Network – Promote Your Brand

Let us explore five of the most powerful ways that you can share your message with the world.  Each one of these topics can fill the pages of a book, however, for the purpose of this article I will provide you with a brief overview and a few tips that you can easily implement.   Audio Marketing, Video Marketing, Article Marketing, Blogging and Social Networking are easy and affordable methods that will give you a lot of “boom for your buck.”  These five areas are directly connected and intertwined. To begin with, writing articles allows you to share your knowledge and views.  Audio and Video Marketing provide a much more personalized way for you to connect with your audience. 

Blogging provides you with a storefront and provides your readers with a way to gain knowledge as well as share their feedback and ideas.  Social Networking, when done correctly, provides you with a built in community of people who want to help you succeed. People want to do business with people whom they know, like and trust.  Finding ways to connect with people and share something of value with them will help to bridge the gap. 

Social Networking is perfect for accomplishing this.  Be sure to keep in mind that building trust and building relationships online takes time.  You don’t want to become known as someone who is always trying to sell something.  Instead, become known as a person who has a lot of knowledge and experience to offer.  How you can accomplish this via Social Networking is by participating in group discussions and helping others.  People will become accustomed to seeing your name, and in many cases your photograph. 

You can also initiate conversations by asking questions.   Frame your questions in ways that encourage people to reply.  For example, which question would you be more inclined to answer?  1) “I have a great product that can help you save a lot of money and …. buy my stuff!”  or  2) “I noticed last week that Jim K. was asking for suggestions on how to connect with Health Professionals in Canada.  I would be so grateful for your ideas on how I might connect with Massage Therapists in New England.” My favorite Social Networks are, Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, Ning and Fast Pitch Networking.  Remember that Social Networks are for building relationships, not trying to sell people stuff.  Sell them on “you”, not on your product!   Your first step is to select a social network and set up your profile. 

Be sure to take a few minutes to fill out your profile and add your photograph.  This will make a world of difference.  You do not have to spend a lot of time Social Networking each week.  In fact, you may want to delegate a brief 30 minute session, 1-3 times a week as part of your business development strategy. Once you have your profile set up spend some time exploring the site.  Many Social Networks have groups or forums that attract Niche groups.  Participating in groups and on forums that attract your niche market is the perfect way to build relationships and grow your business.  A word of caution… Just like in “the real world”, you want to use common sense and good judgment.  Refrain from giving out personal information until you’ve established credibility and build relationships. 

Most social networks allow you to email back and forth from within the system and thus you do not need to give out your personal information. Now that your profile is set up and you have joined a few groups and blocked out a few times each week that you can dedicate to Networking Online, you are on your way to expanding your horizons and your Network.  A great way to drive traffic to your blog or website is by having your web address in your profile signature.  This is viewed as an acceptable and low key way to market your business and also provides people with a way to find out more about one another’s products and services.  Once you know your way around you may want to initiate a group discussion.  This will shine the light on you and will facilitate relationship building and thus future business and referrals.  Become known as a “go to” person and an expert in your field.  Set yourself apart by adding audio and video to your Social Networking profiles and at least once a week post a reply to a question or participate in a discuss.