Yesterday I was invited to speak to a group (about a hundred) small business owners about Online Networking.
I don’t do too well with person to person networking.
The worst is when I am in a room for some networking event. For whatever reason I prefer to blend in the background and watch things happen at these events.
I am forcing myself to get better.
However when it comes to online networking……….. now thats my forte. I guess being behind a mobile device/ PC helps.
I have made some mistakes over the years but hit on some jackpots. No not million of dollars. Yet. lol.
Lets dive in;
1. Its not just Linkedin! – As long as it is a platform that has people and their profiles (name it – Shapr, Twitter, Quora, Slack, Meetup, Facebook. etc) you are good to go. The same way we meet people in person everywhere, is the same way we can connect with people on various platforms online.
2. Just do it! I mean shooting your Shot – When I am online and I see a profile of someone who has an experience I am aiming for business or career wise, not minding how highly placed they might be, gender or ethnicity; with absolute no shame I go into their DM. No hesitation whatsoever. (Screenshot below).
This is how I reason things out – The worst that would happen is get a NO or get ignored. Hey, no one has ever died from that.
Both “shots” above were answered. The business one went on to be a phone call and has become my business mentor.
3. Make your intentions VERY clear – I am serious. Especially when you are dealing with the opposite sex. I have made the mistake of shooting my shot without clarity and the conversation ended with a “meet me tonight at a bar”.
Nothing wrong with “meeting up tonight” if I have met you and we have had a couple of conversations. But this was still in the phase 1 of me shooting my shot. I shut down the conversation and walked away.
So I learnt, STATE VERY CLEARLY WHY YOU ARE IN THEIR DM. eg Look at the screenshot in point 1. Or use the below;
“My name is xxxxx. I am interested in xxxx and and I see you have done xxxxx. I would like your help by the way of xxxxx”.
4. Keep it clean – I personally cringe when I read some comments or content online that are just offensive. They are usually written on the premise of “I don’t do political correctness”. #sideeye.
Especially on professional focused platforms. Okurrrrr
Except you are chatting with your personal personal personal buddies, I personally don’t believe in practicing your profanity legendary on public spaces. These things ALWAYS come back for you somewhere down the line.
Plus people read these things and make assumptions about your person without knowing you.
Long story short put your best foot forward always.
5. Stay open minded – I know, that sounds like a dating situation. In some instances my conversations have started strictly for professional/business reason but we ended up sharing travel info/tips and remained travel tips buddies.
I love visiting new places so I am more than happy to have a new friend who has gone on these trips and is ready to share info about very discounted ticket prices.
On a final note; don’t take it personal. I have so many examples of my messages that went unanswered. This is as recent as yesterday. I know they read the messages.
Just as you would have in a person to person networking event, not everyone is interested in speaking to you. Yeah its rude, but hey not everyone is polite. These things happen. #keepitmoving
I would like to gain new skills at doing the online networking thing. If you have some experience please do share!
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