Online Tools To Nurture Your Business Connections

There are many online tools for the beginning entrepreneur to use to warm up your business connections. I am learning about more every day since I am actively seeking ways to build this forum and help others understand how to best grow their firms in ways best for them. Currently I am using using Facebook, Twitter, Blogger and a few more tools I will mention below.  Most of these resources have free versions with the ability to upgrade and take advantage of more features.

One tool that I have used for a while is Survey Gizmo. I love the flexibility it has versus other survey sites I have used in the past. You can create and send out an unlimited amount of surveys (only receive 250 complete responses per month though). Also you can create reports, print them, and have continued access to them for an unlimited amount of time. This is good for staying connected to your current and potential customers.

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October 2009: My Entrepreneurial Journey

Over the last couple of weeks, I have been looking at what to do to increase my income and still harness this drive I have around entrepreneurship. This blog has been very helpful with keeping me motivated to keep it moving (along with having these two babies). I know that I want to develop my business offline - pursuing more paying clients and output. To do that I have:

• attended a couple of business networking meetings as discussed in my blog post The 30 Sec Sell! and have been invited to more
• reached out to my network as suggested in the post Leveraging Your Rolodex... to seek business building opportunities
  
• submitted my first physical ad to run throughout the year in 2010

I am also building my presence online via the following methods:

• updating my website to attract new clients
• continuing to update this blog on a weekly basis, really to help me grow and share information with you as suggested in the post Seth Godin and Tom Peters on Blogging

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Video of the Week: Leveraging Your Rolodex...

So, I've been searching for a video to highlight in relation to this month's theme. As basic as the following piece of advice is, there are so many of us that do not follow it. Calling on your contacts seems so hard to do. Questions like "What do I say?" "Can they really help me?" "What will they think of me if I ask for help?"

Really, people enjoy providing help. Think about how you feel when someone asks you for help...

Entrepreneurship Guru Ingrid Vanderveldt provides a real life example of calling your contacts to pursue a business opportunity.



What she does not mention is the importance of actually contacting those people that you have been given the names of, then following up with those who provided the name(s) to let them know how the initial contact went. This can be challenging but very rewarding and likely worth it for you and your business.

Do not let fear hold you back from taking this advice! Remember, this blog is as much for me as it is for you... I'm preaching to myself...

The 30 Second Sell!

So today I attended a meeting of Chapel Hill Leads, a local business networking group that has a great base and longevity on the scene. I was a first-timer recommended by my long time insurance agent, Pam Herndon, who simply raved about it and how much participating has contributed to her business! While I was there, I also ran into my friend Sharon Hill, a networking queen and etiquette guru that would knock your socks off! Anyway, during the meeting, all attendees are given a "30 second commercial" to present to the entire group. This morning, there was a group of almost 90! Everyone gave their spiel and I learned a couple of things:

1. If you have a company slogan, this is the time to use it. The consistency of saying this will help people remember who you are, especially if you attend these meetings on a weekly basis like they encourage.
2. State your website. You want people to be able to find you if they can not catch up with you at the meeting.
3. State your ideal client or lead. When networking, a goal is to try to help other people as best you can. No one can help you if they don't know what you want.
4. In the most concise way, speak to what your service can do to help someone's hurts.
5. Give a tip that would help other's hurts. Make sure it is related to your product or service offering.
6. Refer to a member of the audience in your spiel (classic Toastmasters!). It helps make for a memorable spiel and shows you were paying attention.

These tips were all in the context of that particular type of meeting (you should have seen some of the "commercials" they had) but could really apply to any networking situation where you are introducing yourself to others in a limited time. I'll be sure to work on my 30 second commercial and will start attending this group's functions on a regular basis as I grow my businesses.

Create Your Own Community

Today I met with one of my favorite budding entrepreneurs, Dorian Bolden of Beyu Caffe'. Whenever we have a conversation we each get something out of it - inspiration - which is always good! I love talking to positive, driven entrepreneurs... its along the lines of the August Turak lecture, in which he encouraged surrounding yourself with a community of positive people in order for you to be more successful in your goals.

The theme of posts I will be doing for the month of October will be on building relationships such as through networking. With networking, you can create your own community of positive people which will help your business goals and other goals soar! One of the best methods of entrepreneur support, a community of like-minded people, can help anyone be successful in what they are trying to accomplish.

You can find a community of people with similar interests online and in person. A few online forums that I'm checking out include:

• Young Entrepreneurs - provides good reviews and resources for budding entrepreneurs
  
• Startup Nation - a group that proclaims "for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs"
  
• LinkedIn - there are several groups to connect with people with similar interests. Also, participating in the answers forums could help you identify others that are good to know.

More online networks for entrepreneurs can be found in the article "Top 10 Social Networks for Entrepreneurs"

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