Networking on
Internet is same as networking in person, or is it? Let's take a conversational tour together on this topic.At an in-person networking event you wouldn't just attend not to network. Or would you? Normally everyone is there for a purpose, even if they haven't totally defined that purpose, they have a vague idea why they are there. Wouldn't that work same for iNetworking? Yep.
Yet...
Weekly I receive emails and phone calls how someone wants to connect with me in some way.
Yet...
They have no idea on what. No suggestions, no inklings, no possible thoughts, nada. I'm always baffled when I receive these. I don't have time to educate people because they surely do need it. A few emails even add their web site URL link or suggest that I visit their web site to learn what they do and "figure it out for them."
For folks reading this, who have done this, and wondered why their email doesn't get a response or gets a quick response of "sounds great" or "you can sell my new product or become my affiliate if you'd like" -- knock, knock, anyone home up there. People have told me that when they receive get these responses back, it confuses them. Talk about confused, how about person receiving them.
It's so much easier to either not to write or say what you really mean. Simply, say why you are writing, this is what you do, this is what I do, and here are some possibilities for us. You can even set this up in a signature file in Outlook and make it a quick send.
Everything is a mirror. If you want to iNetwork, state who you are, what you offer, or give clues and ideas of possibilities. Don't place burden on receiver to figure it out.
This brings us to rule number one in iNetworking. Be prepared. Don't be one that has a great service or product but doesn't know who gatekeepers are or who buyers and strategic partners are for your products or services. Gatekeepers are people that know more of your buyers, strategic partners are people that you are going to do something joint and temporary with to provide better value for both your customers.
If you went to an in-person networking event you wouldn't forget your business cards, or would you? If you attended an in-person networking event would you not bring flyers for your next workshop, not know benefits of your product or service, or not know who is your ideal client? If you did, it would be a social event and not a networking event.
The same holds true with iNetworking. Have your business card set up for an easy email send, set a signature file in Outlook or whatever email software you use, have your workshop flyer in pdf (Adobe) format, in an auto responder, designed for a embedded text email and HTML email (embedded means not as an attachment but as email itself). In other words, have all same materials that you would create for an in-person networking event available for delivery via Internet in multiple delivery formats.
Last week I was at Women's Business Center networking breakfast event. A woman stood up and apologized for not having her workshop flyer and business cards. She forgot them on kitchen counter. Not to be unkind, but if this happens, turn your car around and go back home either to get information or do something else more productive. I too have, on occasion during my 20 years in business, left things behind, it only took me once to attend and not have necessary materials and its embarrassment to learn to never do that again.
