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Why Aren't You Networking? Pt 3 (aka Staying Top of Mind)

We've coning to the end of the "networking trilogy", but just like Star Wars, there will be more of this in the future.

Let's touch on social media and how to use it to network successfully. In general, the rule here is that if you're going to try to use these platforms remember that you get what you pay for. And since you probably aren't paying much (unless you upgrade to LinkedIn's premium service), you should expect a low ROI.  On all platforms I suggest you take a slow approach to build a rapport. With all of the internet scams out there nobody wants to be "sold" on social media. Make your approaches as low-key as possible.

That being said, you are investing your time, and if you can find an efficient use of your time the better off you will be. Don't spend hours on end trying to find out how to use the next Pinterest only to learn that it's not getting you anywhere. I spend approximately 20 minutes a day posting on social media, and if I need to invest more time, I do it in the evenings.

So here are a few tips I've learned, which really only scratch the surface.


  1. LinkedIn - The mac daddy of social networking is the best choice for many. I've used this one for years to limited results. It's a great way to meet people who otherwise wouldn't be in your geographical area or to reconnect with old classmates or contacts from years past. In my book I give an example of how to drop a note to new contacts. For example, if it is someone local, I may say, "Thanks for being a 'connection'. I'd like to meet with you to learn more about your work and share my work with you to see how we can refer each other." Non-threatening, not salesy and everyone like referrals. If your new connection isn't local, take the same approach but make a phone appointment.  Again, your goal isn't to sell something, but to build a rapport, and this has worked best for me. The downside to LinkedIn is the limited number of messages I can send and what I think is a high fee to upgrade. Fortunately, the workaround is that if you are connected to someone, you have access to their email in most cases and can just work it that way.
  2. Alignable - The bastard cousin of LinkedIn, I've found a lot of people are going in that direction. They even let you import your LinkedIn contacts. I've found it to be repetitive but I won't give up.
  3. Twitter - Pretty much useless for me, I use it only because I have it hooked into my Buffer dashboard, which I'll discuss down the page.
  4. Instagram - I've recently started using this and haven't had much ROI but have had a blast coming up with content. The key here is to stick to a theme.  My posts are almost all "sales" related and I post memes which I create. Hashtags are important here and I suggest you find people in similar industries as you and follow their example.
  5. Facebook - My first suggestion is to create a page for your business. If you are posting business stuff on your personal page, you'll be a pariah ( just like the person who only posts political memes or cat videos). Your business page let's people follow your professional exploits by choice. Also, you can reach out to people you don't know by "boosting" your post for a small fee. 
  6. YouTube - Were you aware that YouTube is the number 2 search engine behind Google? People like me look for information on there constantly, especially "how to" videos. Make a short video introducing yourself and your products and you'll be able to share across all platforms.
  7. Buffer - This dashboard is great for connecting several platforms at once, thus minimizing your time spent posting. I can post to my LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter pages simultaneously and customize each one. In other words, I can add hashtags to Twitter which wouldn't be necessary on LinkedIn. Great tool!
Like I mentioned, this doesn't cover all of the bases, but it should help a little. The key to all of this isn't to actually sell your product or service, but to keep you "top of mind" when that potential client needs something. Stay consistent and good luck.

Please comment below and let me know what your industry is and what has worked best for you.
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