As exciting as it is to have technology at our disposal, it’s not uncommon to feel stuck when figuring out how to position ourselves in this crowded digital age.

Business isn’t what it used to be. The pace is much faster—a fact we must keep in mind when we market ourselves.  Tactics that worked ten, five, or even two years ago, are not as effective today. You’ve heard that change is good, but change is only good if you change with it. So, how do you do it?

STRATEGY #1: POSITION YOURSELF AS THE EXPERT

Differentiating yourself in the marketplace is more important now than ever before. What makes you unique? Why should someone hire you over your competitor? If you don’t know how to position yourself as the expert to stand out from the rest, here are some tips to get you started.

STRATEGY #2: EXPAND YOUR DEFINITION OF MEDIA

Obviously, one way to establish yourself as an expert is by garnering media attention. Think broadly. We’re no longer limited to conventional media outlets–TV, radio, and print. Media includes social media outlets, the Internet, and blogs. As you grow your visibility, fan base, or followers, you’ll become the expert.

Often, new media drives conventional media. Producers find experts and pick up stories via new media. So, re-purposing teles-eminars, webinars, podcasts, articles—anything that showcases you through social media or other Internet marketing channels—is paramount!

STRATEGY #3: INCREASE YOUR SPEED TO MARKET

With online traffic becoming more congested, increasing your speed to market is critical to being seen. You need to make it easy for people to find you and get what they need from you so they can make a “buying” decision.

Your marketing strategy must address the new “give it to me now” mentality of consumers.

STRATEGY #4: HELP THEM HELP YOU

The digital age requires we help others help us in any way we can.

So, don’t make prospective customers, clients, or the media work to find you, buy your product, or book you! Make the process as easy as possible.

There’s no better way to help the media help you than to make your marketing materials accessible. The new media standard is the online media kit; it’s what the media looks for when they’re looking to book you.

Having a web site is one thing, but getting that web site up to speed with the demands of the digital age is an entirely different story. Having a site that’s clean, easy to navigate, comprehensive, showcases all of your media coverage, and makes it easy to access and download material, already positions you to stand out hugely from the crowd!

STRATEGY #5: LEVERAGE TECHNOLOGY TO KEEP CURRENT

Business in the electronic age allows us to update our online content in a nano-second. Keeping your content current enhances your credibility and professionalism. Plus, it allows you to represent yourself accurately, rather than leaving others to search and find outdated content. If you provide it, they won’t need to go looking for it.

So, don’t get left behind. Make sure you get up to speed on the new industry standard—and position yourself as the go-to person in your industry!

With social media, the key to success is outlining a strategy. You should consider the amount of time you can realistically dedicate each day to online marketing efforts so as to be consistent.  People have a tendency to get online at random times and start clicking away.  Then something mysterious happens to the space-time continuum. Suddenly, two hours go by and you have nothing to show for it!

Avoid falling victim to that trap: Write up a plan for how often and how long you will work your social media.

Map out a weekly schedule that outlines specific days and times you’ll spend developing your social media strategy.  Figure out what’s realistic and what makes sense for your company.  For example, you might schedule yourself to post daily updates at 9a.m., 1p.m, and 5p.m., and then dedicate ten minutes to responding to comments and direct messages at 10 a.m. and 3p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays.  On Tuesdays and Thursdays, you might dedicate ten minutes at 10a.m. and 3p.m. to retweeting people’s comments which you find valuable. You can also use this time to thank people for mentioning you or retweeting your posts.

Leverage Your Time

As you design your plan, make sure you integrate tools to leverage your time in your social media efforts.  Sites like http://ping.fm, www.seesmic.com, and www.tweetdeck.com are designed to send your social media updates to multiple social networking sites, including Twitter and Facebook, with one click.

Some sites even allow you to link multiple Facebook and Twitter accounts (if you have more than one) to one desktop application where you can post updates to all sites as well as view and respond to your friends’ posts on those sites and keep a log of all your past posts.  This means no more logging into multiple social networking sites . . .  you can manage all your social networking accounts from one place!

Also, there are sites such as www.cotweet.com where you can schedule updates in advance so your updates will post even while you’re not online.  With all the traveling I do, this is a tool that is very useful.

ROI of Social Media Networking

Once you have your strategy in place, you will no doubt be anxious to start seeing a return on your online networking investment, but it’s very important to remember one thing:  Networking, whether online or face-to-face, is more about farming than it is about hunting.  It’s about cultivating relationships with people.  The bottom line is – it takes time.  It is about building the credibility of your brand, and we know that doesn’t happen overnight.

