Communication is easier than ever before. We carry amazing phones that are miniature computers in our pockets. We have desktops and laptops from which we Skype, instant message, email and keep in touch on the social networks. We build communities on our websites. We have followers, subscribers, and commenters.
The world is connected in so many ways you’d think reaching your audience would be a no-brainer, right?
On one hand, it is. Blog links get posted on Facebook, G+, Twitter and Linked In. Fans and followers subscribe to your automated newsletter or RSS feed and get your message delivered right into their inboxes.
But it’s also more difficult. There’s a lot of noise out there. After a while, everyone starts to sound the same. Readers ignore the links and delete the newsletters without opening them up. No one comments on your blog. You start wondering if anyone is listening at all.
With the rise of communications, small business owners spreading their messages have to find a way that makes them stand above the clogged interwebs.
The Circle of Life
When Wendi and I started blogging, we and everyone in our niche discovered how powerful a blog could be as a tool for launching a business. This means of reaching new clients on a more personal level was The Way. It was the new, unique voice rising above the static websites and lengthy sales pages.
We had large communities and our blogs’ comment sections always had over a hundred comments by day’s end.
Now, ten or fifteen years later, the market is flooded again. We’ve gone from “talking to” potential clients, to “talking at”. Information is great, but too much of it becomes boring. We take ourselves too seriously. We lose the connection.
It’s time for the pendulum to swing back the other way. We need some fun.
Hi, My Name Is…
What better way to have fun than go to a party, right? When you go to a party, you go to meet old friends and make new ones.
Reaching your audience and getting a response from them is no different. The worst thing you could do is come out of the gate, waving fistfuls of business cards and shouting “Buy my product!”
Nobody likes that.
Think about a more realistic scenario. What usually happens when you go to a party? You start by connecting with your old friends. You talk for a bit, get caught up on old times, then they spot someone else they know. They wave them over and introduce you. A new conversation begins.
Or you may find yourself standing by the buffet. The person makes a comment about how much he loves shrimp, and what a coincidence—you do too! A conversation starts up and you find you both have more in common. The more you talk, the more you discover both of your businesses could benefit from one another.
The same methods work online. Nobody likes the obnoxious member in any group or forum whose only means of conversation is “Buy my latest widget!”.
True, the social approach takes longer, but taking your time getting to know the people you’re connecting with makes for a much more enriching experience for everyone involved. People learn to trust you, you build credibility. They want to know more about you. They realize, oh, hey, this person has a service I need, let me ask them about what they can do for me.
It’s part business, part friendship. It’s the connection that builds strong client bases, keeps the clients returning and makes them feel good about referring you out to their friends.
The next time you find yourself frustrated and wondering why no one is paying attention to your message, ask yourself if you’re putting forth enough effort to make a connection first. Are you talking at or talking to?
Deb you’re message is so simple and so true!
Using technology in a back-to-basics way is the wave of the future. Connection is so crucial.
I sure hate getting a message in my facebook inbox from someone I don’t really know and they are trying to sell me their services. Where’s the Know-Like-Trust in that?
It’s when we’re vulnerable and show our true selves that we really connect. Thanks for the great reminder.
Hope to share some shrimp with you soon!
Elaine Wellman recently posted..Vulnerability, Twerking and Power: From Doubt to Bliss in 15 Minutes
Shrimp and bourbon! Next time we meet you need to bring some of what you were telling me about. What was the name of it again?
Connections are what I enjoy the most about Ali’s program. They really reinforce the whole getting to know you part and it’s definitely crucial to our success. Now when I see your smiling (and HAPPY) faces online in their little 50×50 boxes I hear a voice and laughter, I see mannerisms and there’s a whole bunch of good memories going on with them.
That also helps me remember what everyone’s genius work is, so when a client asks for something we aren’t capable of, I immediately think, gee, who do I know? Who do I trust to give this person to? We’re all extensions of each other’s trust and businesses when it comes right down to it. Our clients trust other providers because WE trust them first.
Great post Deb and I’m sharing with my tribe. It’s shocking how many people forget that social media works best not as a broadcasting tool but as a networking tool. And, networking is the art of listening and adding information. Thank you. Everything we say and do on social media is a direct reflection of our personal brand. No one wants to be that person others cross the virtual street to avoid because all they do is sell.
Cindy Ratzlaff recently posted..Cindy Ratzlaff to Speak at Pennsylvania Conference for Women
Let’s put the social back in social media! Hmm…that’s a good title. You’ve hit on a good point about listening. Only now we’re learning to listen with our eyes. Read deep and hear what’s being said. It’s like that one phrase, are you a listener or are you merely waiting to talk?
Deb, I love how you liken making connections to attending a party. Online networking is important, too! And you’re also right about how making connections is the important first step in building client relationships. Thanks so much for this great reminder!
Pamela Wills recently posted..Creating Connections
That’s what comment sections used to be, back in the day when we had to walk to school, in the snow, uphill BOTH ways. They were lively parties with everyone talking, sometimes going off on tangents, having a laugh, and all the while getting to know one another. Once the relationships were created, the client connections came naturally.
Ooh, touche! Talking at versus talking to. Bingo whammo! So love reading your posts, Deb. Zestful, they are. Engaging and sharp. And yay, you invoked the Dynamic Duo of you and Wendi! That is wild, the trip down memory lane. See, I wasn’t in the blog game back when. To learn how innovative it was, how many people commented — what a heyday. Do you miss it? Or do you flow along? Groovy and apt segue into party mode. Course I’m a bit stuck on the shrimp. Give me a shrimp and some good convo over a widget any day. Spot on post — like a call to action, a kind of Slow Business Movement. With Deb leading the way, sign me up. Meet you at the shrimp bar!
I do miss it sometimes. Other time, not so much. It took some getting used to because by the time Wendi and I started blogging on our own here, FB was in full swing and I couldn’t understand why no one was commenting on blogs anymore. I often felt like I was talking to an empty room with a full shrimp bar.
Forget bringing sexy back, let’s bring back comment parties! The sexy will happen on its own.
We have comment parties- they’re just happening on FB right now. However- the pendulum is starting to swing. There is more and more coaching and teaching geared at bringing the focus BACK to the website as opposed to leaving it all on the floor of general social media. We own our websites. We don’ t own public traded social media. There is some inherent danger there, of leaving all of your conversations, history and fun on someone else’s playground. It’s their ball, they can pick up and go home at anytime and you are left standing there with nothing. Besides, if the goal is for people to see what your offer is, you want to invite them into your house, let them sit on your furniture, have a glass of wine.
Time for us to swing open the doors and invite people HOME for the parties!