7 tips for biz dev using Social Media
Image by vincos via Flickr
Suw , a client [full disclosure] has posted this question on LinkedIn. Have social tools helped your career? I answered it.
You may find some of the other answers useful / insightful.
I’m writing a piece on how social tools can help people develop their career and would like to talk to anyone in the internet industries, especially graphic designers, web designers, developers, programmers, system admins, user experience people, etc., about which tools they have used to help get a new job or client. I’m interested in both employed people looking for new jobs, or self-employed people searching for new clients.What social tools do you use?Which ones have been most effective?
Can you tell me a story about a time when you got a new/job client directly from using social tools?
Here’s what I found interesting
- There is a perceived hierarchy of social media tools for business
- Different sites function differently. e.g. FB is social or more casual than Linked In.
- Pre-Web 2.0 contacts are different from web 2.0 contacts and need to be treated differently
- Face to Face remains a strong tool for business closing
And so for your own business development
- Get a profile on the key social media sites.
- Signpost them from your contacts page on your website.
- Be prepared to invest in spending time on each to learn and then use each within the context of your biz dev plan.
- Set metrics and targets for each site. Review quarterly.
- Transfer contacts you meet in each onto your conventional business database when you have offline / email / phone data revealed via actual dialogue.
- Be open to new contacts getting in touch but be judicious in filtering them to the ones likely to be useful.
- Use search tools to monitor conversations that use your name / brand so that you pick up on people talking about you who you do not yet follow /connect with.