Hello World!
I must warn you, today’s tip begins with a bit of a rant! But bare with me, it’s worth it! :)
Note – if you just want the goods- scroll down to the discussion and conclusion!
1) The Story/Rant
I recently received a LinkedIn invitation from a professional on my periphery network (part of a group I am associated with)… This individual had an interesting profile and was active in many areas of health and fitness that I am passionate about.
I decided to add them to my network…
No matter what the platform I am using, whether it is LinkedIn, Twitter, or Facebook, when I make a new connection (especially somoene I don’t know personally), I always take the time to learn a bit about this person and make a personal connection.
So I reached out to my new professional friend and said hello!
What I got back was a auto-generated message asking me to join another group and try out some of this professionals products… Needless to say I didn’t feel that my personal greeting was reciprocated… And didn’t necessarily appreciate the spam style marketing message.
Today I want to talk about the personal brand that you portray, and some easy tips on how to stand out!
The value of a meaningful connection is exponentially greater than many unengaged connections…
1) The Opportunity
With the explosion of Social Media, we have a huge opportunity to connect with anyone personally and professionally to develop meaningful and valuable relationships.
The Opportunity doesn’t stop there however – so many of the businesses today have decided to use Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn as a platform to Push their products and services into their community. This creates an even greater opportunity for the business or personal brand that is willing to take the time to create real relationships, stand out and be noticed!
- Instead of sending a generic, auto generated, spam sounding, message to new followers – take 2 minutes to read a bit about your follower, decide if they will add value to your community, and make contact with a personalized DM or tweet! Don Power does a great job of this below and immediately engages his followers (read from bottom up)!
- When you follow someone new who you believe will contribute to your community, make a first impression by reaching out and saying hi and maybe a reason why you want them to be a part of their community. You can also mention them in a thank you, blog post, FF, or other tweet that still is 100 times more personal than a auto-message.
- If you don’t want to create a Twitter Stream that is full of thank you’s and conversation, than use a DM to send a personal thank you. Clearly make it personal so it does not look like an auto-message, use their name, and comment on what they are all about!
- When someone mentions you with an @reply, always, always, always, engage and thank them for the mention – this is a great opportunity to build a relationship, stand out, and get noticed!
LinkedIn
- Join groups that are discussing your professional or field and become a valuable member of this group.
- You do not do this by adding every one of the other members and tell them about your product!
- Instead, take the time to read the articles, comments, and discussions that make up the content of the group – add value through your own comments or article when you can. This is the first step in building your awareness and get noticed
- If there is someone in the group that you really appreciate and value their insights, send them a message and get the conversation rolling!
Conclusion!
Let’s apply this spam marketing tactic to facebook or even to real life – if (hypothetically, of course), you sent out a huge spam message to each of your family members and closest friends when they added you on facebook, would they be impressed??
Let’s take it a step further and what if when you shook a potential stakeholder’s hand you rambled off a generic 15 second pitch before even saying hi… Do you see my point?
As you jump into these new channels – don’t be intimidated with followers and connections –
Remember several valuable relationships are exponentially greater than 100 disengaged followers… Cultivate One Relationship at a Time!
I want to hear from you! What are your experiences with building a valuable community on the social media platforms?!
Sincerely,
Tyrell Mara
