Westchester Networking for Professionals

Wednesday, October 10, 2018

5 Tips for Stress-Free Networking

Successful entrepreneurs know that networking is not a numbers game. It’s not about how many business cards you pass out or collect. It’s not about how many products you can sell or whom you can instantly impress, exploit or schmooze to get what you want.

Proper networking is a gradual process of making genuine connections with people and cultivating those relationships for the long term. Here are five ways to take the stress out of networking, expand your sphere of influence and form solid, mutually beneficial relationships.

1. Give with no expectations in return.

The most effective networking takes place when you are willing to tithe your social capital. In other words, look for opportunities to be of service to others instead of thinking about how others can meet your needs. Train your ears to hear a problem so you can present a solution.

For example, if a colleague or client mentions that she needs a good painter, you might not know one, but someone in your network probably does. Do a little research and pass along the information. She will remember you and be forever grateful for your kind and unsolicited efforts.

2. Network with one person at a time.

Instead of spending small amounts of time with a lot of people, spend more time with a smaller number of carefully chosen people. You may find it comforting to know that the strength and longevity of your relationships depend more on the quality and far less upon the quantity of your connections.

Stop believing you have to meet everyone in the room. You don’t. At the next networking event, introduce yourself to someone who is sitting alone. More often than not, it’s the short, casual, one-on-one conversations that turn into potential business opportunities.

3. Approach people who are different from you.

It’s natural to gravitate toward people who are just like us, but you do yourself a disservice when you socialize with the same people all the time. Don't be guilty of "clustering." This is when people who know one another get into groups, either sitting or standing, while they pretty much ignore everyone else around them. Staying in familiar territory defeats the purpose of networking so expand your horizons and occasionally break away from those you know or see every day.

4. Share a personal story or two.

Most of us have a habit of launching into business talk too soon, so take time to form a connection that has some substance. The best way to do this is by telling your story or by trying to get others to reveal their stories.

Stories are the most basic tool for connecting us to one another. People attend, remember, and are transformed by stories. Many of us grew up listening to stories passed from generation to generation by our parents or grandparents. Stories have a unique power to move people’s hearts, minds, feet, and wallets in the storyteller’s intended direction. Share a little bit about yourself -- how you became interested in your profession, who inspired you to start your own business, or where you grew up.

5. Listen more than you talk.

As the saying goes, “We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak." Focus more on the other person and less on yourself and you will be perceived as being the most engaging person in the room.

Start out by asking the right questions and then listen to the other person’s response. Some of my favorite questions include: “What do you like to do in your spare time?” and “What motivated you to start your own business?” Most people enjoy talking about themselves, and these kinds of questions prompt people to open up. In time, they might even reveal their background, motivations, philosophy and challenges. Even though you might not agree with everything the person says, all you have to do is be a good listener.

Keep your networking efforts simple. Become interested in others, find out what matters to them, and then center your conversations on their interests and priorities. When you are genuine and sincere, your network (and eventually your net worth) will organically grow.

Source: https://www.entrepreneur.com

Image Credit: Compassionate Eye Foundation/John Wildgoose | Getty Images

ABOUT WNFP
Westchester Networking for Professionals (WNFP) is a business organization focused on providing our members and guests with an extraordinary networking experience, bringing business professionals together for the sole purpose of generating new relationships and developing new business opportunities. Not a member, learn how you can become a member and join this awesome group of professionals to connect and grow your business.

Stay Connected with WNFP!

25 Easy Ways to Get a New Perspective on your Small Business

Do you ever notice that you get more ideas (and get them faster) when you step aside from your normal business routine? I can sit at my computer for what seems like hours struggling to write a blog post or put together a proposal. Then, the moment I step away from my desk to grab a soda, I get all kinds of inspiration.

A change of scenery, even one as simple as standing up from your desk, can do wonders for your creativity — and for your business. As summer winds to a close, there’s no better time than now to break away from your usual routine and try something new.

How to Gain a Fresh Perspective

Even the smallest changes can have big effects on your outlook, freeing you up to see business problems, opportunities and solutions in new ways. Here are 25 ways to “shake it up” and gain a new perspective.

1. Take the afternoon off and use the time to do something you’ve never done before.

2. Take a vacation to a place you’ve never been — better yet, somewhere where you don’t speak the language.

3. Switch places with one of your employees for a day and see what you learn. Choose a job that exposes you to something you don’t normally deal with, like answering customer service calls or handling shipping and receiving.

4. You know that one thing you keep meaning to do, but you “never have time” to do it? Set your alarm for an hour earlier than normal and use that hour to get it done.

5. Take a different employee out to lunch every day.

6. Attend an industry event or conference you’ve never gone to before.

7. Change your work environment. Try working outside or in a coffee house. Paint your office.

8. Move your desk, or relax on the couch while you work. If you work at home, try working in a different room than you normally do.

