Twitter – The (not-so) Secret Networking Tool

How have you networked lately? Do you belong to several Networking groups for Social or Business purposes? Then hopefully Twitter has been part of your networking system.

Twitter is a real time – powerful networking tool for people and businesses. Networking in 140 characters… impossible you say? Join the conversation and see!

One of the reasons why Twitter is so powerful is the ability to network quickly and productively with potentially thousands of people or more in an instant…if you do it right! Remember that people are nosy (you know you are too!); they want to know what is going on in your life and your business. If you are smart and savvy with your tweets, people will want to listen in to your conversation – just like the Nosy Rosy sitting beside you on the Go Train!

Twitter reaches out to everyone – women, men, moms, dads, entrepreneurs, small businesses and large corporations to mention a few! Each of these people network in the community in different ways but all can use Twitter to network from home…in their pajamas if they choose to do so! Once you establish relationships on Twitter, meeting a potential friend or client in person is a cinch…that initial dialogue has already started and the connection is already established. Just imagine how a business could benefit from this!

Here are some tips:

• Follow the right people – related to your personal likes, your type of business or your location.
• Have the right people follow you – appeal to those you want to follow you and search for them.
• Don’t spam – multiple accounts sending the same tweets at the same time, selling or asking people to constantly check out your site or what you offer will lose your followers very quickly!
• Follow those who follow those you follow (do you follow?) – look at your followers and follow their followers.
• If someone follows you, follow them back out of courtesy – unless they have a suspicious picture, non-existent bio or no followers but are following hundreds of people!
• #FollowFridays – Your time to give back to your network – tweet a user name and reason why others should follow them. What goes around comes around
• Retweet others as you want to be retweeted!

So, if you are not on Twitter go on and join the conversation! The most important tip to remember – HAVE FUN! (even if you are wearing your pajamas!)

And if you are confused or want some more tips, give me a call! I am always here to help!
Sherri Rossi, Findability Solutions Inc.

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Sherri Rossi is the Co-Founder of Findability Solutions, Inc. – A Canadian SEO company focusing on small to medium-sized companies in the Greater Toronto Area. Their goal is to improve the findability of your website. Beginning with a comprehensive keyword discovery campaign to on-page optimization and link building, Findability Solutions, Inc. will increase your traffic and help you realize your ROI. Contact Sherri today to get started on finding your website! http://www.findabilitysolutions.com/ or on Twitter at @findabilitysolu

A few of my main beefs about networking:

• It’s expensive
• It’s like a cell plan – you get locked into a contract term
• It’s always at 7 in the morning (I’m not even dressed at that point, you want me to be on my biz game?! HA!)
• Many of them are quite boring…

I have got to be very taken by the host of the meeting and be really engaged to consider the “contract” option.. I have recently been to one of those very networking meetings and would most definitely commit to such an organisation if the travel distance wasn’t so prohibitive for me.

I attended the Toronto Enterprising Mom’s Network meeting hosted by Tereza Kumric (The Chapter Director) – and had a great time!! There were plenty of great business women in attendance (The Yummy Mummy Club, Grace Announcements, Mabel’s Labels, Melissa Collesano Photography and so many more!!) We laughed, we ate, we shared stories and we were engaged! Erica Ehm of The Yummy Mummy Club spoke of how she became an Entrepreneur and regaled us with her trials and tribulations of being in business for yourself.

I also, a day later had the pleasure of attending another type of networking meeting – a dinner. This time, it was an invite only dinner (invitees were winners of a Yummy Mummy Club contest) I was extremely lucky that week (more about that streak of luck at a later time ) and snagged one of those invites.

We were treated to a Windows 7 party and were treated like royalty while we conversed with each other (about 20 women) in a wonderful restaurant, eating delicious food, drinking wonderful wine and just being, the club says, Yummy Mummys.

Again, we learned things – from the presenters and from each other (Wondermoms, WeeWelcome, SweetMama & More!). We laughed, we shared stories and we experienced a bit of each other’s lives – but the main point, we were engaged.

