Does Your Social Networking Answer the WIIFM Question?

What’s In It For Me?

The reality is that people are always looking to understand how they will benefit from any activity or action undertaken. They may be totally supportive of an idea or a plan, but their own interests will eventually come into play. With that in mind do you have the WIIFM answer for your customers and prospects?

Does Your Offer Answer Your Customer’s WIIFM Question?

If you can answer that question for them and answer it repeatedly with a benefit that they perceive has value and is of interest; you will get their attention. We are all bombarded with information constantly and one of the easiest ways to weed through the information is by looking for those messages that quickly tell them what is in it for them and make if very clear what they have to gain.

They will take that information and then weigh it against their cost. If the benefit out weighs the cost, they will be interested and act. If the perceived benefit does not outweigh the cost, they will move on to the next offer.

Do You Struggle with the WIIFM Question for Yourself?

So whether you are promoting yourself, your business, your service, or your product; you must be able to provide your reader with an answer to the WIIFM question. If you can’t or you don’t it is wasted effort on your part and you then need to look at the WIIFM question for yourself.

If you don’t want to put the work into your own activities then YOU must be failing your own WIIFM question. For whatever reason you do not feel that putting the effort into your own activities is worth the benefit you will receive.

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Tom Staskiewicz creates networking strategies that help you build your individual and business brands. Ask him how! Check out the UP^PROACH website.

Harnessing the Power of Your Network

There Is Power in Your Network

I believe that most people underestimate the power of their personal network. In many cases I also feel that part of their reason for underestimating the power of their network is their lack of comfort with the networking process.

People that understand the concept of networking and the power of their network have no problem growing their network and bringing increasingly influential people into that network. If you look closely you will see that the majority of the time; the greater the success someone has achieved the larger the network or rolodex they possess.

Success is not an individual effort. If you have a desire to be successful, you must have a network and have a supportive network.

How Networks Help You Achieve Success

There are many different roles that members of your network will play as you reach for and achieve your goals. Here are some of the roles your network members may fill for you:

• Advisors
• Cheerleaders
• Confidants
• Advocates
• Reality checks
• Mentors
• Accountability coach
• Connectors
• Mavens
• Sales force
• Friend

For some of these roles you may have a single person that fits the category and for others you could have many. Regardless, these roles are critical to your success and you must have members of your network supporting you.

Roles and People within Those Roles Will Change Over Time

There are two important things to remember with this exercise. First you need to have members of your network that fill each one of these roles. Second you must realize that over time the people filling some of these roles will change and, in fact, they need to change.

As you progress the person in any given role may not grow or grow as fast as you and therefore will be unable to continue to be effective in the role. Do not be afraid to make changes and continue moving forward. It’s not that you cut them off, it’s just that sometimes you need to make changes for you and your network to keep growing.

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Tom Staskiewicz coaches individuals on networking and Social Networking helping them create an Internet presence and their brand. The tools today are readily available to do things that were here-to-fore unheard of for an individual. Contact Tom for help in establishing and building your networks.

Does Networking Work?

Have you ever wondered if networking pays off?

Here is my latest experience. Approximately 8 weeks ago my contract was ended. I had been contracting at one company for the past 3 ½ years and it was only supposed to be a 1 year contract. That worked out well for me and I am happy that it lasted that long. I will get back to the end of the contract in a little bit.

Prior to this contract I had been looking for work for about 6 months. I had some things here and there that kept us going, but it was tough regardless. What is important, however, is what I did while I was with this company.

Take Action

The first action, not under my control, was shortly after I started I was called to a regional employment role in my church. The second action was I started using LinkedIn. The third actions was the more I learned the more I wanted to learn on how it could help me with my search.

Learn to Network

By learning how to network and allowing my network to get to know me I made many great contacts. I didn’t know everyone in my network at first and in many cases I am still getting to know them; but I will keep working on this.

Make Lots of Connections

About 1 1/2 years after getting into LinkedIn I started on Facebook. I had watched my teenagers use MySpace and then Facebook and thought they were wasting their time. I was wrong! At least with the idea that Facebook offered nothing for me. I started connecting with all kinds of people and it has been great.

I now have over 850 connections on LinkedIn connecting me to over 8 MILLION people and I have over 650 connections on Facebook. Some of the LinkedIn and Facebook connections are duplicated, but most are not.