9. Try standing up while you make phone calls. (That might lead you to invest in a sit-stand desk.)

10. Get rid of the clutter on and around your workspace (you know, all of the things that have been there so long, you don’t even notice them anymore). See how it feels to work in a streamlined space.

11. Switch up your route to the office. Try taking a different way every day for a week. Pay attention to the scenery.

12. If you normally drive to the office, ride your bike or take public transportation instead.

13. Read a book about business by a successful entrepreneur, and see what you learn.

14. Sleep with your head at the foot of your bed for a night to get a new perspective.

15. Take a sabbatical from screens. Disconnect from your email, your smartphone, your social media, your streaming shows, etc., for just one weekend day. Stay unplugged. You’ll be surprised what ideas arise when you aren’t constantly distracted.

16. Commit 10 minutes a day to doing mindful meditation. If you’re too rushed to do it in the morning, try doing it right before bed.

17. Explore a part of your town where you’ve never been before.

18. Choose a TED talk on a topic that interests you (it doesn’t have to be business) and watch it.

19. Find an expert in a subject you want to learn more about. See if you can buy them coffee or lunch (or Skype or FaceTime them) and ask questions.

20. Find a peer group of other small business owners in your area or your industry. Get together to share your business challenges and suggest solutions. Listening to how other people handle problems, even if (especially if) they aren’t in your industry, can be enlightening.

21. Choose a new genre of music you’ve never listened to and explore it.

22. Experiment with different background music as you work and see how it affects your focus and energy.

23. Volunteer for a community organization. Spending some time working with children, people experiencing homelessness, or abandoned animals will give you a new perspective.

24. Mentor another small business owner who’s starting up. You’ll realize you know more than you think you do.

25. Next time you’re trying to come up with ideas, put away your computer and try writing with a pen and paper instead. It can help spur more creative thinking.

Source: https://smallbiztrends.com

Image Credit: Shutterstock

Tuesday, October 9, 2018

How to Make the Best Impression Possible at Your Next Lunch Meeting

Attend Westchester Networking for Professionals monthly Small Business Lunch & Learn Networking Event, held from 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm in Elmsford, New York. Learn More.

Lunch meetings offer more than just food. They’re social and allow you to interact with potential clients or business partners in an atmosphere that’s both convivial and comfortable. It’s easy to overthink a lunch meeting (what to wear, where to eat, etc.), so I’ve put together this list to help you through the basics.

The first step in scheduling a lunch meeting is deciding on where to eat and when. Two caveats: first, you can say your schedule is a little flexible but don’t necessarily give up the whole hog and say you're free “whenever.” That both looks a little desperate and gives the suggestion that you don’t have anything else to do. Secondly, pick a place (or give your lunch date the option of picking a place) close to them. You might even want to Google their area to find hyper-local places to meet and make some suggestions based on that. If you know they are vegan or keep a strict diet, catering to this insider knowledge will help show your lunch prospect that you pay attention to detail.

Consider Location

Think about how you want to come off when you extend an invitation. If you choose a place that is too strange (for instance, a Tim Burton pop up restaurant) you may come off on the more creative side. This is your meeting and you want to play to their expectations. See yourself and your decisions through their eyes.

Cafés are casual settings where you can chat over coffee for ages, if the conversation warrants it, or you can cut the lunch meeting down if it’s not going so well. Ensure that restaurants have a decent lunch menu and the service is solid (Yelp can help you make those decisions). Pick a place that doesn’t take forever to seat you and serve you. Also, ask for the check before the conversation starts running out of steam.

Try and avoid bars, steak joints and high-end restaurants. Taking your lunch partner to a fancy restaurant can come across as trying too hard. It’s also a distraction. Do you want their attention or would you rather share it with the menu, décor and the people-watching? And just because you know what cutlery to use first doesn’t mean they do.

Prepare Accordingly

Now you’ve selected your place to eat, make sure to send them a brief, friendly reminder the day before to ensure they’ve not forgotten. If for some reason you don’t have access to their email, call them and leave a polite and short message.

Before the actual lunch date takes place, you’re going to want to prepare for it, too. Brush up on things like your elevator pitch, their work information (and personal information only if it’s not too deep and something you can bond over). Some questions to ask yourself:

Do I know what I want to say/ask?
Do I have a business suit cleaned and ready to go?
Do I have any samples that I need to bring?
Have I called ahead for a reservation?

Once you’re ready to go, get there about 10 minutes early so you can breathe easier and not stress. If your lunch date is late, give them at least 15 minutes before reaching out to confirm lunch is still happening.

The lunch meeting itself should focus initially on small talk. Put your phone away to show that you’re not interested in talking to anyone else and that you’re focused entirely on your lunch partner. Once the conversation has been running for a while, gently broach the main topic for your get-together.

