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Should you invite people into your social media networks if you don’t know them personally?

June 14, 2009 by 2 Comments

Anyone can be your “friend” these days. Social media networks like LinkedIn and Facebook have fairly loose policies (read: almost non-existent) about who can connect with who and so people are inviting other people into their networks all the time who they don’t actually know.

Is this a wise practice? Well, let’s take a look at the pros and cons:

Pros

  • You will be connected to waaaayyyy more people, which opens up your reach of who you can contact and communicate with.
  • You will be able to browse more information for doing research.
  • You will be able to keep tabs on a larger segment of the online population.
  • Opportunities will become available to you because you will notice someone updating with status or asking a question, or something that alerts you to a golden chance you would have missed otherwise.

Cons

Well…. one big con. You won’t know anyone in your online network, so your connection to them is one step above meaningless.

Some people go with a smaller, but more tight-knit network. Others connect with everyone and their brother, hoping that mass builds their network.

What are your thoughts? Are you an open networker, or a closed networker? Let us know in the comments below!

-Coach Kolansky

Filed Under: Coffee Tea You and Me Best Questions Tagged With: , , , ,

How do you work with LinkedIn Q&A

June 14, 2009 by Leave a Comment

LinkedIn’s Q&A section is an AMAZING way to network.

Here is one strategy that you can use when working with LinkedIn Q&A. Answering questions which are relevent to your field. Be concise, and clear with your response. Then contact the question author directly and start to build a relationship with them.

Ask then questions like:

  • Why they posted up their question to LinkedIn.
  • What projects they are currently working on and how could you help them.
  • What they thought of your answer and if they need clarification on any of the given points.
  • Etc.

Ask them engaging questions and start to get to know them. Using this method, you will be able to build your network with people who are naturally interested in your field. Not bad, if I do say so myself :).

Another idea, if you want to meet people who are your prospects. Ask yourself what questions you think they are good at answering. Then seach for those kinds of questions and contact the other people answering the questions. Instant prospecting :).

What are some strategies that you have used for LinkedIn’s Q&A section?

Keeping your success in focus,
-Coach Kolansky

Filed Under: 30 Days of Coffee Tea You and Me Tagged With: , , ,

What is The Perfect Follow-up Strategy for Today’s Active Networker?

March 18, 2009 by 4 Comments

Just a few weeks ago I asked this magical question to all of my contacts on LinkedIn. The answers that I got were absolutely fantastic! I can’t wait to share them with you here.  After I throw my two cents in, I’ll be summarizing some of the best answers.  Here we go!

When I think of follow-up, my mind naturally begins to remember methods that pushy self absorbed sales people have used on me in the past. Here are some of the issues I’ve had to face. I’ll bet that you will identify with at least a few:

  • They don’t even know my name
  • They haven’t gotten my permission to contact me
  • They talk to me only about their offer or why I should be interested in them
  • They don’t prove any level of competency that even a reasonable person would trust
  • They fumble through a canned presentation
  • They’re too familiar (I don’t even know you for heavens sake)
  • They don’t even tell me how they came to contact me (I really want to know which of my idiot friends put you up to contacting me)
  • hey ask stupid questions like “would you like to save money or make money Mr. Powell” (my answer is “NO-click”)
  • They follow the same old sales tactics that didn’t work when I actually did answer the phone
  • They offer no real value up front (really why should I listen to you or call you back?)
  • They pass me on to someone that really knows what they are talking about (Did I say that I hate that? Just in case, I HATE THAT!)
  • I know more about their products or services than they do
  • They argue with me about what I want (If I don’t know what I want by the way, they tell me that their product is the solution for everything I could want)
  • They make outlandish unsubstantiated claims
  • They make no promises or interesting claims at all

[Read more…]

Filed Under: 30 Days of Coffee Tea You and Me, Coffee Tea You and Me Best Questions, Networking Planning Contest Tagged With: , , , , ,