Very few “average” networking meetings can live up to these events and its because they’re stuck in the norm, maintaining the “usual” routine. It’s no longer about making business contacts, rather making personal contacts.. making friends.. relating to each other on a level that is much more than just “what service can I provide you”.

I urge you to seek out these new fangled networking events and see the difference for yourself!
You won’t regret it!
Go on.. Cast Your Net!
A

This week, I’m going to talk about some really cool tips I received regarding the “E” world.. and the ever intriguing Social/Online Marketing medium. Everyone is doing it and that should include you.. by now you should have a website, a Facebook Fan Page (preferred over a group), a Twitter profile, a blog, etc., etc., etc… If you don’t you are missing out on some SERIOUSLY cheap marketing methods! So without further ado!!

Pitch the World!

There is a superbly fantastic freebie that can be found on the web called Pitch Engine. For FREE, you can set up an online “newsroom” and submit your press releases to media contacts from across the globe! If you can’t afford a full on PR campaign and don’t have time to build and manage an online press room or distribute press releases then you NEED Pitch Engine. With Pitch Engine you can build and maintain a Newsroom that makes it easy to share digital assets like video, images, and other PR content.
http://www.pitchengine.com

Give Your Skills Away!

I created a free ebook that contains an outline of how to write a marketing plan and includes over 100 marketing strategies businesses can use to market themselves. Then, I wrote and distributed a press release announcing that I was giving away a free marketing plan outline and marketing strategy ebook.I have built a database of prospects that I market to each month with my automated marketing newsletter. I get many of my clients from my marketing newsletter. My investment of about $4000 to date to market my free ebook has generated over $100,000 in sales in the past two years.
Peter Geisheker, CEO
The Geisheker Group Marketing Firm
http://www.geisheker.com

Niche is Nice!

Go for niche targets online – Build a website specific to the target
Use a blog that has a data base that is active & participates – Put a survey on the site & approach specific associations around the country to encourage their data bases to participate in exchange they could have access to the data. Get to know the blogger and build a relationship – Comment on an industry blog/newsletter. Communities spread information by WOM – Within 2 hours we had 1000+ responses to the survey
Tricia@TheMarketingChefs.com

Get Cozy with Craig!

I have found hands down that our most valuable marketing resource has been Craigslist!
I have gotten exposure for edibleRed on Style Network “Split Ends”, The Dr. Keith Ablow Show, Maxim Radio, Discovery Channel, several radio stations and blogs. I have also gotten cameos in music videos by other signed bands.As a result of our guerilla PR efforts, we have been exposed to a few MILLION people through radio/TV/blogs and live shows.
Collette McLafferty
www.myspace.com/ediblered

How about a Swap?

My Best Tip was when I did a direct trade of my mailing list with another non competing business. The catch was that we each had to endorse each others product. He got to mail out to my list. I got to mail out to his list. No money changed hands. And we each got a direct endorsement that sold lots of product. You will NOT find any other way to make more money for so little to do.
Michael Senoff
Founder and Executive Editor
www.hardtofindseminars.com

Brag a Little

Top Ten List – Rather than leave a prospect with a business card or a sales email leave them with a paper or email listing the top ten reasons that they should select you.
David E. Johnson, CEO and Co-founder of Strategic Vision, LLC

Form Relationships

Monitor conversations in Twitter® using an automated tool such as TweetDeck®. Build filters that look for keywords that describe purchase intent. I use good 2 or 3 word phrases that indicate some sort of purchase intent such as “write socialmedia RFP.” When someone uses one of those phrases, I try to engage that person with something useful that satisifies their immediate need. “Hi, I saw you were looking for ABC. I found this . I hope this is helpful.” Most important. Never sell. Be useful. Don’t stalk. Just try to help the person on the other side of the table.
Ben Bradley
blog.benbradley.net

Turn Your Contacts into Twits!