Some other tips:

Don’t order food that might make a mess.
Don’t begin eating until everyone has been served.
If the other person is paying, don’t order the most expensive things on the menu.
Keep your elbows off the table and chew with your mouth closed (that way you can’t talk while you’re chewing either).
Avoid ordering alcohol, unless your lunch date orders a drink first.

When talking, remember not to get too relaxed (after all, lunch venues are, by their nature, intimate). It's still a business meeting. As for the nature of the conversation, remember, everyone loves talking about themselves. So don’t just ask about them -- follow through with it. The person who asked for the meeting is the one who should pick up the check. So if this one’s on you, ask for the bill and/or put your credit card firmly down with a smile.

Source: https://www.inc.com

Image Credit: Getty Images

Friday, October 5, 2018

Infographic: Choosing The Right Social Media Platform For Your Business

Social media is one of the top ways to promote your business online and connect with customers. But does your business need to be on every platform? Probably not. Most businesses tend to see their best results when focusing on one or two platforms.

However, there are many factors to consider when deciding which platform is best. Branex has created the infographic below, which breaks down the pros and cons of each network for business marketing:

(double click image to enlarge)

(double click to enlarge image)

Source: https://www.theselfemployed.com

Thursday, October 4, 2018

3 Ways to Balance Your Business, Family and Everything Else

Balancing your life is like one of those acrobatic acts where people are standing on top of one another balancing themselves -- each person represents an important part of your life. You want to keep them all up there without anyone falling. Not so easy, is it?

To really appreciate and enjoy what you have, balancing the many aspects of your life is essential, but many people aren’t very good at it. I was one of those people in my first marriage. I was wrapped up in my business and not spending enough time and energy on my marriage. In the end, the marriage blew up.

I admit, it’s hard to say no to business when it comes knocking at your door, especially when you’re selling real estate and a qualified buyer comes along. However, if you don’t know when to put the brakes on and slow down, you may find yourself out of control and missing out on a lot of your life. Many people get a taste of success and they want to scale it, so they just dive into it 24/7. The next thing they know, 10 years have gone by and they’ve built a huge empire but lost sight of everything else. They realize that their spouse is now their ex, their kids are now teenagers, other family members, as well as friends, have moved on, and they’ve missed so much of their personal life that not even money can buy it back.

So, how do you balance work, family and everything else? For one thing, you need to accept that you have to make many compromises, have a positive attitude and know that it can be done.

Balancing businesses

Besides running my own business, Leyla and I are partners in her business. Warning: This type of arrangement will not work for all couples, but it can work well, provided you clarify your positions and respect each other’s roles.

The trick is knowing how to combine, and then separate, business and marriage. For example, Leyla and I sometimes have to go to Los Angeles for meetings or to an expo or a beauty show in Las Vegas. We take the opportunity to make a full weekend out of it, working at the event and then going out on the town. At home, we have date nights at least once a week, even if all we do is grab a quick dinner and then come back home. It’s important to break the routine and put business aside. On weekends, Leyla’s business is closed and I don’t work, and we spend time with our kids. We try to make time for each of our top priorities: our family, each other and our work.

Unfortunately, when you’re working together and discussing, or sometimes arguing, about business during the day, it’s difficult to switch gears when you get home and shift into husband-and-wife mode. We try to be careful to stop ourselves without letting the day spill over into our personal life together. I’ll admit, however, that it does take some practice, learning how to turn the switch off before you leave the office to go home. But in time it gets easier. You need to set some rules together, then make sure you’re both on board with those rules.

Hobbies and passions: cars and cigars

You also need time for your hobbies. Ever since I was a teenager, I’ve loved exotic cars. I bought my first exotic car in 1992, a Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo. Fast-forward 10 years, and I had started falling in love with Ferraris as well as Porsches. I have continued collecting cars, and I now have 15 cars.

Even though they’re a hobby, I have an entrepreneurial spirit when it comes to my passion for cars. In fact, I view them in a similar way that I do great pieces of property, though I’d prefer to keep them than sell to the highest bidder. To me, they’re like works of art that I view as investments, knowing that they’re of great value.

Cars aren’t my only passion, though. It’s important to have some passions that you can enjoy away from work, from family and from everything else. You also want some alone time. For example, I also own a cigar lounge (www.CubanoRoom.com) where I can go to relax by myself or meet another successful member while smoking a fine cigar.

I treat my passions like a business because that’s who I am -- I enjoy them and also make money -- but it doesn’t have to be that way. If you enjoy bicycling, you don’t have to go and open a bicycle store. You can simply find a group of riders, do some travelling and have fun. It’s important to fit some alone time into your busy balancing act. We all need some moments when we escape from everyone and everything. The best thing to do is figure out what makes you happy and balance the hustle of your busy life with your own passion.