After the Contract Ended

Anyway back to having the contract end… I contacted my and other recruiting companies to see what might be available. It wasn’t long and I had a couple of opportunities presented. One ended up panning out and I started the Tuesday after Labor Day.

Emailed Over 170 Contacts

The other thing that I did, however, was send an email to about 170 of my email contacts. That process generated over a dozen responses with possible opportunities. Where I went wrong was not sending that email out earlier in the process.

Let People in Your Network Know Who You Are and What You Can Do

When people in your network know you, know what you can do, and know what you want to do; they are there to help. My email went out a couple of weeks ago and I am still being contacted by members of my network to see what they can do to help. The truth is that I still have well over one thousand people that I could contact; a majority of whom I did not know three years ago.

I connect with new people all the time; it is my goal to be adding 5 – 10 new connections either on LinkedIn of Facebook every week. Sometimes it is as many as 20 per week and this is what YOU must be doing as well.

Networking works when you give it a chance.

Networking May Be Right Up There With The Fear Of Speaking

My LinkedIn Poll

I have an unscientific LinkedIn poll with a few results, but I am going out on a limb to draw some conclusions because I find it interesting.

The question I asked and the possible responses:

What is your greatest networking challenge?

• Identifying possible connections?
• Lack of comfort when inviting?
• Available time?
• Understanding networking value?
• Believe it to be bothersome?

I was and still am asking about your biggest challenge to networking (go to my poll to participate). I am suprised by the responses I have received. The results are split 50/50 between small and large organizations, 33% women and 67% male, 33% C and VP-level, and all respondents were between 35 and 54.

As to response all but one indicates a lack of comfort when inviting people to connect and one of the non-C and VP level individuals indicated time constraints.

As I said above 50% of the current responses are from C and VP-level respondents and these individuals all identified the lack of comfort inviting as their biggest challenge as well. This really surprised me. I expected time challenges to be their reason.

What Do the Responses Mean

Although I received just a couple of comments; those comments and my experience lead me to the conclusion that the problem is a fear of rejection. The fear of rejection is powerful and it stands in the way of many successes. Successful people, however, do not let this fear stop them. They continually move forward.

When you invite people you do put yourself out there and invite a potential negative response, but that is a risk you must take; if you are going to be successful. If you are still laboring over a no response; you must really question your commitment.

The reality is that the worse that can happen is someone says: no. At that point you just need to dust yourself off and move on. Don’t dwell on it when someone says no; keep moving forward to your next invitation.

Your level of success can be measured by the size of your rolodex. The truly successful realize that they cannot do it on their own, it is with the help of others that they will continue to move forward.

I would appreciate it if you would take a minute to respond to my poll, so we can build better results.

Facebook “Like” and Comment

Interpreting the Use of the Facebook “Like” Button and Comment Features Is Not Intuitive

Do you pay attention to “Likes” and Comments to the posts on your profile or Fan Page? If the Viral Nature of Social Networking is important to you; understanding these features is critical.

My interest in how things happen causes me to focus on what I am seeing and as I pay more attention; more things come to light.

What I Have Seen

What I have noticed is when I see a post that originated with someone that is not a Friend or Fan; it does not always show up the same. Sometimes the comments have a familiar name attached, other times one or more Friend’s name are said to “Like” the post, and other times I will see names I recognize with both the “Like” and the comment. Does that sound familiar or ring a bell with you?

You May Say So What; If So, Read On

Before I go further I will remind you that “Like”, Comment, and Share are critical to going viral. If you are going to be successful with your Social Networking you must be going viral; which means your Friends and Fans must be “Liking” and Commenting!

Why the Differences in What We See

Facebook is all about the Viral effect and that is the reason for the differences in what you see. If you have a friend or friends that comment; you will see the post plus those comments. If your friend or friends only click “Like” then you will see the post and only that those Friends “Like” the post. If you see both, then you have Friends that are both “Liking” and Commenting. If you do not see the post, then that means your Friends did not feel it was worth “Liking” or making a comment.

Facebook is not going to bother you with information from people that you do not know. That is called spam and Facebook does not want to be a party to spam or claims of spam. The same goes for your posts; if your Friends and Fans do not feel your post deserves an action; it dies with them!

Is There Anything Else That Needs To Be Understood About Likes and Comments?