We took our newsletter lists and imported them into Twitter® to see who in our community had an account.
We followed them, most followed us back, and we now have a direct channel where we can make suggestions, offer tips and continue customer service. I can say we’ve gotten at least one gig from this approach.
Monique Cuvelier
www.talance.com

Give Stuff Away

We gave away 25 different, viable items via social marketing. Cost :free. Success; Not only was this a feel good project, got people talking about us Internationally (one person won from Britain) but we landed a huge client that didn’t know about us.
Susan Johnston
President, Select Services Films, Inc.

Past & Present are the Future..

The most effective way to gain more revenue is to market to existing and former customers. These people already know and trust you – they just might not know what you offer. For example, I worked with an alternative health center (yoga, pilates, massage, acupuncture, etc) that had many customers, but not enough revenue. So we made posters of all of the services in the center and highlighted a different one each week in the email blast. In a matter of weeks, the revenue had gone up substantially – and we didn’t have to spend money on getting new customers.
Andi Enns
Public Relations & Marketing Campaign Strategy

Participation is Key!

I’ve written five whole books on effective guerrilla marketing. If I have to pick one, I’d say participation on Internet discussion groups. Cost is zero other than time. Return, for me, has been cumulatively in the six figures.
Shel Horowitz, Author, 7 books
Twitter: @shelhorowitz
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Facebook is on Target

Facebook ads to target very specific people.
Aidan Crawford
Marketing Director
The CLEMMER Group

Update Your Clients Regularly

Best tip is to have a monthly email newsletter to your clients and potential clients. Create subgroups to market to specific niche areas, like parents, singles, etc. The monthly email newsletter is as cheap as it gets! Not only do I get repeat clients, I also get additional new clients from having clients forward my newsletter.
Ellen R. Delap, CPO®
www.professional-organizer.com

Make Your Email Work for You!

I use email billboard signatures. They have gotten on TV as well as writing and consulting work as a result of my evolving roster of different billboard signatures! I give Social Media and New Age Marketing Workshops all over the country, and this tip is always a big hit.
A regular email signature can be anything from the person’s name, title, company name and phone number, to just an ending salutation of a person’s name and nothing else…. In other words many people do not think of the signature slug as the communications/ marketing space, or “billboard” that it can be! (Think logos, graphics and hyperlinks!)
Patti Simone
Marketing-Advantage.net

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As it was last week, these tips are really the beginning.. spend some quality time with the internet, use the search engines and look for online biz communities – there is an endless bounty of marketing mastery out there.. go get it!

Have a tip we didn’t cover? Comment and give us some feedback or Tweet® us @fdnstudio.. we LOVE to share!

Have a successful day!!

Ariane

I am a true believer in Karma – you know the cliche saying – “what goes around, comes around” – well if you stop to think about the logistics of that – it could be true!

A personal friend of mine, Caroline MacGillivray probably has some of the best Karma I’ve seen in a long time! She definitely gets what she gives!

Caroline founded the Beauty Night Society – a non-profit, volunteer-based organization that provides makeovers and other wellness programs to marginalized adults and youth. Their programs provide tools for clients to increase their self esteem and find the inner strength to make positive change in their lives.

Founded in the year 2000, Beauty Night now has satellites in Vancouver, Victoria and Toronto, and has given more than 8,000 makeovers to clients. Talk about giving to the community!!

Well recently, the community has spoken and they’ve started the “comes around” cycle of Caroline’s Karma.

Caroline recently received the Spirit of the Crane Award; Celebrating Women & the Spirit of the Cranes was started in 2001 to recognize outstanding women and the contributions they make to our community.

She’s also been nominated for 2 very prestigious awards;
The Canadian Living “Me to We Award” (in the Community category); Recognizing everyday Canadians who are dedicated to making a difference.
Vote for Caroline in the Me to We Awards – “In The Community” Category – http://www.metowe.com/awards/vote/

The YWCA Women of Distinction Award; To honour, encourage and recognize women whose outstanding activities and achievements contribute to the health and future of the community.

So really, what’s my point in all of this? How does this apply to your business?