Extended family

Family time is so important to me, both as a father and as a member of an extended family. Besides spending time with Leyla and my children, I see my parents often. I bought them a ranch about 90 miles away from Newport Beach back in 2004. Now they visit us every Friday or Saturday -- we have a barbecue and play backgammon or cards.

We also see Leyla’s mom and sister often. Her mom still works as a registered nurse and lives in Beverly Hills. Leyla’s sister is nearby in San Diego where she works for a company called Houzz, an online community for home construction, landscape design, home improvement, repairs and so forth.

Leyla and I both recognize the importance of having our extended family nearby and making time to spend together. Otherwise, time goes by quickly, and you suddenly realize that it’s been years since you spent some quality time together.

Source: https://www.entrepreneur.com

Image credit: Shaikh Salman | EyeEm | Getty Images

Top Tips for a Great Small Business Marketing Plan (INFOGRAPHIC)

A small business’ marketing plan plays a critical role in the success of the business. Small businesses that have a clear marketing plan continue to grow and meet their objectives, while those with a poor marketing plan get stuck in survival mode wondering why they are not seeing much momentum.

If you are not seeing much progress in your small business, and or you want to increase your small business’ profitability, then you need to improve your marketing plan.

Improve Your Small Business Marketing Plan

According to management training and consultancy firm Guthrie-Jensen Consultants, a solid marketing plan lays down the structure of how you are going to promote your business throughout the year, and allows you to look back to see what worked and what did not the previous year.

“There are many how-to’s that other marketers swear by when it comes to creating a marketing plan, but it’s hard to determine which one to use for what kind of organization, especially for start-ups, because there’s not one marketing plan that fits all business concerns,” writes Guthrie-Jensen in a post on the company’s blog. “The way to come up with a good one is to use the right tools and take the right steps.”

Steps to Create a Winning Small Business Marketing Plan

The first step to create a winning marketing plan is to know your business and your competitors well. Perform a SWOT [strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats] analysis to know your strengths and weaknesses, opportunities for growth, and threats that could deter progress,” says Guthrie-Jensen.

Once you know your business and competitors well, it’s time to determine your target market. Narrow down and define your target customer to know where to focus your efforts. Answer the question, “Who do you serve?” Then, list down specific and realistic objectives you want to achieve, adds Guthrie-Jensen.

Specific and realistic small business objectives may include creating brand awareness, generating product interest, increasing customer engagement, and closing new sales.
The next step is to create an action plan, a schedule and then a budget for executing the plan. Once the plan is in action, monitor, manage and improve it for best results, says Guthrie-Jensen.

Small Business Marketing Plan Tips

Some top tips the management training consultancy firm offers for creating a solid marketing plan include:

Have a unique selling point to set you apart from other similar businesses.
Study your target audience and know the exact time they’ll need your product or service, so you deliver at the most opportune time.
Set clear, measurable and realistic objectives, and know how to achieve them.
Re-adjust your goals and objective as required.
Always look at the bigger picture.

Build a Solid Marketing Plan – Infographic

To help you with building your small business marketing plan, Guthrie-Jensen created a useful infographic showing the importance of having a marketing plan. Check out the infographic below to learn more about why and how to create a great marketing plan for your small business.

Source: https://smallbiztrends.com

ABOUT WNFP
Westchester Networking for Professionals (WNFP) is a business organization focused on providing our members and guests with an extraordinary networking experience, bringing business professionals together for the sole purpose of generating new relationships and developing new business opportunities. Not a member, learn how you can become a member and join this awesome group of professionals to connect and grow your business.

Stay Connected with WNFP!

Wednesday, October 3, 2018

How Sponsoring a Local Event Can Grow Your Business (INFOGRAPHIC)

There are more ways than ever to market to your audience, but businesses are overlooking some of the strategies available to them. According to an infographic from Zipsprout, sponsoring an event is one of the channels most businesses have yet to try.

The infographic is titled, “Going Hyper-Local: How Sponsoring an Event (Like Goat Yoga or a Garlic Festival) Can Grow Your Business.” And it makes the case for why more businesses should look into events as a marketing tool to reach local audiences.

If you are a local small business owner, sponsoring an event is a great way to introduce yourself to your neighbors. Not only does it build brand awareness, but it shows potential customers you are doing your part to help the community you work or may even live in.

The Impact of Digital Marketing

The introduction of digital technology and marketing soon thereafter has changed the way businesses engage with their audience.

Unlike the cost and expertise needed for launching campaigns on TV, radio or print, all it takes is an internet connection and readily available free tools for digital marketing.

The infographic by Zipsprout says social media is the most used marketing channel by businesses, which accounts for 70%. This is followed by email at 44%, digital ads at 42%, SEO at 39%, and content marketing at 27%. Print ads and direct mail are used by 28% of businesses.

