Your Social Footprint and Business

I once heard a web developer describe throwing a website up on the internet as being "just as effective as a hand painted sign on a farm-to-market road."  Sure, there will be a few people that find it.  But, will the right people find it and be motivated to do something about it?

Having a website is only part of how people find you and connect with you.  You have to have a "social footprint" now.  You need to have your business connected through multiple mediums.  You need a website, one that is content rich yet easy to navigate.  You need a Facebook page.  Right now, 10% of all internet traffic in the U.S. is on Facebook.   This usually starts with you creating a page and inviting your friends to either "like" it or become a "fan" of the company.  The key to pulling off a successful Facebook page is to NOT sell.  You have to offer something of value, whether it be wisdom, coupons, discounts, or simply connection.  If you are "cool," then people will like you.

Think about the creator of Facebook.  His premise behind the site was to finally be "cool."  The goal is share in experiences.  Your "social footprint" is determined by the number of connections, both in-bound and out-bound with your organization.  LinkedIn is professional networking.  You join groups, or start one, in order to collaborate and contribute.  You blog in order to share insights and build trust with people.  You contribute first and then, once people know and trust you, then you offer a chance to buy from you.

Frank Kern, master internet marketer, says that you have to have at least four meaningful connections with a person before they feel that they can trust you.  Don't expect to start a blog today and have a book deal tomorrow.  Start a blog and start connecting in order to offer something of value to others.  Once they have gotten tremendous value from you, then doing business with you only makes sense.

We are living in the information age.  More new content is put onto YouTube every day than the "Professional Media" doles out in a week, and often more than they deliver in a month.

In order to make your social footprint manageable, it is a good idea to connect your social media accounts.  By connecting your LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and Blogger accounts together (The Big 5), then when you post something on one account, it updates all of your accounts.  This makes you seem significantly more active and increases your presence in each of the social mediums.

Since we are talking social connection, I would love to have you do the following...
1.  Go to http://www.linkedin.com/in/murfsystemscom and check me out on LinkedIn
2.  Go to www.facebook.com/murfsystems and check me out
3.  Go to www.youtube.com/jojodogfish and check out my videos.

I would love to have you connect with me, like, me and follow me.  After all, that's what creates a social footprint and that's what makes me "cool."  :-)Connect To My Network

The Power of Goals

Did you realize that only about 3% of Americans write out their goals?  Of those who write them out, more than 90% of those goals are achieved!  That is astounding to me.  The reality that the written word can make such an amazing difference is mind-boggling.

In recent years, there have been a number of authors who have expounding upon the idea of attracting success, attracting wealth, and become a magnetic for good things to happen.  This is not a new concept.  It is a repackaged concept.  W. Clement Stone, Andrew Carnegie, Napoleon Hill, and a host of other influencers from the past have all said the same basic thing...  We will find what we are looking for.  So the question is... What are you looking for?  Are you looking for a way to be rejected?  Are you looking for people to want to do business with you?  Are you looking for the good, the bad, the positive, the negative, or something in the middle?

If you will do some very simple goal setting, you will begin to see what it is that you truly want.  This process takes 7-10 days to flesh itself out.  You will start with some 3 by 5 or 4 by 6 notecards.  On the blank side, divide the card into four (4) quadrants.  Write Life in one quadrant, year in another, month in another, and week in the final one.  Then, write down three (3) things that you wish to accomplish in your life, then year, then month, then week.  On the other side of the card, write down your daily to-do list.

It does not matter if the goals are the same from day to day.  What matters is that you do the exercise every day.  If you do it in the evening, write down your daily goals for the next day.  If it is in the morning, do it for that day.  Keep each of the cards and review what you put down after 7-10 days.  Look for patterns in what you are doing daily to see if it leads to what you wanted for the week, month, year, and for your life.  If what you are doing daily does not lead to what you want for your life, then change what your daily habits are.

You will also start to see what keeps popping up for your life and for the next year.  As you evaluate those things, begin to look for ways for those goals to be met.  You will find that the more you review the goals, the easier it is for those goals to be met.

To Your Success!


Jody Holland
MuRF

Prospecting into HR...

This particular blog post is targeted toward people who sell into the HR arena.

Prospecting – Sales prospecting is the art of finding potential business. Prospecting can be done in a number of ways. The key is to prospect in places where people exist that may want to buy your products or services.   As you look at how you build your business within your local area, you have to accomplish the following 3 things...

1.  Look in places where people can buy from you.

2.  Contribute or give back - be involved!

3.  Ask for referrals.

In order to find prospects, let's start by seeing where to look.  A Google alert is one of those ways.

Google alerts - if you go to www.google.com and type in Google alerts in the search window, you’ll find information on how to use the alert system. You could, for example, set up an alert for new HR directors in New Hampshire. This would then create an alert where you will be notified any time a new HR director in New Hampshire is put onto the web. You can have it search the entire web, blogs, news, or other feeds. Another way to prospect is by being involved in networks.  

You should also look at places where decision makers hang out, or what things they participate in. If decision makers eat at a certain restaurant, you may want to eat there as well.  If they volunteer with the United Way, you may want to do the same.  The key is to focus on how to turn up the "right" people for growing your business.

Next, you must contribute or give back.  As you look at different areas to be involved with, think of the networks that you are or could be connected with. 

Networks - there a number of different networks and associations available for you to be involved with. Some of them are very worthwhile, while others just take up your time. The key is to know which is which very quickly. Many Chamber of Commerce events are really just leads groups.  Measure what you get from the groups and only go to the things that actually help you.  If a particular meeting type is targeted towards just trading business cards, it may not be the one for you.  If, for example, the Chamber has a group for small business owners, this would be ideal to be involved with. 

The Society of human resource management is another great network. You will have a local chapter of SHRM in your area. Find out when they meet and attend a meeting. The key to being successful in networks like this is to be involved, but not typically in charge. HR directors can be an interesting group. They have a tendency to look at people who are not HR directors and believe that you’re not as good. We have found that being a support person, or someone who stands up and talks at seminars, whether that is as the introducer of speakers, contest announcer, or simply as an entertainer, this is a great way to go. If you can be on the committee and assist an HR director, you can develop a great relationship. Your goal in the network is to give something of value to the network. By doing so, you build the trust that is necessary to get appointments. 

There are leads groups, small business groups, entrepreneurial groups, and CEO groups. Regardless of the type of group you get involved with, you need to be involved. You cannot sit around and wait for people to come to you. It simply does not work that way.

Third and finally, you need to ask for referrals.  Your best prospects always come from doing a great job for you clients and THEN asking for referrals into other companies.  Don't ask for referrals from someone who is not interested in doing business with you.  If they are not sold you, they will not likely sell you well to the referral.  When asking for a referral, it is always best to have the person giving the referral send an email and copy you on it.  This opens the door and makes it much easier to follow up.  Most of the pressure is off of you at that point.

Communicating Change

There are 3 key components to effectively communicating change. The mistake we often make is that we assume that because we are good with the change, that others will also be good with the change. You have to be able to answer 3 basic things...
1. When... When will this change happen and when will the change need to be implemented by?
2. Why... What is the benefit of this change? If you cannot explain why the change is happening, it is usually a bad idea.
3. Process... What is the process that we will follow for implementing and monitoring the effectiveness of the change?
This leads to the end result. Once change has been implemented, it is critical to come back and evaluate whether or not it actually got us the end result that we were looking for. Take a look at this video to get a quick overview of communicating change.