Think about Caroline’s actions on her community (locally and nationally); She has treated people with the same action as she would like them to treat her. She has given not only of her time, but also of herself emotionally and financially – without really wanting anything (but their happiness) in return. With this attitude of giving to others first, Caroline and Beauty Night have people (tons of them!) asking how they can help and media who is spreading the word about Beauty Night and it’s programs.

Imagine what could happen to your business if you applied the “Karma Concept” to your business…

Do yourself a favour.. try it out; the only drawback though (and it could be a deal breaker) is that Karma works very slowly. I’m sure though, as an Entrepreneur you have the necessary patience and persistence it takes to wait for your Karmic Rewards… right??

Wishing you a great week!!
Ariane

p.s. If you have any tips or suggestions on how to build your business based on the “Karma Concept” – post a comment so we can all benefit!

Now I know (and you know) everyone is on a “green” kick and yes I agree that is it best for the earth but some suggestions that are out there are way beyond my scope (I read a story about a family who insulates their house with hay!?)..

Seeing that my mantra with The Mompreneur is to read it cover to cover, I read this article. Wouldn’t you know it? Foundation Studio is a “green” company – This comes as a slight surprise to me because most of the items The Mompreneur suggests doing in order to accomplish the “green” goal, I do already – and have done forever.

1. Clean with eco-friendly products: I clean my house and office with eco-friendly products and I used to make my own – then I had Ben and I ran out of time, now I purchase eco-friendly cleaners.
2. Conserving energy: When you are not in a room, you turn off the lights, and make sure that any appliances you are not using are off as well. I was taught that from the moment I started walking – I assume it was (back then!) to save money rather than a focus on the environment, but I have done it since then and now it’s second nature. I do have to admit that I do forget to unplug them as well, but Tim is vigilant about that type of stuff so he saves my efforts!
3. Paper Consumption (or lack thereof): For the office – all paper products are recycled material, used as much as possible (both sides, reused for scrap etc.), for our home, the kids are encouraged to reuse all paper products to make crafts and extend their use as much as possible.. again, all paper products are recycled (from the source) and then when we’re finished with something – into the blue bin she goes!!
4. Interior Decoration: We have finished the basement in our house so that we can have a dedicated play area for the kids as well as a dedicated area for our offices. We used recycled material whenever possible (unfortunately we did not use Hay to insulate!) and were lucky enough to find recycled, low VOC paint for our walls!! We are repainting the entire house soon and will be going back to our paint supplier and picking up more of the same paint for the rest of the house!

Some things that Foundation Studio does in addition to The Mompreneur article:

1. Green Hosting: I found out recently that the great hosting company that I use for Foundation Studio and my client’s hosting (when requested) is a green powered hosting company! So a huge thanks to Netfirms for going green and adding a little more “clean” to my life.
2. Recycled office supplies: I don’t mean just paper and envelopes here. Most of our equipment is refurbished and all of our printers use refurbished ink cartridges (where possible), I also would like to add that my office supply “guy” fits into my “100km” circle – and is not a big box, but a small biz just like me!
3. Eco-efficient Vehicles: Yes, we do have a monster car in our driveway but it is used so rarely that we are seriously considering it’s demise! Our main vehicle is a 2 door itty-bitty thing that is GREAT on fuel – we use that when we need to travel further than our feet will carry us.

A few things that I will start doing to increase Foundation Studio’s (and the fam’s) green reach are as follows:

1. Source shade/fair trade/organic coffee: Tim & I drink a lot of java and I think knowing that it comes from a good place and gives back too will make our morning perk that much better
2. Switch to green electricity: I am going to check out Bullfrog Power and very soon hope to switch over our utilities so that our energy (what little of it we do use) is naturally sourced!

On this eve of Earth Hour, I am pleased to write this post confirming not only to me, but to my readers and clients (current and prospective) that Foundation Studio is a proud “green” company. I urge you to take part in Earth Hour tomorrow and then sit back and take stock of your “green” efforts – I bet you’re doing so much that you don’t realise, that you too are a “green entity”!

Have a great weekend!

A