Your Personal Brand is about getting CONNECTED. Having friends and building relationships is now based upon your delivery of superior forms of value… and has never been so important. Here’s how to make friends and connections in the new world of business, marketing and sales.
1.) ATTEND CONFERENCES AND WORKSHOPS
- Dress just above everyone at the conference/workshop
- Completely engage in the program, ask questions, make comments etc
- Introduce yourself to someone new every half-hour while at the event
- Create an auditory anchor that recalls humor in everyone you meet
- Use the anchor frequently to spread the cheer
A lot of business is done at conferences and workshops. The caliber of people attending these events are generally people who invest over and over again in their lives and their businesses.
2.) ACCEPT ALL SOCIAL NETWORKING INVITATIONS & INTERACT
- Post memorable comments
- Guest post
- Participate in interviews
- Conduct interviews and ask intelligent questions
Ever been to a party and witnessed someone who sizzled with positive energy and effectively “lit up the place”? —even on-line your enthusiasm can be felt. Get good at reaching out to others… offer them value… give them well deserved compliments and strive to keep that connection through time.
3.) SPARK INTERACTIONS BY NETWORKING ON SOCIAL MEDIA SITES (Facebook, LinkedIn, Ning etc.
- Ask them an irresistible question
- Generate a discussion that others will view with interest
- Keep the discussion active by responding timely to postings
- Invite the lurkers to contribute
- Be debatable… challenge people to stand behind their opinion and stand behind yours.
- Donut responses- Positive statement or compliment, opposing opinion, positive statement or compliment
Staying positive is the key to success in life and in making/maintaining relationships. Be happy, enthusiastic and a leader. Be the kind of person you are after you’ve had a couple of glasses of wine and you are relaxed, with no agenda other than to enjoy the connection.
4.) JOIN PRIVATE GROUPS IN YOUR NICHE & YOUR NETWORK
- Supply clear and concise answers to the questions
- Back your answers with credentials with prior written posts or quotes
- If you don’t have the answer, steer them in the right direction
- Discover a balance between conversational writing style and formality
- Write in 12-15 second sound bites
- Avoid simply throwing up posts that drive people to sales pages
- As you do this… start to ponder your “crowd conversion” strategy
When working with groups, you want to become known (branded) for providing insight, resources and answers. So creating “deliverables” that you offer others as gifts allows you to pepper the community with your flavor… after they like your flavor… offer them opportunity to taste more.
5.) THE LAW OF RECIPROCITY IS REAL
- Supply others with what they want/need
- Set up Google Alerts to deliver you relevant content and then give it away or use it as inspiration for you own blog posts
- If you don’t have an answer, ask an additional question or steer them to a resource
Be willing to invest you personal time to give away your creativity, your knowledge and your contacts. Going above and beyond with just one person each day, 5 day’s a week will create 250 loyal followers in a single year. If you continue to nurture them, help them and provide them value… they will spread the word of your loyalty and good cheer. Your appreciation goes a long way. Friends bring along more readers, customers and investors. They will take you under their wing and introduce you to popular bloggers, speakers and networkers all of whom have their own loyal following that you can now be exposed to and connect with.
Including & Leveraging Your Personal Brand
Those who have taking the time and energy to engage in the exhausting but spiritually liberating work of discovering their Personal Brand will have significant advantage and leverage over those who don’t. The time has come for you to understand and embrace the numerous benefits of Personal Branding. You must have a communication/connection style that is uniquely your; and this is an uncovering of who you are that will continue for the rest of your life.
- Have a unique and memorable profile photo
- Have an interesting but relevant title or label
- Use language to create your culture — create your own rhetoric
- Formulate your sound bites in advance and use them repeatedly
- Work on communicating a sense of humor and easy going approach to problems
This post provides you with very simple tools for creating relationships and expanding your network using your Personal Brand. With the right mindset and planning, the above becomes a daily routine… a practice that you refine through time. An hour each day, five days each week will be enough to amaze you… expect to see momentum in as little as 30-60 days.
In your corner and on your side,
Mark Allen Grainger- I am “The Inspirational Marketer”.com
