Recently I had an interesting meeting with someone. We had connected on Linkedin and she wanted us to get to know each other’s businesses better. As we sat there sharing, I was blessed and impressed, by meeting her. Something that I would not have had through an email or text or tweet. When you are marketing your business, remember it still comes back to building relationships.
I was reminded through this time together nothing replaces the face to face, one on one, relationship building. Thankfully with Zoom and other software, we can have the next best thing to in-person meetings.
Attention Span
In our fast passed worlds, we want to rush through everything. Attention spans are getting less and less every day.
“A recent study by Microsoft concluded that the human attention span has dropped to eight seconds – shrinking nearly 25% in just a few years.”
Communicating
If we contact someone, whether we do it online or by phone, we feel that the job is done. “Just email me information and I will look it over and get back to you.” – how often have you heard this, or perhaps, even said this to someone on the other end of the telephone? Yet, how often does this type of communication end up in a true business connection?
I work online and am very comfortable with communicating via email or phone, or even through social media. It is very easy for me to keep blinders on, going through my days, and making numerous ‘connections’. I will say, however, it is when I stop myself, and invest time in others, in person, or via Zoom, that I find out so much more about how I can really help my new connections.
Connecting Online
It can seem a little awkward at first if you are not used to it. Let me give you some pointers to help with your online meetings (and maybe some of those in-person ones too).
Tips for Your Online Meeting:
- Keep it Casual – do not think it has to be this big thing. You still want to be professional, but keep your tone and manner more on the casual side.
- Do Not Use Your Elevator Pitch – not really good to use right out of the gate or at all. It needs to be more personal.
- Talking Points – try to make some time to look up their profile and business and write down some questions you can ask them. They will be impressed that you took the time to know or at least see what they do for a living.
- No Selling – this is not about selling yourself or your services. It is about building a relationship. Believe me, if done properly it can include sales down the road.
- Be Polite and Attentive – sounds obvious but you would be surprised. Do not have other screens open and do not look away from the camera. Stay engaged. By looking away or even looking bored you will leave a bad impression.
Building Relationships
As my recent meeting came to a close, I was keenly aware of how important it is to still connect in person and via video to build true business relationships. Let’s be honest, how often do we just want to connect to ‘sell’ ourselves, our products or services, and our company? When the best way we can really promote and market our business is still the old-fashioned way of investing in relationship building.
I don’t need to tell you, but I will remind you anyway, that in doing this not only are you able to share who you are, but they will also share you with more connections that they may have or perhaps they will even refer you to someone. All because you stopped and truly connected with another human.
Final Thoughts
This week, let’s try to begin building relationships out of your comfort zone. Reach out to one of those, many unknown, connections (you know you have them) on LinkedIn, Facebook, or other social media channels.* Go into it with the idea of helping someone else. Let me know what happens. Keep me posted!
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To Your Continued Success,
If I can help you with your business please reach out and set up a mini-session with me, it’s FREE! Want to Connect to a Real Human? Set up a mini-session now (just hit the button)!
*This goes without saying, but I will anyway – Please be cautious in meeting new people, especially those you do not know. We all know the possible dangers of social media meetings. Please – Make sure that someone you know knows them (or can give you a recommendation) before setting up in-person meetings. Be sure to meet in public places, never compromise your security. And never give out personal information when meeting via Zoom or other video options. Please do not share your personal address, birthday, etc.
