Networking has moved online, and businesspeople are connecting globally and locally to create client relationships and expand into new geographies. Here are the essential tools for jumping into the virtual business network:
Basic membership in LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com) is free, and gets you connected to members around the world. One great LinkedIn feature is the Colleagues function that lets you reconnect with people youve worked with over the years.
WORLDWIT
WorldWIT is a the free, global online community for professional women (men are welcome, too) that provides member-to-member answers on career, business, technology, financial and life topics. A membership in any local WorldWIT community (like ChicWIT in Chicago or BritWIT in London) lets you reach thousands of businesspeople to get answers to anything thats on your plate or on your mind. WorldWIT chapters have live events, too. (Full disclosure: I lead this group.)www.worldwit.org
FRAPPR
Visit www.frappr.com - a cool online map site - to find people in your area to connect with, and to create maps of your own for coworkers, people in your network, or members of alumni groups or association. You can attach a photo and a shout-out to your pin on the map - check it out!
YAHOOGROUPS
Yahoogroups is the granddaddy of online networking tools, and as simple as it is, the site connects millions of people on zillions of topics. Email groups on marketing, web design, or any other imaginable subject connect practitioners and newbies to share knowledge and advice. www.yahoogroups.com.
Get online, jump in, and start networking!
Liz Ryan is a former Fortune 500 HR executive, a workplace expert and the CEO of WorldWIT, the worlds largest online network for professional women. She lives in Boulder, Colorado.
When they fail in their online business almost all marketers think either they do not know the business, either they do not provide a high service related to advertising, networking, market, prospects and so on.
The truth is marketing an online business is like any game. If you know the rules you may avoid many mistakes and you are much more likely to achieve success.
Speaking about the marketing rules, lets talk about some of the most important ones:
1. Focus the marketing activity on customers needs.
It is a fact that the best way to earn customers is to show them you understand the problems they are facing. Very often service professionals focus their marketing on their expertise, and try to impress clients with their approach and services they offer. They simply forget that clients primary concern is getting problems solved and having their spoken and unspoken needs met. Instead of marketing your credentials, market your knowledge and the solutions you offer to answer the customers questions.
2. Find the right niche of the market.
If you are not getting a positive response to your marketing efforts then you may not have targeted your market and their specific interests and needs precisely enough. Think that its impossible to be everything to everybody. Instead to focus a large area of market better narrow and deep it. Its more profitable to touch 25 people four times then 100 people just one time. That means you have reach a loyal group of customers and you may hope to have repeated sales.
3. Build your network.
May be I was rather unclear saying to deep your market. As you probably know people like to buy products from people they know and trust. Networking is a good idea to see whos interested in your products and services. Networking is going deeply into your targeted market getting new customers to you.
4. Stay in Touch.
Take care to refresh memories. Is better to assume your target market has forgotten about the range of solutions you offer. Stay in touch with your people on a monthly or at a minimum quarterly basis. Use a newsletter to do this, its the best solution.
Valerian Dinca is a freelance writer specialized in items like how to .