Eva-Maria: Work... Work... Network!

 Read more from Eva-Maria here.

Social Networking articles have been in the limelight for the last few years, as millions of people have found this tool to be another way to connect with people – for business, and pleasure. Over the years, the internet has become a wealthy library of information, and it is here, where you are likely to find any article, about any subject, with any viewpoint. And it comes as no surprise when Social Networking articles are written by authors who range from ‘gurus’ who claim to have made millions using Social Networking, to angry CEOs who invested time and money to join the Social Networking game, with no monetary results.

So with Social Networking... CAN I make money?

Yes!

Recently Vanity Fair published a scandalous article about Twitter’s most followed women in business , which concluded with a very alarming fact: “There’s no money in Twitter yet, it’s true,” Evans says, “but that’s O.K. The validation of having so many people listen to you is reward enough.”

This made many small business owners to think twice about this Social Networking hype:

“How come so many people claim that Social Networking gave them new clients and brought on new business?” was the question running through their minds over and over again.

The things most valuable to humans can be broken down into two groups: Materialistic stuff and Spiritual stuff.

It just so happens, that we live in a world where, whether you want to believe it or not, we are judged by our materialistic stuff. So first and foremost, our world is one where as a society we value or ‘stuff’ over relationships.

The key to a successful business is to really challenge yourself, and instead of having a materialistic mindset together with the rest of society, you need to switch into your relationship-oriented mindset. Connection and networking is the pure key to successful businesses – if people hate you, if you can’t get people to come back to you for more business with you, it’s not long until your business will suffer. No wonder people say ‘”It’s not about what you know, it’s about who you know!”.

Now, Eva-Maria, how on Earth can that little philosophical rant of yours fit into Social Networking and making money?!

I’ll tell you how:

When you’re networking and connecting with people in business, you have to go out there, say ‘Hello’, shake their hand, start up a conversation, present yourself well, follow them up, offer your help, be friendly, keep in contact, blah, blah, blah. It’s not always a piece of cake, right? Well, Social Networking is exactly the same – if you put in as much effort as you do in your regular face-to-face networking, online, it brings the exact same, if not better results.

Let me explain:

Instead of going out there, finding people to talk to, getting their business card, giving them yours, following them up, freaking out whether you came on too strong, or whatever...with Social Networking, you don’t even have to get out of your pyjamas! You still have to go out there and look for people, but instead of driving somewhere, you get to sit in front of your computer and look around blogs, forums, social networking sites, find old friends. You still have to introduce yourself and give out your details if you feel you can trust this person, except because it’s online, the person you’re introducing yourself to will check your message in their own time – you won’t be bothering them, you’re not wasting trees  by collecting a forest of business cards. You still have to follow up and keep the relationship going, except you can do this in your own time, at home, reach more people. A business partner in one of my projects got 74 new ‘friends’ who are all potential clients after just two days of setting up a
Facebook page and surfing around for people on blogs who could benefit from joining the Facebook group!

Could YOU reach 74 targeted people in two, even in 4 days if you went out there and networked face-to-face? You could probably get 74 business cards, but would they ALL need what you can offer?

Social Networking is easier and less time consuming.

It is the way of the 21st century, and those not on the bandwagon, well, I can’t say you’re missing out, but your time could definitely be used with better productivity.

And can you really make money online?

In reality, no one’s going to send you a cheque for a million dollars just because they came across your Twitter account. The money is in the connections you make. Social Networking has made connecting to the right, and to a bigger amount of people easier (you will still need to spend time and energy on this, but with likely greater results than you would if you put the exact same energy into face-to-face networking), and we all know that it is through those personal and genuine relationships between people, where love, friendship, and even a really fantastic business deal can happen.

So if you’re online to make a friend, or do business with someone, try out connecting with people on a social level – join a social networking group and add some of your own friends who are on there, join some hobby or business groups you will find like-minded people, add some info about yourself so people online don’t think you’re a random online predator because your profile is blank And just have some fun!

Be Social! Keep Networking!

<3 Eva-Maria

Published 25th Jan 2010

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