Return on Investment (ROI) is directly correlated to either – 1. Dollars spent (online paid marketing), or 2. Time and/or effort spent – in saturating and building strong profiles on whatever social media channels are deemed effective for the brand (including blogging).  Don’t forget that some businesses will benefit much more from spending more effort on “niche” networks that may have less traffic, but are more targeted to the brand’s ultimate consumer.

If your network is a mile wide and an inch deep it will not be successful.   It is important to create a network that is both wide and deep.  You do this by being visible and engaging in the conversation.  Over time, this gives you credibility which leads to building your brand and your sales. This, ultimately, will give you the biggest ROI for your online marketing efforts.

Top 5 Common Mistakes of Social Media Networking

Most of what I’ve discussed so far has focused on what you should do in order to carry out an effective and profitable social media campaign for your business. But there are also some things you should be sure to avoid.

Below are the top five common social media networking mistakes:

1. Spending too much time on sites you enjoy and not fully evaluating whether or not that particular site is the most effective one for your efforts.
2. Going onto a site for “work” and then running down rabbit holes getting distracted by friends who may have posted something interesting or something that requires a response.
3. Not being able to properly define when it is more cost-effective to delegate certain social media responsibilities to someone else to handle.
4. Setting up a blog, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter page and then not keeping it populated –consistency and fresh content are key.
5. Forgetting that social media is about engaging in the conversation and not just about selling.

• Stand up for yourself. Be willing to stand up for your goals and beliefs. If you don’t, no one will. Good networkers, like strong leaders, have the courage of their convictions. They know what they value and consistently express those values. Let your contacts know you value them and the opportunities they represent for both of you, and they will be willing to follow your lead.
• Inspire others. We can’t force people to help us. We can’t order people to be part of our network or demand referrals from them. However, we can inspire them to achieve greater goals by working together to achieve them. Great networkers get a true sense of satisfaction from helping others be successful. If your network contacts think of you as a person who inspires them, they will look forward to working with you as often as possible. And, by convincing others they have the ability to achieve greater things, they will help you do the same.
• Take risks. Successful people are generally those who take risks to achieve their goals. Getting out of our comfort zones and meeting new people is risky. They may not like us, and no one likes rejection. But, if we don’t make new contacts and don’t develop those contacts, our businesses certainly won’t thrive as they could. They might even fail. At the least, when we’re willing to try new, uncomfortable methods to achieve greater success we are just as likely to succeed as fail.
• Be innovative. It goes hand in hand with taking risks. We need to be open to new ideas and new ways of doing things if we want to see a change in our success. Nothing stays the same – you can always count on things changing. Because it feels like our competition is increasing daily, we have to be willing to try different approaches to attract new business. The more people talk positively about your business, the more new customers and colleagues you’ll attract. Positive word-of-mouth impacts your bottom line directly. Make sure you’re creating it all the time, through all the people you know.
• Do it now. A sense of urgency separates superior networkers from average networkers. Waiting until tomorrow to make that call or follow up with one of your contacts leaves the door open for your competitor. A sense of urgency doesn’t mean that everything is an emergency. It means that you make the effort required to service your network contacts – now. If they get that level of attention from you, they will do the same for you.

Christel Wintels is the executive director of the BNI Golden Horseshoe Region, a Master Franchisee Partner with the Referral Institute Canada, Vice President, Operations, Referral Institute Ontario, a Certified Networker and a Master Trainer with the Referral Institute. Christel has written numerous articles about the art and science of referral marketing and how to build lifetime referrals through the philosophy of “Givers Gain.” She writes a weekly networking column and is a contributing author to the New York Times Bestseller, “Masters of Sales.”  Christel welcomes your contact by email:  christel@bnigh.com website:  www.bnigh.com or phone:  905.681.1999 or 1.866.340.8740.

We want to welcome you to BNI!

Business Networking International is a business & professional networking organization whose primary purpose is to exchange qualified business referrals. BNI Chapter Members meet weekly in a positive, structured & supportive environment to build their business through referrals from within the membership to new potential clients.

The best advertising is by word of mouth, and your business is the preferred referral to be passed on at every networking opportunity by your fellow BNI members, and you do the same for them.

1) Do you want to BUILD your business through word of mouth referrals?

2) Would you like to NEVER have to cold call again?

3) Would you like to be the ONLY professional specialty & lock out your competition?

If you’ve answered YES to any of these questions, then you are just like most of us, who believe in working smarter and being more productive, while offering the highest level of service!