Even though they are used more, digital marketing strategies are not the most effective, especially for local marketing.

When it comes to local marketing, hosting events was effective for 84% of businesses followed by 77% who used event booths. Television, text messaging, SEO, and sponsorship came in at 77, 76, 76, and 69 percent respectively.

The Benefits of Sponsoring an Event

The infographic points out 71% of local businesses are satisfied with the results of community sponsorship. And participation doesn’t mean you have to spend money.

Donating your branded products as well as volunteering your time and free services can have the same impact. If these actions speak the values of your company, it is an important factor for many customers.

This is because Americans support or reject a company based on the positions they advocate, with 87% saying they will make a purchase based on values and 76% doing the opposite or boycotting if they don’t agree.

Sponsorship

If you are ready to sponsor an event or partner with another organization, Zipsprout makes the following recommendations.

Start by sponsoring the right event to get the most out of your investment and focusing on the quality of your brand impression.

Next, try to find a partner which shares your values and reflects a similar brand identity as the one you have. And finally, make sure your event runs without a hitch or with a few of them as possible because you don’t want your potential customers associating your brand with a bad time.

You can look at the rest of the data in the Zipsprout infographic below.

Source: https://smallbiztrends.com
Infographic Courtesy of ZipSprout

ABOUT WNFP
Westchester Networking for Professionals (WNFP) is a business organization focused on providing our members and guests with an extraordinary networking experience, bringing business professionals together for the sole purpose of generating new relationships and developing new business opportunities. Not a member, learn how you can become a member and join this awesome group of professionals to connect and grow your business.

Stay Connected with WNFP!

2 Key 'People' Rules That Can Make or Break Your Business

Two friends of mine, born in the same place, work in the fashion industry. Over the years, each has gained access to very similar resources. Both have charismatic personalities and are natural leaders. Yet one of these women constantly struggles -- her business is broke and may have to close its doors—while the other woman’s company is now worth more than $1 billion.

The obvious question is: With so much in common, what’s the difference?

The short answer is, the successful entrepreneur had great self-awareness. Having her own “Aha” moment early on, she recognized what she did well and, just as important, where she needed help. She knew from the start to build a team with the right skills around her and then get out of their way. Her strategy allowed her to work her strengths and hire her weaknesses. Her key tactic -- and it’s a good one -- is to find people that play doing the things she considers work.

In effect, she fired herself as CEO, putting someone else in place with a track record of successfully building companies like the one she wanted to create. This allowed her to focus on product development, which is the work she does best and enjoys most. The company thrived.

In contrast, the struggling entrepreneur did two things wrong. First, she tried to do everything herself, from scheduling meetings to going on sales calls to making the product and shipping it to her customers. She was always so busy working in the business that she had no time to work on the business. Second, she put herself in the wrong role. Although she, too, was miscast as a CEO, she didn’t have the foresight to hand off the executive responsibilities to someone better suited to the job.

An important element of your entrepreneurial success is to build the right team around you. What do you need to know about yourself and your potential crew to get your business to break through to the next level? Stop doing it all! Instead, try the following:

Work your strengths and hire your weaknesses

One of the best qualities an entrepreneur can exhibit is self-awareness. Are you a visionary? Do you like to take risks? Are you better at setting up systems and managing day-to-day operations than thinking big? Is there a specific area like sales, marketing, or product development where you excel? Get clear about who you are and how you can help the organization most, then focus on filling the gaps by gathering the right people around you.

Sometimes entrepreneurs, perhaps out of pride, find it difficult to put someone else in the role of CEO. The same hesitation may also apply to other leadership roles. My advice? Get over it. This kind of limited thinking will only obstruct your path to success.

Aim to hire people more qualified and smarter than you and give them the tools they need to succeed. By the way, assigning somebody else a major role in the company doesn’t mean you have to give up your influence or ownership. When your role is in perfect alignment with who you are, you’ll be able to contribute more and really enjoy what you’re doing in the process.

When Sara Blakely got started, she worked on Spanx at night, filling orders from home and personally going into stores to rearrange product displays. As the business began to grow, she recognized that, at heart, she’s a visionary rather than a CEO. So, two years after she founded the company, she hired Laurie Ann Goldman, a woman with ten years of experience running a licensing division at Coca-Cola, as CEO. She played to her strengths and hired to cover her weaknesses. Basically, she knew what she didn’t know and was OK with that.

Be ready to substitute players

As your company grows, people who excelled early on may not be the right fit down the road. One manager may be great at taking a product to market but not know how to grow the business beyond a certain point. I’ve seen people perform brilliantly at one level who can’t shift gears to get the company to the next one; they’re great at taking a business to $1 million or even $10 million in sales, but not $100 million. That’s not surprising—different skill sets are needed at different levels—but you need to make sure you have the right people in the right places at the right time in your company’s life cycle.

