Business Survival Tip #5
In business, it’s all about who you know so Networking with key players in your industry and your ideal customers is super important for your business.
By all means, join your industry’s local and national Trade Associations.
Most of these organisations have a wealth of information available on everything from details on your competitors to average industry sales figures, new products, services, and trends.
If you are given a membership certificate or wall plaque, you should display these conspicuously on your office wall and on your website.
Customers like to see such “seals of approval” and feel additional confidence in your business when they see them.
But don’t stop there. A lot of business now takes place online, so get yourself involved in relevant forums and have your business profile and even your personal profile set up on the relevant sites for your business.
If your business deals mainly with consumers, then perhaps Facebook or Pinterest are a good place for your business profile to be.
If you deal predominantly with businesses, then LinkedIn could be the best place for you to set up your network.
Speak to business people who know the difference between all the social media sites and work out a plan that will suit your needs specifically.
When it comes to social media, it can certainly be the case that less is more. What I mean by this is that if you are really clear on your ideal target market, you’ll only need to be where they hang out.
Each of the social platforms have a different demographic and should therefore be thoroughly understood to make sure you don’t waste precious time and money on networking where there is little or no chance of return.
This is important to keep in mind when you’re out networking in the ‘real world’ too.
Always be sure to be spending your time where you have the greatest likelihood of being around your ideal customer, the person or business who actually needs what you have to offer and is therefore more likely to buy.
To sum up, Business Survival Tip #5: Network Strategically