For you to see any post; it must originate, be “liked”, commented on, or shared by a connection of yours. This connection can be either a Fan Page or a Friend or be a paid advertisement where you meet the target market criteria. If one or more of these criteria is not met, you will not see the post.

I Have a Facebook Fan Page; You Mean I Need Facebook Friends Too?

I Have Fans; Do I Need Facebook Friends Too?

The answer is a resounding YES!

But I Already Have a Fan Page, So Don’t I Just Need to Get More Fans?

The answer to this question is a resounding NO! It is true that you need to be getting more Fans, but that is not enough.

Before going any further let’s get a definition of Facebook Friends versus Facebook Fans. It is important that you have a good understanding of this difference because it is incredibly important to the “going viral” process.

Friends

A Friend is someone that either you invited to join you on Facebook, someone that invited you to join them on Facebook, or a third party that recommended that the two of you become Friends.

What this means is that there was an overt act on the part of someone to extend the invite or recommendation. There was also an overt act to accept the invitation or react to the recommendation. You can only be a Friend of another individual if they accept the offer of friendship.

Fans

A Fan is someone connected to your Facebook Fan (business) Page. They may have had your Page suggested by a Friend of theirs or maybe even you as that Friend. In the latter instance the Friend may become a Fan out of loyalty to you or even loyalty to the person that made the suggestion.

However, as easily as they became a Fan they can stop being a Fan. It only takes a click of the mouse to “Unlike” a page and Fans can disappear and leave no trace. Unless you have a very small Fan base, it is difficult to know who has joined or left your Fan base.

In addition to being suggested as a prospective Fan; a potential fan may join because they have seen something about your Fan Page that created an interest on their part. In either case the Fan has taken an overt action to a Page suggestion or a Page ad, or an overt response to something they have seen or found in a search on Facebook or even the Internet to become a Fan.

Fans can only become a Fan by clicking the “Like” button for a Fan Page. That “Like” button can be one on your Fan Page or one that has been placed on one or more pages of your or other’s websites. Friends can suggest that you become a Fan, but no one can force you to become a Fan.

So, there we have it. Friends belong to people and Fans belong to Pages.

Getting Back to Why I Need Friends

There are two reasons why you must have many Friends on Facebook. First, so you can suggest your Page to those that you believe will be interested in your Fan Page and second, even though they may not be Fans, your friends may still be interested in your message or know people that are interested and be willing to propagate your message through their Friend Base.

Although we like to think that our message has broad reader appeal, that is seldom the case. From my observations although your message may resonate with many Fans and Friends; only a few will be motivated to act on your message. Obviously the more Friends and Fans that you have; the greater more chances that you have for people to repeat your message.

Repeating your message over and over is critical to your going viral; Fans and Friends are critical to getting the repetition. You cannot afford to not be increasing your Fans and Friends at every opportunity. Successful people have large networks; that means lots of Fans, Friends, Followers, Connections, etc. Do not let your efforts of creating messages go to waste by not having and continually building an audience!

STOP! Before You Take a Step Forward on Your Social Marketing – Read This!

Social Media Marketing Reality

First, do not get me wrong; I am a proponent of Social Media Marketing and I encourage the behavior. The problem is that it is being sold to you incorrectly. Social Networking Consultants, Specialists, Experts, or whatever you want to call them are not telling you the truth!

Social Media Marketing Is Not a Rainmaker Proposition

Social Media Marketing has the potential to drive business, and, yes, even massive business through your doors. The caveat is that it takes work; lots of work. It takes commitment; lots of commitment. It takes time; lots of time.

There is no getting around it; Social Media Marketing is not for the faint of heart.

Case in Point

Earlier this year I was talking to a friend about Social Media Marketing and the opportunities that it offers a business. While I am firmly committed to that statement; I have since come to realize that most business owners do not have the level of commitment necessary to make it successful.

This friend changed the website; it was not necessarily for the better. In fact, the old site, to me, was far more aesthetically pleasing. The content from the old page to the new page is not significantly different, but they can say things have changed.

As part of the new look they created a blog. Blogs are great but again they require commitment and dedication. This is not a stop-start proposition; this is a commitment and your audience is expecting regular postings. This friend created three or four articles over the span of four or five days in February and has done nothing since.

The truth is they should pull down the blog. This minimal effort gives the impression that there is no follow through within the organization and does not help them and, in fact, does more damage. It is like jumping into the deep part of the lake and making a big splash and then not coming back to the surface because you were not prepared and had not made the prior commitment to learn how to swim.

