Social Media who? Getting with the times for your business!

Does anyone remember when we used to call people to get in touch with them for business? To invite them over for dinner? Get directions? The fact that there is a couple of generations out there that will never know that feeling is crazy to me. I didn't actually have a cell phone until I was 18, which was late in my neighborhood. Now, I can't imagine living without one, mainly for the fact that I don't even know my parent's new phone number. The only number(s) I know for sure are the ones I had to dial before I got a cell phone (and of course my own cell #). Crazy isn't it?

I have spoken with several small business owners that know about social media platforms, but haven't quite adapted to the new wave of communication. Since social media has become an important business tool to reach target audiences and elevate business goals, it is important to know what it can do and how it can work for you.

Things to know:
Facebook has 300 million users
YouTube has 13 billion videos/month
LinkedIn has 36 million business represented
There are 112 million blogs on the Internet
Twitter has 10 million users and is growing at 40%/month

What are the social media 'must haves'?

Facebook - Facebook can be used as a critical branding tool to reach your target customers and act as a public forum. It will be important to be active on your Facebook page, engage your fans/friends and update your page regularly. Virgin America does an excellent job of this.

Twitter - This is the perfect venue to post news, expert thoughts, industry trends and follow/be followed by customers and partners. This is also a great way to follow industry thought leaders and engage in casual conversation on a professional level. This is also a chance to position yourself as a thought leader and/or expert. The Ellen Show has a great example, plus a celebrity name to it, but you'll get the idea.

Blog(s)- If you are trying to position yourself as an expert in any industry you must have a blog. The key to blogs is content. Content should be refreshed on a regular basis. When you are creating your blog there are some key things to keep in mind:
- Focus - determine your blog's focus. You don't want your blog postings to be willy nilly. Decide ahead of time if your blog is going to be a personal blog about your life, about transformers, about antenna technology or about men's fashion trends. This way your blog becomes a reliable source for some kind of specific information.
- Frequency - make sure you have a consistency in your posting, whether its everyday, twice a week, once a week, etc. You also need to be careful of posting TOO much on your site, you want to leave the reader wanting more, not wanting to mark you as SPAM.
- Flavor - be sure to keep your voice when you're blogging. If you're not sure that your writing skills are up to snuff, then take a first draft at it and have the same person edit your writing to maintain a consistency in the writing style.
- Following - the only way to develop a real following is to follow others. Stay in touch with your audience and respond to them regularly. Keeping your followers engaged is the key to getting more fans. It is important communicate and stay 'reachable'.

4 ways social media helps your business

1)Enhancing business productivity by providing business collaboration tools.
Social bookmarking (delicious) organizes your web, Facebook is a rolodex on steroids, and wikis and blogs are virtual journals that can be utilized in an infinite number of ways.

2)Cheap and efficient virtual marketing research

Companies can get very comparatively precise data about what your potential customers are thinking and searching for. You can also find out what their customers are doing on their websites. Why are so many customers clicking away here? Why are we losing customers on our e-commerce site? How can we make our site sticky so? How are our competition beating us?

3) Low cost and risk

It is easy to get started in social media from anywhere from $0- $5000 (blogs, websites, maintenance and design costs, etc.) Social media is a affordable, low cost communications solution for business.

4) SEO and marketing

Social media leverages the network effect of the web. How do you get information? Most people these days get their information two ways on the web: searching and recommendations from friends or trusted associates.

Proceed With Caution!

Whenever entering a new realm of communication you should factor in both the benefits and risks. Although few, there are definitely risks to social media if you are not careful.

1) Transparency - Social media forces your company to be more transparent, you have to be ready to be clear with your online communications. Online'rs can see holes through anything. Don't be defensive, engage conversation it creates more discussion points and openness.

2) Be careful with the company information that you are sharing. If you are unsure, DO NOT SHARE!

3) The rash affect - Social media spreads like wildfire. Something that happened in a remote area of Japan, may be communicated throughout the world in minutes with the use of social media.
4) Monitoring - Make sure that you are steadily monitoring your social media presence.

5) Get your company involved - It doesn't bode well if there's only one person in the office on the party train. Get your employees, families and friends involved in your online communities to promoted interest, discussion and contributed content.


In this day and age, business without the presence of social media is very difficult, unless you have already been in business for decades. Even then, to keep up with the times is very important to keeping your business edge. Start building your social media strategy, if you're not sure ask someone. In the past few years there have been an abundance of social media experts that have surfaced to help businesses with just this critical area of business.

Client Acquisition and Networking (and Head Kicking)

Contributed by Dean Karasinski of Seven Leaf Clover
http://www.7evenleafclover.com/


People always use the cliche phrase “No one ever said it would be easy”. I, for the most part, completely disagree with that as most things come easy to me but there is one thing it is holding true for and that Client Acquisition and Networking. I have been talking to people and reading books trying to figure out the “best way to do it” but the only thing I have figured out is that there is no best way. Sure there are strategies and great tips but you have to practice them and you have to make sure they work for you. The only way to actually do that is to go out and use them on real people.

Trial and error my friend

It’s the most nerve racking part of the whole process. You feel you have read and absorbed most of the information you have been seeking, it’s starting to repeat itself. So you figure, OK time to go to work and make this happen, you psych yourself up and say “OK I am ready” you get to your networking event or client meeting and you start talking. You can literally hear yourself breaking down and spewing out verbal diarrhea and it’s dripping down your face.

Terrible right? Well don’t feel bad because it happens to everyone. You feel like an idiot, yes, but it is not the be all end all. Just look at it as a learning experience you can now say that you have done it and move on to trying it again. The key here is repetition, you are going to hear NO alot and at first your are going to mess up a lot it takes time to craft your story and your pitch and your persona and so on. Eventually it will all come together.

