Threshold Consulting: It's Your Life, Own It!

Face to Face With Twitterville

Mention you have a friend that you met online, and some folks react in a way that suggests there’s something a bit off about the relationship. Fortunately, today, most people “get” that leveraging the power of social media demands ability to develop relationships online. So, more people are making the effort, albeit with varying degrees of success.

Actually, the fundamentals of successful networking apply online as well as in face-to-face situations. This was brought home to me powerfully when I attended #tbash, the book launch party for Shel Israel’s  Twitterville: How Businesses Can Thrive in the New Global Neighborhoods, held in Silicon Valley – an event where the only people I knew were people I met online.

Given a terrific invitation to this event, I went – despite my initial concern about flying across the country to get together with people who, to that point, showed up for me exclusively in an online community. Still, I went. And I had a wonderful time! In reflecting on my experience, there are six networking lessons that were reinforced for me – the first of which is don’t let your apprehensions keep you from meeting new people. Here are the others:

Look for the people you know. Whether you’re networking online or attending face-to-face events, first connect with people you know. Take real-life relationships online and interact there; at face-to-face events, look first for people you know or have interacted with online. Don’t know anyone at an event? Find the host and introduce yourself; he or she will often introduce you to new people.

Introduce yourself. Make sure you’re prepared to introduce yourself in a natural way. Forget the elevator pitch! Just give your name and ask for the other person’s name. Keep the conversation moving by asking a relevant question. Be prepared with a short statement of what you do, if asked, and offer your business card. If they want to know more, they’ll ask.

Take an interest in others. Sure you have your own goals in meeting new people, but pushing them should not be the reason for attending.  Frankly, networking is best when it's simply about meeting people and growing relationships. So, take a genuine interest in others; ask what they do or why they’re attending the event. You’ll increase the chances they’ll take a genuine interest in you. A comfortable and enjoyable conversation can often uncover areas of mutual interest or new learning for each of you.

Connect others. As you get to know people, think of people they may enjoy meeting and introduce them. You can do this at the event, or by following up later. Helping others make interesting and mutually beneficial connections is one of the most powerful ways to give to your network while creating good will for yourself. 

Show gratitude. Let people know how much you appreciated meeting and speaking with them. If you’ve uncovered mutual interests, take initiative in letting the other person know you’d like to stay in contact and determine the  best way to follow up.

Of course, there are countless other considerations for networking in online communities as well as face-to-face situations. Still, I believe that sticking with basics will not only enhance your success but also your enjoyment! I certainly enjoyed myself, as you can see here, here, and here.

It was a terrific event, and I would be remiss not to say a special thanks to Shel Israel, whose Twitter Bio speaks volumes: “writer. speaker. nice guy.”

Cross-posted at The Personal Branding Blog.

Your Brand, Your People

As perhaps the best known philosophical riddle, if you say, “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it,” most people will complete the question by saying, “does it make a sound?" Similarly, if you work at defining your brand without considering the people for whom you’re relevant, do you really have a brand? Put another way, it’s questionable if a brand exists without a brand community.

According to Wikipedia, a brand community can be defined as “a specialized, non-geographically bound community, based on a structured set of social relations among admirers of a brand." Of course, being a brand admirer means having a strong emotional connection to the brand – whether a product, like an iPod, or a person, like Oprah. While it may seem this kind of loyalty comes from run-away sales or superstardom, the fact is, many individuals do develop leading brands and build strong loyalty among the people for whom they deliver value.

This relationship is captured by Seth Godin, in his book, Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us. He notes that leadership springs from the context of connection around ideas and values that inspires followers and feeds their need "to be part of a tribe, to contribute to (and take from) a group of like-minded people.” He goes further to argue that everyone has the capacity to lead since there are people “waiting for you to connect them to one another and lead them where they want to go.” Among the elements that ultimately bring a tribe together are common values, standards, problems, and aspirations.

In a workshop I recently attended, Pam Slim, author of Escape From Cubicle Nation: From Corporate Prisoner to Thriving Entrepreneur, made the point that to be successful in business, it’s critical to identify “your people.” In her experience, ongoing marketing success is driven by finding all the places “your peeps hang out,” and joining them there. Connecting with your peeps in ways that convey your leadership and value to them is the basis for a strong brand community and long-term success.

So, who are your people and what are you doing to connect with them?

Cross-posted at The Personal Branding Blog