Building Business Relationships in an Online World
Building and fostering relationships with clients and prospective clients is extremely important. When you take the time to build your business relationships, you’ll eventually become a trustworthy expert that people come to know, like and trust. When someone knows you, likes you and trusts you – they are more likely to do business with you. Better yet, they may also begin to provide referrals. It’s a win-win for everyone, yes! We live in a fast moving world. People are always on the go. In fact, many people now work from home or travel while working. How can you get face time with your audience if you aren’t able to sit and meet with them in person? Well, just like the world is moving fast these days, so is technology! There are quite a few ways to connect with your audience, online. Here are just a few ideas:
Monthly E-Newsletters – Monthly newsletters sent by email are a great way to connect with your audience. Think you don’t have much to offer in a monthly newsletter? Think again! Share news, an interesting tip or video. If you are a B2B company, then your audience will definitely see your email come across their inbox! I mean come on, how often do you check your email? :) You’ve heard the old adage, “Out of sight, out of mind,” right? Newsletters are a great way to get your name and brand in front of your people! You may hear internet marketers talk about the importance of building your email list. People opting into your list want to hear from you. Send them a monthly e-newsletter to keep in touch and to keep them engaged.
Podcasts – Of course podcasts make my list! I am a true believer that podcasting for business is a great way to market to your target audience. A podcast is very simply, an online radio or video show. As a podcast host, you have the opportunity to share your expertise and a little bit of yourself, with your audience. After listening or watching a few episodes, they’ll be able to determine, “Do I like this person?” If the answer is yes, they’ll stick around and become a fan. Guess what? You now have your ideal client’s attention. That’s an amazing feat. Don’t spoil this opportunity. Continue to build that relationship, invite fan feedback, questions and engage in conversations with them. Trust me, it works!
Social Media - Of course, connecting and chatting with your audience on social media is a given, in this day and age. BUT, some businesses think because their brand isn’t an online brand, social media is not needed. THINK AGAIN! Think about where your audience likes to hang out…if a good portion of their time is spent on Facebook or Twitter (or some other social network), you need to be there too! Engage in conversations, take an interest and invest in them. When you do this, you are investing in your business too!
Interested in implementing any of the items above? I can help you! As a digital media manager, I help clients with e-newsletter and podcast productions, as well as, social media management. Let’s chat and see if we can work together to help build and foster your business relationships, together.