The people most interested in you on social media and most likely to happily share your content are those that have actually met you.
The key to social media is ‘social’. It’s far better to have a small following of interested and active people than thousands of faceless followers.
Quality is always better than quantity on social media (tweet this).
So how do you get to meet new people?
By networking.
It’s a horrible word isn’t it; networking, it feels so corporate and jargony!
On my shiny new website, I talk in more detail about the power of networking...
Read the full feature here on Amy's shiny new website
But here's a quick snapshot of my 22 Tips:
1) Say yes to every invitation
2) When you want something, broadcast it - But always be generous with our own knowledge and connections
3) Show up and often
4) Fear comes from uncertainty. Improve your chances by being prepared, you’ll feel more in control
5) Think ahead of the meeting about what you’d like to achieve. Jot your ideas down or do a mind map to get the thoughts out of your head and committed to paper, then they can start to become tangible goals
6) Have a goal – for example: ‘I’d like 1 warm lead’ or a small step: ‘I will start a conversation’
7) Make sure you have plenty of business cards. A notepad and pen is also handy so you can take notes if there is a speaker offering handy tips or so you can jot down the details of someone you meet who doesn’t have any business cards
8) Prepare a spiel for yourself. Sum up what you do in a short sentence and have answers prepared for any questions that may follow
9) Make notes on the back of business cards to remind yourself where you met a person. It could be weeks or months before you re-connect with that person and putting them in context is much easier when it comes to getting in touch i.e.: ‘Hi we met at such and such event…’
10) The best piece of advice my mum ever gave me was, treat others as you’d wish them to treat you. Always be friendly and respectful, you never know when you may bump into that person again
11) If you go to an event with someone you know make a conscious effort not to just speak to that person the whole time
12) Look for people with open body language to strike up a conversation
13) Look for people who are on their own. The chances are they are just as scared, if not more so, than you and they’ll appreciate your company
14) Joining an existing conversation and listening for a wile is a good way to start to get involved and get to know people
15) Be yourself. You don’t have to be formal, in fact people are more likely to warm to you if you’re friendly and genuine
16) No one goes to a networking event to buy things, so don’t behave like a sales person. Ask lots of questions of the people you speak to and listen, don’t just wait for your turn to speak
17) Enjoy it! You never know what fascinating people you might meet, be bold, behave confidently, you might just surprise yourself.
And after the event...
18) When you make a new connection, reinforce it by connecting with them online through; Linked In, Twitter, Facebook etc.
19) Publicly acknowledge on social media that you enjoyed meeting them
20) Regularly share their content and join in with or start conversations with them online
21) Arrange future meetings over a coffee to catch up and possibly do business with them or pass on referrals to people you think could help them.
22) If they are not local to you, make use of tools such as Skype to ‘virtually meet’. Even when you are behind a keyboard, seeing a face is a far more human and real experience than just exchanging emails. It’s good to hear each others voices and look each other in the eye
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