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How to Use Online Networks to Market Your Business
From David Teten and Scott Allen Max Blumberg started his career as a management consultant with Andersen Consulting (now Accenture). He then started and successfully exited from a £10 million-a-year technology distribution operation. Unsure what he wanted to do next, he started earning a Ph.D. in psychology and along the way discovered Ecademy. “As a general entrepreneur,” he says, “I had no idea how much I knew about marketing strategy and positioning until I started sharing my knowledge with other Ecademists and found them asking for more! I set up the Positioning Game club on Ecademy where members got into a queue in order for me to position their businesses in the club, live in front of anyone on the Internet who cared to watch. The queue grew and grew, and soon people at the end of the queue who knew that they would have a long wait became my first Ecademy clients.” He says that his first clients were owner-managed professional services and technology businesses, but that larger companies have started to take notice of his work. “The size of companies I work with has increased to operations with revenue in the region £2-6 million, referred mainly through contacts made on Ecademy.” Over 40% of all Americans ask the advice of friends and family when shopping for services (doctors, lawyers, etc.), and word of mouth is arguably the effective source for business referrals for both consumers and local businesses . While virtual networks may not reach the massive numbers that advertising or national publicity does, it’s very effective in reaching highly qualified prospective customers, establishing perceived Competence with them, and reinforcing your brand. Online networks are also a powerful tool for market research, and can even help you get national publicity down the road. How to Use Online Networks for Marketing Here are some of the ways that you can use social networks to market your company and you: Research your market. You have two ears and one mouth; listen more than you talk. Through participation in these communities, companies can learn about consumer interests and reactions with a candor rarely found in focus groups and surveys. Create Competence. If becoming an expert in your field is part of your marketing strategy, social networks give you a much more accessible outlet than the media. You can speak up in a mailing list, discussion forum, or blog, and reach hundreds or thousands of people. Say something useful, original, and profound, and you will get quoted and linked to, reaching even more people. Build and reinforce your brand. Every signature in an e-mail or on the Web, and every profile online, is an opportunity to reinforce your brand. Unveil a human voice. Networked markets demand openness from the companies who want to sell into those markets. Organizations should have more people participating virtually than just professional marketers. A happy employee is a more powerful brand evangelist than almost anyone in Marketing. This is one reason why Microsoft has approximately 1,200 bloggers out of 55,000 employees. Associate yourself with a not-for-profit cause. People are much more willing to gather around a cause than a company. Microtarget. If you have identified a particular narrowly-defined groups to target, the odds are good that you can identify a virtual community where they are already gathered. Are you selling consulting services to independent bookstores? If it doesn't already exist, just create a virtual community for your target pool, seed it with your closest relationships, and watch it grow. Ignite word-of-mouth buzz. If you have a new product or service, word-of-mouth—satisfied customers talking about you—is one of the most effective ways to establish your Competence. Word-of-mouth flows through social networks; Leaders of networks are excellent lighthouse customers. If the most prominent blogger in your field likes what you sell, you will create a powerful evangelist.
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Christians
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Imagine that you had a great networking "cook book" loaded with the best "recipes" that have been developed, tested and perfected by dozens of world-class "master chefs." You probably wouldn't try every recipe. You'd pick the ones with your favorite ingredients; ones that appeal to your personal tastes. Get your copy here!
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