One key thing to consider is that employees, partners, and contractors need to be comfortable working in a fast-paced, resource-constrained environment where they’ll likely be asked to juggle multiple tasks. Also, because getting your business off the ground is so time-consuming at first, you must be sure the people on your team don’t have any other major obligations during the critical go-to-market period. Once the business grows, you’ll need people who not only know how to do the job but can also manage others effectively. In the beginning, everyone does a bit of everything, but later on, once people have defined roles, strong leadership and management skills become increasingly important.

Bring in the right people, ones you can trust, give them all the tools they need to succeed, then get out of their way. Leverage your strengths and spend your days doing the work you enjoy most, and get comfortable delegating everything else. It could make the difference between going broke and building a billion-dollar business.

Source: https://www.entrepreneur.com
Image Credit: Hero Images | Getty Images

ABOUT WNFP
Westchester Networking for Professionals (WNFP) is a business organization focused on providing our members and guests with an extraordinary networking experience, bringing business professionals together for the sole purpose of generating new relationships and developing new business opportunities. Not a member, learn how you can become a member and join this awesome group of professionals to connect and grow your business.

Stay Connected with WNFP!

Tuesday, October 2, 2018

How to Generate Business Leads From LinkedIn

With over 500 million people on LinkedIn and almost 40% of those members using the platform daily, it’s amazing that more professionals haven’t caught onto the value of this networking platform. Many companies have now jumped on board this trend and now use LinkedIn as one of their primary B2B lead strategies. If you’re a professional – and especially if you are in the B2B space – you should be taking a serious look at LinkedIn as you next lead acquisition strategy.

And then again, if you’re going to ride this LinkedIn wave, we should look at some ways that you can stand out from the crowd and really impress the community. The last thing you want to do is present yourself in a haphazard manner on a platform that is literally built around displaying your professionalism.

Profile Optimization

This is the one section that you cannot afford to skip over. This isn’t just advising you to “complete your profile”; I’m talking about truly optimizing your profile to reach and engage your target audience.

Start by analyzing what you want to communicate to your audience. What is your overall goal for using LinkedIn? You’ll tailor your profile to those goals.

Personal Biography

Your profile should outline who you are, what you do, and why others should care. Discuss what expertise you bring to their professional network? What have you accomplished? What are some organizations that you are a member of? What company do you work for? Essentially, you want to help formulate their perception of you.

Describe how you stand apart from the crowd, and how you are different from every other person in your industry. How can you make a difference for them, personally?

Profile Image

You want your profile picture to present you in a professional manner and validate the biography and self-description you’ve crafted. This is important! You’d raised some eyebrows if your biography describes you as a successful lawyer from a large New York Law Firm, but your profile picture portrays you as unkempt and poorly dressed. Each section of your overall profile plays a part in portraying who you are.

Links to Social Media and Website

Once you’ve established your personal brand – who you are, what you do, and why it matters – you must give your audience a method to move forward. Give them a place to find and interact with you (Perhaps, Twitter? How about Email? Facebook? Your phone numbers?) and a URL where they can learn more about your offering. Consider this the ‘call to action’ of your LinkedIn profile. You can create a masterpiece of a LinkedIn profile, but if you don’t give your audience a way to move forward – a CTA – you’ve missed the point.

Actively Connect with Those Outside Your Network

The point of business networking platforms, like LinkedIn, is to increase your circle of connections with those in similar and auxiliary industries – or anybody, for that matter. You may have never met the people that are suggested to you, but with LinkedIn, you can take the first steps towards getting to know others and increase your business network.

Try to be engaging when you “connect” with other users. You might send them a note along with your invitation, explaining who you are, and who your mutual connection is. You might also include your intention for connecting with them, or interests, organizations, and work experience that you have in common.

Join B2B Groups in Your Industry

Another way that you can get leads is by joining groups on LinkedIn. Even though you can only join up to 50 groups on LinkedIn at one time, this should be ample, if you choose carefully. Try to find out which groups are most active, have the most members, and which ones are the most relevant, and then simply request to join.

Once you’re in the group, start watching for people asking questions about your industry and then try to answer these questions intelligently. This helps to establish authority as an expert in your field. Other people will see that you are knowledgeable in your niche and will most likely visit your profile to learn more about you. In the future, when they have a need within your area of expertise they will likely remember your previous interaction and contact you.

Request Introductions

If you have connected with someone you know well, you may want to go through their list of connections to find people who would be good potential clients and then ask your friend if they would introduce you to these people. If your friend agrees, then this is a really good way to “break the ice” with people who aren’t directly connected to you but would be ideal connections for your network.