A Numbers Game

Absolutely. The more people you go through the more clients you are going to get. There are some who argue that yes it is a numbers game but you can increase the number of sales you make. And I say to them how… It takes courage to just get on the phone unsolicited and call up a company and try to get them to switch to your services, it’s not for everyone but you should try it. The point is you have to go after a form of client acquisition that is for you and plays to your strengths.

Keep Your Head Up.

Think about it this way. Who else do you know that is trying to craft and carve a life for themselves? Probably not too many people. You are already ten steps a head of them because they have settled into a job. They are most likely not willing to step outside of their comfort zone and try to give it a go on their own. Simply by talking to people and making business calls you are improving yourself, a little social skydiving if you will.

Keep at it

The main thing is to keep at it. Sure it sucks being told no, or being hung up on, or not even getting a chance to talk to anyone, but that is just the nature of the game. By doing this over and over again you will get better at it and you will eventually get your first yes. Think of how great that will feel? I will leave you with this little tidbit that always inspires me. Colonel Sanders (yes the chicken guy) received 1,000 consecutive no’s before he made his first sale. 1000 in a row! How many of you would have even gone to 1000? What would have happened if he didn’t get the sale on the 1000th? He would have gone on until he got a yes. How awesome is that? It keeps me moving when I am feeling frustrated.

Please share any stories you have with us and maybe we can share tips and get a cool discussion going.

Making the (networking) magic happen!

The networking rulebook is not like Charlton Heston climbing the mountain to retrieve the ten commandments, there ARE no set rules. The bulk of creating connections depends on your conversation and relationship building skills. People who network a lot have a knack into reading a person's presence before they even talk about business. If you don't click with one person, it's okay. Talk it out and move on to the next person. The real goal of networking is to meet as many people as possible, if you take even one positive connection out of five potential ones; it may generate more results that you could have imagined.

When you make the decision to proactively network, just remember it takes time to develop a relationship. While some people may be an easy connection and fit, others may take weeks, months and even years to develop in ways that you never thought of when you first met them. Think of the other relationships you have in your life; friends, significant others, business partners...although the spark can happen quickly, it takes time to really contribute. Sifting through the LA networking jungle is not easy, so there are definitely some key points that you should keep in mind when you enter the world of networking.

To make it a little easier, we've put together 8 rough guidelines to never leave home without:

1) Be picky - just because you're getting out there to meet new people, does not mean that every event is right for you. Make sure you know what the event is about and that it leans towards your networking goals. If you're not interested in the event, you're not going to make your best effort to get involved.

2) Head n' Shoulders - no mess, no fuss! Don't be flakey, make a commitment to yourself and to an event. There is no pressure when signing up for events, it is best to commit only to the things that you can actually make it to. In the end you'll find you're more productive and have better time management.

3) Your mantra - Before going to your event be sure to set your goals and focus. What do you want to achieve? How many connections do you want to make? What type of connections do you want to make? Having this mindset beforehand will also play into your attitude and conversation while you're there.

4) Don't forget your business cards - I don't know how many events I've been to where people tell me they have forgotten their cards. WHY ARE YOU THERE? You may as well have forgotten to show up. Remembering your business cards should be as automatic as remembering your cell phone and car keys.

5) Introduce yourself to the event coordinator - Who do you think got all those people there? This is a step that many people miss. Introduce yourself and create a rapport with the event coordinator, if your conversation skills fail at the event; at least you know the person with ALL the connections.

6) The 1 minute pitch - This is something that you should have down cold. It may take a few tries to get it right, but you have very little time to make an impact and gain interest. Make sure you convey what you do, where you do it and who you do it for. Try to be sure to leave some kind of mental bookmark in their mind, with a tagline of the services you provide. Think Mickey D's "I'm lovin' it!"

7) Think 'relationship' - Each conversation is a delicate budding flower. OK, not exactly, but it does take time and effort to develop solid relationships. You never know when a contact will think of you and decide they have a referral or need your services themselves. It doesn't need to be ALL business, just be yourself and you'll see the rapport building naturally. ...and the most important of all of these things

8) Follow-up! - If you remember nothing else this is the one thing to remember. Follow up is the key to maintaining contact. I generally suggest following up as soon as possible so that your conversation or meeting with the person is still fresh in both of your minds. The more you remember about each other, the more likely you are to develop your relationship further.

Hey, networking isn't a science and as long as you keep your mind open to meeting new people and sharing information, the more you will get out of it. No one ever accomplished anything by doing it alone! Follow these guidelines and you'll be on the road to eternal happiness....maybe not, but you'll have a huge contact list to tap into and probably make some very useful friends.

Welcome to Netropolis!

We are finally here The beginning of Netropolis. "What is Netropolis?" you may ask. Netropolis is the juncture at which form meets fashion and where need meets purpose. Let's face it, we are all trying to gain something from this universe and leave some kind of stain to prove that we were here. Whether it be family,legacy, wealth or all of the above. So what will your mark on this life be?

Don't know yet? Perhaps we can figure it out together. TheCircleLA is a networking group formed to attract a unique group of intelligent, fresh, creative thinkers to share knowledge, ideas, services, contacts and more. Netropolis has been created as a message board for these blossoming minds and as platform to post, think out loud, comment, argue and resolve many of questions/issues that people have today in becoming successful in both their professional and social lives.

It doesn't matter what industry you are in because it's likely we share one common goal that may be abosolutely different in every way...success! Networking is an integral part of business and social life when you are passionate about what you do. Netropolis is here as a guide and tool to learn, teach and share.

Keep your mind busy, bring your thoughts to the table and WELCOME TO NETROPOLIS!