Building Your Online Business Network

"One man can be a crucial ingredient on a team, but one man cannot make a team."
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, NBA Center

It seems with all the hype around social media, once you hop on the bandwagon your online network will just build itself. Unfortunately it's not that simple. Unless you're the one who posted the latest video of Susan Boyle, or you have the only key to some long-needed remedy, it's unlikely you'll have content that will spread virally (on its own).

What does this mean? To build a solid online network, you need to put in the time in effort just like you would offline. The main difference is that online you can use your content as a means of getting the word out, and hopefully it will do some of the work for you.

How to Spread the Word
Anybody would get overwhelmed reading the incredible variety of ways you can share your information online. Here is a simple program, if followed consistently, that will see a natural growth in your online attention:

1) Write a blog or online articles. Generating content gives you some fuel to spread the word. If you have a site that has been the same forever, time to start adding fresh information. This content will be a tool for getting notices.

2) Sign up for Twitter. It's not hard, and at first just watch. Use searches to find people of interest in your domain, and begin to interact with them. Thank them for their tweets, answer their questions, offer information to them. In the beginning, self promote only once in a while. As you become established, you can self-promote more. Every time you do a blog post, share it here. If you launch a product, have a great sales day, or anything that promotes your company, share it here. If you read another blog of interest to your customers, share it here. Let it be casual and fun, but mostly have it be a give and take exchange.

3) Sign up for Digg.com and StumbleUpon. Add your blog or articles and comment on other blog and articles.

4) Share your content with people you know. It's simple to send out an email when you have a new blog post. Tell people about it when you talk. You must promote your content.

5) Comment on other blogs. Use a reader to track these blogs and comment on them regularly so you become known by them. Choose 3-5 that you will read daily. Choose ones that are of interest to you, and you want to be noticed by the owner or other comment authors. Better yet, write a blog post that refers back to a blog you like, and let the author know you have linked back to him/her.

6) Join one online community. Choose one that is of genuine interest to you. Make sure to post at least once daily. Set up your signature so it always links back to your site and blog.

7) Choose 1-2 successful social networkers, follow them and learn from what they do.

Creating a network online is just like in person. You need to give in order to receive. Let people get to know you. Don't just sell, sell, sell. Give away tidbits for free, help people out when they ask for it. By creating online relationships, those people will then promote you.

How much time does this take?
Social media could be the black hole of time consumption. It's best to set aside a specific amount of time each day to do social media. An effective schedule that should allow you to get all of the above done might be:

• 20 minutes in the morning to read blogs, write blog, post on Twitter, make comments on sites
  
• 5 minutes mid-afternoon to post on Twitter and make comments on sites
• 5 minutes end of day to post on Twitter and make comments on sites

That's a half an hour a day of time invested. And if you use a mobile device, that time doesn't even have to be at your desk. It's worth the effort because when you finally have that big idea and want to launch it, you will have an established network that will spread the word for you.

Are you ready to win?

How to Play the Game of Twitter – Tweet! Tweet!

"Do you know what my favorite part of the game is? The opportunity to play."

~ Mike Singletary

I started using Twitter so I can advise my clients about it. At first I thought it was a dumb waste of time and thought I was being overly zealous in my need to learn new things. But as I’ve eased into using Twitter, I can say that I have seen some benefits. Not only have I found some interesting people to follow, I find it an interesting way to learn about current events and keep up-to-date with friends.

Here are some rules to help you make a successful foyer into the world of the 140-word tweet:

Watch Before Leaping
It’s a good idea to watch the playing field before sending out a slew of tweets. While it’s not complex, it does have its own culture with specific nomenclature and etiquette. By observing before plunging, you’ll make your initial tweets have more impact.

Give Instead of Take
Twitter is about community. What makes a community? It’s a support system where people share with and help each other. Don’t be all about yourself and your business. It’s great that you want to spread the word, but if that’s all you do, you will be seen as a selfish member of the community. Find a way to offer information. I read a lot of blogs on improving websites, so I often tweet about interesting articles that might be helpful to others. What niche information do you come across regularly that may be helpful to others?

Wait Your Turn
You cannot come to Twitter and in a week, or even a month, expect to have a large following that improves your business. Social networking takes time, and you must exercise patience as your network evolves and grows. It’s important to focus on actions that will make your following grow organically, rather than focus on how big it has gotten.

Be a Team Player
You can develop relationships on Twitter, if you focus on doing so. People post about their personal lives, and you can reply in ways that are meaningful and supportive. What’s important is that your response is genuine, not just words to log another tweet. For example, recently there I followed a stream of tweets by a guy who was having network issues. Over a couple days he talked about it, and while I had no technical knowledge to help, one morning I just wrote him a tweet telling him I hope today was the day he fixed it. I really empathized with his struggle, and his reply to my tweet showed that he appreciated the support.

Don’t Hog the Ball
It’s great to have a lot to say, but Twitter is not the place to say it all. Don’t send out massive numbers of tweets just to be heard. Recently somebody followed me on Twitter, so I opted to follow him back. Then I went to my home page and saw ALL the tweets on the page were from him, and half the second page as well, and they were basically personal commentary on his moves in the past half hour. I don’t want to read 30 stream of consciousness tweets from the same person. Boring! Use your discretion in how much you tweet, and remember, make it meaningful.

Give Encouraging Pats on the Back
It feels good when somebody re-tweets your comment or replies to you, so remember to do it to others. People are genuinely looking for a give-and-take on Twitter, so don’t be afraid to give when it’s right. Re-tweeting helpful blurbs, or thanking others for their feedback, are excellent ways to give social recognition to the people you follow. I occasionally do a tweet where I just say: I love reading your tweets: [list names of people]. This may encourage others to follow them too, which means you’re a nice person for recommending them.

Don’t Forget to Pass the Ball!
This one really cracks me up. Don’t sign up for Twitter, do nothing, and expect something. Remember, you have to use it to get a result. If you don’t engage, it won’t be ringing your doorbell.

Done the right way, you can generate a following of individuals who look forward to hearing your tweets and you can gain a lot of information from them. And once you’ve established this crowd, the occasional self-promotion will have an impact on the bottom line.

My 5 Favorite People to Follow on Twitter:
@cmsreport
@problogger
@steverubel
@robertbravery
@zen_habits

Follow Possibilities Unlimited on Twitter:
Bonnie Landau
Ralph White