Connect Socially to Grow Virally

Ever wondered why some people seem to excel on social networks making connections by the dozens while you struggle to make just a few ?, sat there waiting for people to read your posts and leave a comment only to see your post disappear off the page never to be seen again ?

The answer is there is a secret to connecting socially that every Marketer needs to learn, a simple process that will see you suddenly elevated to popular and ensure your posts and your offers receive plenty of attention.

To explain this closely guarded secret which i am not supposed to reveal i am going to leave the internet scene and switch instead to an offline comparison.

I'll set the scene in a busy contractors office where 3 contractors share facilities all work in the same field however 1 of the contractors always seems to get a better class of client and has more work than he needs while the other 2 contractors struggle to gain a few small jobs every month.

If we watch these 3 we will observe that the 2 struggling contractors are working twice as hard for a third of the income our lucky contractor makes, they all have the same tools, the same contacts but lets call him Joe always seems to grab the lions share even though he also seems to spend most evenings wining and dining at flash restaurants, Fred and Barney (the 2 unlucky contractors) can't understand how he does it even the clients seem friendlier towards Joe than their own clients, why just last week Joe was handed season tickets to the basketball by one of his clients, just what is his secret.

To find out we would have to follow Joe for 24 hours and monitor his every conversation, but we don't really have time for that so lets ask him to reveal his secret to us.

Interviewer:
Joe whats your secret for landing the best contracts, how do you do it ?

Joe:
The secret is simple, I never ever discuss business outside of work hours and i never meet new clients for the first time during work hours, instead i prefer to meet them on a social level enjoy a meal and a few laughs with them and really get to know them before i schedule a meeting to discuss their needs or wants and what I can do for them, this allows me to size them up and plan my sales approach and pitch sometimes i'll meet this way 4 or 5 times with a prospect before i offer them a consultation to discuss their projects.

Interviewer:
It obviously works for you but what about Fred and Barney have they tried this way of gaining clients ?

Joe:
I've explained my system to them numerous times and Barney did try it out but he messed up during dinner by asking a lot of business questions and saying he could offer the guy a much better deal on his current project, it was definitely not cool and the prospect didn't even wait for desert but excused himself and left, poor Barney missed the bus on that one and 2 weeks later i got the contract for the prospects new development, I think Barney would have cheerfully shot me when he found out.

Interviewer:
so exactly what does happen when you take a prospect out to dinner ?

Joe:
I show them a good time i refrain from any mention of business or work unless they broach the subject and then i never look for a commitment from them instead i simply say "lets not ruin tonight with work, how about we get together tomorrow in my office where i can show you facts and figures and go over your plans properly and i can give you an honest quote !"

Interviewer;
So you let them off the hook, bet that's the last you see of them !

Joe:
Actually no i don't let them off the hook but i am playing them like a fish and yes sometimes they get away but for every one that escapes i have bagged 9 others, see there's a time and place to do business when i am in a social environment i am separated from my tools, my facts and figures, i simply am not equipped to conduct business properly, I am there purely to get to know this person and let him get to know and trust me, but when he comes to my office i have everything i need to convince him I am the man for the job right there at my finger tips, I can show him anything he needs or wants to know, i can show him hard evidence of previous achievements and project i have completed and give him the confidence to trust his project with me.

Interviewer:
I can see your point, so you use a little socializing to establish a trust relationship well before you try selling him on anything ?

Joe:
You got it in one, now if only Fred and Barney would learn my way then we'd have the busiest office in town, as it is many of my clients refer me to their business colleagues and while i do try to throw some work Fred and Barneys way they normally insist they will deal only with me.

We'll leave our scene at this stage and return to our internet world and your probably wondering how this helps you connect and grow your business using social networks.

The principles are exactly the same online as they are off line, Social Networks are not the ideal arena for conducting business, when you are in a social network you are removed from the normal tools you would have available, interchange of information is slow cumbersome and frequently interrupted by other network users leaving any conversation fragmented making it easy for either party to lose track of vital information.

far better to use the social network to get to know others in the network and form a relationship with them to where you can contact them outside of the social networks busy member traffic and where you have your tools, facts and figures handy like Joe to answer your prospects questions and show them evidence of what is achievable.

Like Joe you need to digitally wine and dine your connections, gain their confidence and trust and when the time is right schedule a meeting or 2 in your work environment and introduce your offers to them.

If you look at any successful corporation you will see the top executives working the same system as Joe keeping business in it's proper place while using social venues to build trust and relationships with their prospective clients, So don't be a Fred or a Barney be like Joe and use this well kept secret that has propelled some of the biggest names in on line marketing into million dollar deals, people like Ewen Chia , Mike Filsaime or Joel Com virtually everyone that has made it big has done so by keeping business in it's place not mixing business with pleasure.