It has often been said that, it's who you know, not what you know that can make you successful. In order to be great at sales, regardless of the industry, you needed to get out there and network. Salespeople were taught to go to networking breakfasts, lunches, seminars, charity functions, business meetings, even church; all in an attempt to meet more people and make themselves known. All of this is still not bad advice necessarily (although I can not say that I endorse the idea of someone attending church if their only purpose is to attract more clients- seems kind of wrong, in a going to hell kind of way) However, today's business networking beats to a different drum. Social networking has surpassed actual face-to-face networking in terms of being accessible to a whole variety of people, all from the comfort of their home. I can hardly remember how I kept in touch with people BF (Before Facebook), and I have had a number of clients approach me with real estate questions, eventually resulting in new clients for me. I can send a message about work related events to hundreds of people at once, keeping me at their top of mind awareness radar. Now, in addition to that, we have twitter, we have blogging, we can have online memberships to exclusive groups of people who have certain interests in common. One realtor that I know has actually gotten a couple of new clients as a result of her postings on a Coronation Street Fansite. People no longer have to rely on the yellow pages to find a professional; they just reach out and tweet somebody. People like doing business with people that they like; bottom line. And if you have common interests, well, that makes you more interesting, more likeable, more trustworthy in their eyes. It's not just your own blog that can affect your business either. I read in the paper last week about a woman who's blog about family life has made her a credible resource for companies, who are now approaching her to review their products on her blog. People shopping for goods and services will check her blog for reviews, and use her blog posts as a resource for investigating their next purchase. Goodbye Consumer reports- if someone likes you, it's probably on a blog. If they don't like you, it's definitely on a blog. And if they hate you, it's probably their Facebook status update, in real time, for all the world to see. It's suddenly become an instant connection to the universe. It's no longer the adage from that old hair commercial "and they tell two friends, and they tell two friends, and so on, and so on.....". You can be instantly praised or decimated to hundreds of people at once, with little or no control over the news. Your best defense; as always, a good offense. Do right by your clients every time and they will do right by you. And if not, well.....I'm sure it will be fine. How many people actually use the internet anyways?
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