Social Media Marketing Requires Commitment

It is not that these owners are not committed to their business; it is the commitment to Social Media Marketing that is lacking. Not surprisingly business owners have many other day-to-day tasks that occupy their time and it is hard to think about Social Media Marketing when your biggest customer is getting ready to bail on you or your top salesperson is considering a new opportunity.

Obviously those situations loom larger and their immediate impact on the business is far more important and the effect is far more quickly realized and felt. The truth is that most business owners and managers do not have the time available to put into Social Media Marketing.

Before You Jump In; Ask Yourself If You Are Ready to Follow Through

Do not just stick your toe into the water to determine the temperature. This is a situation where you make the commitment, jump in, and stay there for the long-haul.

Next Time I Will Talk About Trying To Do Too Much

Social Media Consultants talk about using Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Mashable, Websites, Blogs, Digg, Del-i-cious, YouTube, and others. The truth is that it takes an entire department or staff to monitor all of those sites and a tremendous commitment. Trying to do too much; too fast will leave you frustrated and unsatisfied. Do not do it!

Should I Add People to My Network That I Do Not Know?

I Think People That Limit Their Networks to Only Those They Know Are Making a Huge Mistake

Did you know that statistics show that out of every 100 connections; only 2 or 3 will ever play an important role for you? The question is which 2 or 3 per 100 are the important connections and are you willing to take the chance?

So Why Would You Only Network with Those You Know?

There are many so called networkers that will only connect with people they know. If someone wants to network with one of these people and it is someone that they do not know, the offer to become a Facebook Friend or LinkedIn Connection is rejected. There is no real reason, other than the individual is an unknown.

Interestingly, virtually everyone we know was an “unknown” at one time or another. The exceptions are family members and if we go back far enough, even they were an unknown.

Surprisingly Even LinkedIn Subscribes To This Philosophy

Even LinkedIn encourages this behavior with the “I Don’t Know” or IDK option as it is commonly known. Why would LinkedIn do this? Although I do not know for sure, I do have a hypothesis.

From a LinkedIn perspective, I believe, it is simply to get you to spend money with them. My reasoning here is that if you spend money with a premium membership you have access to In-Mails, which are used to connect with someone that you do not know; only you now have LinkedIn’s blessing in exchange for your money.

According to Webster’s Dictionary networking is: 1 : the exchange of information or services among individuals, groups, or institutions; specifically : the cultivation of productive relationships for employment or business.

As I read Webster’s definition I do not see anything that limits your network simply to those you know. In fact it says the cultivation of productive relationships for employment or business.

Why Should I Network with People that I Do Not Know?

My answer to this question is an unequivocal YES! I believe in adding anyone until they give you valid reasons for rejecting them. I do not consider the fact that I do not know them to be a valid reason.

Adding people that you do not know to your network expands your sphere of influence and increases your power to develop better answers and solutions to your questions.

Do All Your Opportunities Exist Within Your Current Communities?

If you are in business the question is: Do all of your future customers exist within your current communities or among the people you currently know? Obviously the answer is no. So the next question is if you are not willing to add people that you do not know to your network; how will you reach your new customers? How are you going to make the necessary connections?

Another question is how do you convert a non-customer to being a customer? Most businesses do it through communications. If that is the case, doesn’t it make sense to have these prospects in your network to make the communication process easier?

Do Your Blog and Fan Page Posts Attract Attention?

Are You Interesting Enough to Gain a Following?

Whether it is your blog, Facebook, or LinkedIn; does what you say make you as popular as Tom Cruise or Julia Roberts? If you are like me, I am not and you are not Tom Cruise or Julia Roberts. Therefore, your popularity must come in the form of interesting content. Something that will get them reading even if you are neither of those celebrities.

I just received a newsletter from Jimmy D. Brown talking about content and boy do his comments hit home. If we are writing for more than self-satisfaction; the first question we must ask is what do our readers or any readers for that matter want? What is going to start and keep them reading what we write?

Sometimes I feel that I have written tremendous material and I feel so great and then… NOTHING! Do you know that feeling? I end up thinking: why did I even bother?

I Digress

I am not a particularly gregarious person; I am working to change that however. Many years ago, I was told that I was not gregarious, not in those particular words, but I was told. It was suggested to me that I take the Dale Carnegie Course; “How to Win Friends and Influence People”. Being the not so gregarious person that I was I took that to heart and I went right out and bought the book.

