 

 

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Where Did I Get This Business Card?

by Alice Heiman on November 8, 2011

Where Did I Get This Business CardHere 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.
Networking is one of the easiest and most effective ways for salespeople and small business owners to generate leads but it is ineffective if you don’t do the follow up.  If you would like to learn more about how to get connected at networking events, join me for my webinar Networking Mastery for Sales Professionals on December 8th at 2:30 (ET). You can register now and save 20%.

 

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Five Rules for Building Strong Connections

October 17, 2011

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 [...]

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Social Business???

September 28, 2011

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 [...]

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How Can I Get Business From My Volunteer Efforts?

September 20, 2011

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 [...]

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Meet Your Next Prospect at Little League

September 14, 2011

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 [...]

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Back to School on Social Media

September 9, 2011

It never hurts to go back to basics and  regroup.  When it comes to social media, things are changing so fast it is tough to keep up.  Here are 8 tips to help you look at your social media plan in a basic way that will help you excel. 1. Take a look at your [...]

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#1 Way to Render Networking Useless

February 23, 2011

Lack of follow up. Networking is useless if you don’t do any follow up. After the event, immediately enter the business cards you collected into your database. Be sure to add any notes you made on the cards during the event. I always add the name of the event and the date so I can [...]

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Do You Know What You Want?

February 15, 2011

When you are networking, ask for the type of business you want and be specific. After you have introduced yourself, and only IF they have asked about your business or what you do, be sure to tell them the type of business you are looking for. “I am looking for small and midsize companies that [...]

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How to answer the question, “What do you do?”

February 8, 2011

Be prepared with a great answer to “What do you do?” It should engage the listener and get them to say, “How do you do that?”  If asked, give your 30 second answer and then talk about the results your customers receive in the form of a short success story. Rehearse, not so that it [...]

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