Strategically spaced business networking events throughout the year are critical elements in building a successful business. For the direct selling/network marketing industry, they have always been the critical catalyst for growth. Conventions, regional meetings, monthly opportunities and training sessions, weekly home presentations were the way it was done.
Has the internet changed all that? In fact, society has changed that business model and the Internet has offered us an alternative.
A few years ago, the term social networking meant getting together with family and friends for a cookout or other social event. Person-to-person contact, that’s what social media means. Not anymore, when we talk about social media nowadays we can easily be talking about socializing with some of the soon to be 2 BILLION, that’s B as in BIG, friends we have online.
If you have not adapted to this new reality, you are, or soon will be, in trouble. The basic need for business networks has not changed. However, the use of business social networks has moved the meeting room to your computer screen.
That’s the change, society in general no longer comes face to face with its peers so often. The annual meeting will most likely continue to be an opportunity for industry leaders to forge personal ties. And as a place for rising people to settle. However, most of the energy put into building your networking business will be online.
So how do you reach these 2 billion potential business partners? Flashy advertising and promotions are not effective in reaching people online. Facebook is a great example of this. Facebook is valued somewhere between 20 and 30 billion dollars. Why? Because they have more than 500 million users. The advertiser is drooling. 500 Million users on a platform ready to receive my advertising. oops; Turns out those 500 million users don’t care about ads. They just don’t pay attention to them.
Does that mean that Facebook is fried? Nope! Facebook has 500 million (and growing) potential buyers, sellers just have to figure out how to reach them. Some of us have. The day of traditional advertisers is over and the time of the natural networker has arrived.
People online want to interact with people who provide something of value to them. From this exchange they form relationships that lead to friendships and trust online. It’s natural for friends to exchange information and give and receive advice. It’s the same network marketing model that has always been around, the difference is the medium of personal information exchange.
In the state of a personal relationship, appearance and influence in the community are often important factors. In an online friendship, the value of the information or advice exchanged is often the most important factor.
The natural networker loves to help people and teach them how they can be, do or have whatever they want. It is natural and comes out in social exchanges. The natural networker thrives on teaching people how to use social media and social media to build change in their lives. The natural networker is often an industry evangelist who believes in the industry, studies it, and spreads the message by word and deed.
A natural networker is always looking for positive, motivated people who want to make a change and are seriously committed to getting the job done. Natural networkers are rarely interested in selling something, they are interested in sharing and partnering.
If your business is one of the thousands that wants to work with others online, you need to become a natural networker.