You could offer to do the same for your friend and trade introductions to help each other out. If the person you want to introduce you to potential clients isn’t a friend, you could offer a referral commission if anything profitable comes from the meeting, as motivation for them to agree to introduce you.

Reach Out to Connections That View Your Profile

When you view somebody’s profile on LinkedIn, they will get a notification of who has viewed their profile (in most cases, anyway. They can now turn on their privacy settings). You may get these same notifications on a daily, or weekly basis depending on how many people are viewing your profile.

If you’re using the free version of LinkedIn, then you’ll only see a partial list of people who viewed your profile, but you can still use this tactic. However, if you have paid for LinkedIn Premium, you’ll want to go through the complete list of people who viewed your profile recently. If they are connected to you, then you could send them a message, and ask them if there’s anything you can help them with.

(Psst… Don’t be creepy about it!)

If you are using the free version of LinkedIn, you’ll still be able to message the people who viewed your profile, and while the list may be limited, you’ll still be able to contact a lot of the people who viewed your profile.

If you build the relationship – guiding it towards understanding each other’s businesses – and provide them with value, then you’ll most likely come to their mind the next time that they need a product or service that you offer.

Stay Active

Just like every other social platform available, you need to engage actively with your following. This is how you develop the relationship with your audience and network. If you only jump on LinkedIn once a week, you can’t expect to build any level of audience engagement or gain any new leads.

The key is to stay consistent so that when people who are connected to you have needs or questions within your field, you are the first person that comes to mind.

Conclusion

LinkedIn has massive potential for developing your personal brand or building authority as an expert in your field. These actions will attract new business leads, but like any other lead generation methods, you’ll need to invest time and energy into engaging your network and proving value within the online community.

Source: https://www.business2community.com

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Monday, October 1, 2018

3 Ways to Give Back to Your Community and Build Your Business

Contributing to your community through philanthropic efforts can do the world and your heart a lot of good. And in many ways, giving back is also good for business.

Large or small, companies play pivotal roles in shaping their communities. There is certainly an economic impact, as dollars spent locally multiply to create ongoing value. Beyond that immediate benefit, research shows that committed businesses that align with local causes end up encouraging additional charitable giving in their communities.

In addition to leading by example, a genuine philanthropic commitment can quickly become a central tenet of a company’s identity. With social responsibility playing an increasingly important role in consumer buying decisions, blending your passion projects with your business operations can do a lot of good.

Why Philanthropy Should Be a Part of Your Business

Making philanthropy a part of your brand makes good business sense. Almost nine out of 10 consumers say they prefer brands that support causes they believe in. This consideration works both ways, too; 67 percent of consumers will not do business with a company whose values differ from their own.

Done correctly, your company’s mission statement should describe your core values. It should communicate your beliefs about how you treat your customers and employees, and it should showcase your responsibility to your community and to the world at large.

My company, for instance, focuses its philanthropy on programs that benefit children throughout Texas and the U.S. Through the David & Teresa Disiere Foundation, we focus on donations and sponsorships of educational institutions, scholarship funds, relief funds for families affected by natural disasters, and aid for children from at-risk families. My company transformed our passion for helping children into an integral part of our company identity, adding an important dimension to our business in the process.

In addition to helping individuals who need a hand, charitable work that highlights your company’s commitment to the community can drive business to your brand through word of mouth. As people share the story of your company providing aid, your brand’s standing in the community rapidly rises.

3 Ways to Showcase Your Community Spirit

Becoming a recognized force for good in your community is about more than big monetary donations. Instead of approaching philanthropy as a financial undertaking, put in some sweat equity and explore different options to find the right fit for your business.

1. Sponsor something you believe in.

Sponsorships are great for businesses that want to reach broad audiences and grow quickly. From a Little League team to a 5K race, associating your company with a local organization instantly conveys your commitment and builds your reputation. In addition, your brand gets positive exposure. For bigger events, you might even garner some positive press or social media mentions.

When you tie your business to a sponsorship, you help customers form positive opinions about your brand. In fact, a 2016 study by the Event Marketing Institute found that 74 percent of consumers are more likely to buy products they learn about via an event.

2. Volunteer to share your time and talents.

Philanthropy involves more than a checkbook. Look for volunteer opportunities that enable you and your employees to use your talents for a good cause. Establishing a program that encourages volunteerism among employees is an effective way to get involved in the community — especially when your finances are tight.

Businesses big and small can take inspiration from AT&T’s volunteer program, which encourages employees to volunteer on their own as well as through company-coordinated events such as building a playground or packaging meals for the homeless. In 2017, AT&T employees contributed an impressive 1.78 million volunteer hours to their communities.

In addition to building brand recognition, a volunteer program can be an excellent recruiting and retention tool. Millennials are now the largest generation in the workforce, and they have strong opinions about the importance of community service. According to a study by Cone Research, two-thirds of Millennials will only consider taking a job if the company in question has a strong sense of corporate social responsibility.