Did I learn the lesson that I was expected to learn;

NO!

I missed the point by (I want to say 360 degrees, but that is full-circle), so I guess I missed it by 180 degrees. Anyway it was the exact opposite of what was intended. A few years later I finally understood and joined a Toastmasters group. It took me a long time to finally learn that lesson.

The point is that even if we get nothing there is a lesson to be learned and the more quickly we recognize that regardless of the outcome, there is a lesson the faster we will learn.

What Do You Do When You Get Nothing?

The only saving grace that I have found is that what I am experiencing has been experienced by all the successful bloggers, posters, and whatever else you want to call them. It can take time to reach the point that people care about what you have to say.

The difference between those that are successful in reaching that point and those that are not is… The successful keep trying until they get it right.

Entertaining and Educational Save the Day

Many of you will not remember the old cartoon Mighty Mouse, but he had a slogan…

Think about it, think about it, now YELL it out.

If you said: “Here he comes to save the day; Mighty Mouse is on his way”. You would be correct. In our case you will save the day, your day, with content that is entertaining and educational!

So what are the magic secrets to content. According to Jimmy your material must be both entertaining and educational or informative. As I read into Jimmy’s comments what I am hearing is that people want the education to be subtle; that does not mean that it is so subtle that it remains hidden, but subtle enough that it is not in your face blatant. They do not want to feel like you are calling them a fool or stupid, but they do want to learn.

The next thing they want is for that information to come to them in an entertaining manner. You cannot be boring and just “pour” out the facts or you will get “poor” results. It reminds me of the adage that facts tell, but stories sell. Stories are entertaining, they keep the reader involved.

Read your articles and posts with a critical eye. Are they meeting both criteria? Are they entertaining and educational? If you think so, but your response does not reflect that, have someone else or multiple people, those that you know will be totally honest, read them and provide you their opinion.

The Power of Facebook – Part II – Content Is King

Tapping the Power of Facebook

Just as important as those that “Like” your Fan Page are your Friends.

1. Build your fan base.
2. Build your friends list.
3. Create great content.
4. Get your fans to click that they “Like” your content.
5. Get your fans to comment on your posts.
6. Investigate and adopt new Facebook functionality as appropriate for your goals.

In my previous post on this topic I discussed items 1 and 2. In this post I will talk about items 3 through 5.

Facebook Success Requires Great Content

Great content is key to getting your message to spread or get legs of its own. When people see great comment they are more likely to comment and spread the word. If they do not like what you said it will die with them.

Content is not a given, it is something your must work on; if you are to perfect the process. Be persistent and when you get your formula working stick with it. There is nothing worse than getting a following started and then punking out on it.

One thing is that if you write something and it does not get legs of its own; you do not, necessarily, have to give up on the topic; maybe it was the format or the way it was said. The great thing is that because the topic did not grow legs, you can come back to it six months, three months, a month, or even a week later and try it again with a little different spin.

If You Friends and Fans Do Not “Like” Your Content; Your Content Will Die With Them

Anything that you write should be written with the idea that it will elicit responses. Responses are key to the accelerated spread of your identity and brand. Your goal is to expand your sphere of influence and the comments of your connections will cause that to happen.

Ergo, the more connections you have the greater the chance that your message will have a life of its own. If your content is not eliciting a response, then you MUST change your content. This is a trial and error process as you attempt to get it right. You must write and write and write; then you must monitor and monitor and monitor. Find out what works and what does not work. Build on what works and assess what does not work to see if it can be changed.

If Your fans Comment, Their Friends Will Care About What THEY Said

Social Networking is about spreading your sphere of influence. As such there is a lot of talk about getting a following, a bunch of fans, or lots of connections. While these are all important; it is even more important to get people talking.

You need to have the recipients of your initial message make comments to you or to others. Regardless of the direction of the content all of their Fans will receive the entire discussion thread, but if you pay attention to the thread only the most recent four or five comments are displayed. Have you ever wondered about that?

Here is the reason; the most recent comment will be from someone that you know; because that is YOUR primary point of interest. If you like what they said you may look at the original post and even look at other posts. The important thing is to know that the Social Networks want you to see things from your connections in the hope that you will comment on your connection’s comment and keep the thread alive.