3. Get active with your local chamber of commerce.

One of the simplest paths to community engagement is becoming an active member of your local chamber of commerce. Membership comes with obvious business benefits, including access to strategic resources, networking opportunities, and referrals. But it can also provide opportunities to get involved with key local philanthropic causes and volunteer events.

As a member of your local chamber, your business gains credibility. One study indicates that consumers are 44 percent more likely to view a small business favorably when they know the company is a member of its local chamber of commerce. Those favorable perceptions pay off, with 64 percent of respondents claiming they are more likely to do business with these companies.

As a business leader, you have a unique opportunity to influence your community for the better. Any sort of philanthropy can be a big win for your brand, but the entire experience will be infinitely more rewarding if you target charitable causes that are near and dear to your heart. This personal approach will ensure you don’t lose interest after a few months of giving back — and favorable business results will likely follow.

Source: https://www.business2community.com

Image Credit: geralt / Pixabay

Female Entrepreneurs: If You're Networking Mostly With Women, You're Leaving Money on The Table

As a female entrepreneur, everywhere I go these days there is opportunity to connect with other women in business. Women are escaping from their corporate jobs to go out on their own, stay-at-home moms are looking for ways to make money and in general, women seem to be very attracted to the entrepreneur path. Indeed, there are 114 percent more women-owned businesses in the U.S. than there were 20 years ago.

To go along with this rise in female entrepreneurship, the number of women-focused resources and networks has also increased. But should we, as women, solely focus on these gender-specific groups to take our career and entrepreneurial journey to the next level?

While there is data that shows that networking in women's groups is beneficial in many ways, the problem, especially for female entrepreneurs, is becoming too comfortable, and allowing that comfort to limit our earnings potential.

Here are three reasons why all-female networking may be a revenue trap.

1. You aren’t reaching all demographics.

If you’re a woman in business, are you relying only, or mostly, on female networking groups? The research says yes. Women are more than five times more likely to have networks that are mostly female, according to the Women in the Workplace 2017 report. The reasons for being part of women-focused network groups runs the gamut -- everything from being a supportive community to feeling empowered and improving confidence.

But if that’s your exclusive source of community, is it in the long term good for you, your career or your business? The same report tells us probably not. “Because men typically hold more senior-level positions, this means women are less likely to get access to people who can open doors for them.” Similarly, when it comes to having doors opened for women in business, we are talking not only about climbing the corporate ladder, but also the economic one.

If you’re looking to maximize your revenue, it’s time to step out of your comfort zone and start attending mixed-gender networking groups, in addition to your women-only groups. It’s a great way to find your next mentor, referral source, client or business deal.

2. You aren’t maximizing your profit potential.

When it comes to the economic side of business ownership, women are still lagging behind. Even though woman-owned businesses accounted for 39 percent of all businesses in the U.S. in 2017, those same businesses were only bringing in 4 percent of the total revenue.

How does that play into female-only networking groups? By attending only women's networking groups we are potentially cutting off half your potential customers: men.

Networking groups that include males will provide you with a low-cost, low-risk opportunity to discover what marketing messages work with a male market, or even if it it is necessary to have a separate marketing message. Even better, when you can use a group to make connections that result in trust, tapping into these newly-formed relationships can help you discover angles and areas of business you might be missing out on.

3. You aren’t informed about market opportunities.

The effectiveness of your pitch for your product or service with both men and women tells you about the value of what you have to offer. Nail it in both groups, you can't go wrong, and you can then see the potentially exponential results of opening avenues of untapped revenue, and a valuable improvement to your marketing messages, including having men as advocates for your company.

A macro example of this is the cosmetic industry and its realization that traditional "for women” companies are opening up their campaigns to men, and are tapping revenue sources previously unknown. And rightfully so. The male grooming market is expected to grow to $60.7 billion by 2020, up from $17.5 billion in 2015. Companies that have failed, and continue to fail to recognize the marketing and sales potential will lose out on a bonanza.

In my own experience coaching business leaders, focusing on both genders in my client marketing and networking efforts results in a much higher return on investment, as men can, of course, be very good clients and willing to invest in themselves. Specifically, targeting men as clients in my company brings a 30 percent revenue boost.

As I stated previously, one of the greatest benefits of a networking group is that it is a low-cost, low-risk place to learn what marketing messages work, for both women and men.

I’m not advocating that you give up your woman’s networking group, or that you give up focusing on a female demographic as clients. However, when strategizing for your short- and long-term business goals, consider the many economic benefits of having access to men as clients and/or as referral sources will bring to you and your company.

Source: https://www.entrepreneur.com

Image Credit: Hero Images | Getty Images