It was such an honor to be invited to speak at POC’s Halton-Peel Chapter Meeting last week! Since the Q&A portion of a presentation is often the most valuable, I decided to devote the entire session to answering the group’s questions about social media. I’ve posted those questions, along with my answers, here today.

Facebook:

What changes were done to Facebook pages?

On March 30, Facebook pages were converted to the Timeline layout which has been available for personal profiles for several months now. This new layout has a spot for a large “cover photo” at the top and places the page content in two columns with the posts arranged in reverse chronological order.

Why were these changes made?

Who knows why Facebook does anything?

Should we have a cover picture on our Facebook Page?

I recommend it, because it’s a good way to brand your page. And if you don’t, there will be a big empty white space at the top.

How do you add a cover picture on your Facebook Page?

When you are on your page, you’ll see an Add a Cover button near the top. Just click on it to upload an image and position it so that it displays nicely.

Is there a website/service that can help us to create the cover picture?

If you Google facebook cover photo you’ll find lots of sites that offer tips for creating a cover image.

Do you think the Facebook improvements are for better?

I think so. As I mentioned earlier, the cover image offers more opportunity to promote your brand than the original page style, and Timeline organizes your content very nicely.

How do you create a business page on Facebook?

Go to https://www.facebook.com/bookmarks/pages, and at the top you’ll see a Create a Page button.

Is there a way to separate your business friends and your personal friends on Facebook?

What you need to do is go to https://www.facebook.com/bookmarks/lists. At the top you should see “Close Friends.” When you click on the link, you’ll be able to add anyone that fits into that category.

Once you’ve created a list of your Close Friends, you’ll want to edit your Privacy Settings, which you’ll find in the drop-down menu under Home, at the top right side of your screen. Where it says Control Your Default Privacy, choose Custom.

Next, set your default privacy so that only people on your Close Friends list can view the items you post (see below).

When you post something you’d like everyone to see, set the privacy on that item to Public. Be sure to check the privacy setting before you post something personal again, as you may need to change it back.

If you don’t want your personal contacts to see business-related items you post, you can create a second list for Business Friends, and set the privacy setting on those posts accordingly, but that’s a lot of extra work. I think it’s good for our personal contacts to understand what we do in our businesses – you never know who might know someone who can use your services!

Someone I know who uses Facebook exclusively for business decided to unfriend all of her Facebook friends and ask them instead to connect with her through her business page, so that’s another option.

How do I make sure that my Facebook friends don’t see my other friends’ posts?

This is also controlled in your Privacy Settings. Under Timeline and Tagging there are a number of settings available, including one to control who can see what others post on your timeline.

Be sure to check your privacy settings from time to time, as they often revert back to the default settings when Facebook rolls out updates.

Can you schedule Facebook posts?

Yes, you can!

One way is by using Hootsuite. When you post something, you can choose for it to go up right away or schedule it for the future. You can even use it to access your other social media accounts, including LinkedIn and Twitter. For each post, you can choose which network(s) you want to send it to.

Lately, I’ve been using a service called Buffer, which also works with all three of the major social networks. Rather than setting your posts for a particular time, you just add posts to your “buffer” and they’ll go out according to a schedule you’ve created.

Keep in mind, however, that your posts have a better chance of appearing in your friends’ news feed if you create them manually.

LinkedIn:

Do you think there is a benefit of having a business LinkedIn profile along with your personal one?

I don’t really see a big benefit to solopreneurs having a business page on LinkedIn.

Where should I do my LinkedIn posts from, my personal or business profile?

You can’t post status updates on a LinkedIn business page, but you can set it up to automatically display links to your blog posts.

How else can we promote our businesses on LinkedIn?

LinkedIn  has a very powerful feature that a lot of people aren’t aware of, called Answers. Users post questions, and you can search for those you can post an answer to and get rated on your answer.

Because LinkedIn is strongly oriented towards business-to-business, this tool will be more useful if you do business organizing. If you work strictly in the residential sector, you might want to check out Quora, which features questions on a much broader range of topics.

Pinterest:

Is it good, businesswise, to be on Pinterest?

Pinterest is quickly becoming one of the most popular social media sites, and it’s a great tool for organizers because you can give visual links to organizing products, as well as showcasing your own work.

How do you pin?

You can add a bookmarklet to your browser which makes it easy to pin pictures from nearly any website. You can also click on the Add link at the top of the Pinterest screen to either upload a picture from your hard drive or enter the URL for the page where the picture appears.

Can you pin?

That is a very good question! There are major concerns about whether pinning an image from a website is a violation of copyright. On the one hand, you’re linking back to the source, but is that sufficient? I know of people who were really into Pinterest but have deleted their accounts just to be on the safe side.

If there is a Pin It button on a website, does it mean I’m allowed to pin anything I want from there?

I would say that someone who puts Pin It buttons on their site wants you to pin their content. It would be wise, however, to make sure that they have the rights to use the images which appear on their site!

Can you pin web images only? Is there a way to add magazine clippings?

You would have to scan the clippings and upload them, but that would most likely violate copyright. I suggest going to the magazine’s website and looking for the content there.

Would you agree that Pinterest is designed for younger audience (18-35)?

Yes, that is my understanding, though of course that can change at any time.

Twitter:

I found that Twitter is lots of talking about nothing. How do you find people that are worth following?

When deciding whether or not to follow someone, the first thing I check is their bio to see whether they’re likely to be of interest. I also look at their recent tweets to see what they tweet about, and whether they engage with their followers. I’ve seen bios that made me think someone would be a great source of valuable information, only to find that their tweets were trivial.

Do you know the people you follow?

I’m following more than 1600 people, and I definitely don’t know all of them. That doesn’t mean that I read every tweet posted by every person I follow either! I have them organized into lists such as women-helping-women, organizers-cda and Blog/Social Media/Mktg and I decide which list I want to view at any given time.

What is Tweetstock? Have you been there?

Tweetstock was a social media conference which was held in Brantford on April 12, 2012. Unfortunately, I didn’t go, but I heard it was really good!

To supplement this information, everyone who attended was offered a free copy of my Basic Guide to Networking on Twitter as a gift for joining my mailing list.

Since the other speaker was unable to make it, there was time for plenty more questions! Be sure to catch next week’s post when I’ll share those related to blogging, email marketing, virtual assistants, and more.

Please visit Your Organizing Business to read and comment on Social Media Q&A.

Twitter is a great tool for busy professionals whose schedules often keep them from attending live networking events. You can take part in conversations at whatever time best suits you, even if the other parties aren’t online at the same time as you. Although convenient, this is not without its drawbacks.

The most obvious is that you can’t answer time-sensitive questions. If someone is looking for a restaurant in Pittsburgh that’s open at 11:00 PM on Sunday night, they aren’t likely to welcome your suggestion on Monday morning, even if you know where they can get the Best Cheesecake Ever.

A second problem arises if your followers aren’t online when you post your best content. Of course, it will still be there when they log in, but they might not go back far enough in their feed to see your posts, especially if they’re following a large number of people and don’t use Formulists or another way of organizing the people they follow.

The situation is compounded if you like to post a lot of retweets and/or links to other content. I’m very sorry, but if I go into my Twitter account and see 10 or more tweets in a row from you, chances are I’m not going to look at any of them, unless I am a rabid fan. There might be some really good stuff there, but I’ll probably miss it, just because you’ve flooded my newsfeed.

Fortunately, none of these challenges are insurmountable.

In the case of the time-sensitive question, don’t assume it’s too late for you to answer. You can always ask if they found what they were looking for. Even if they did, or if they no longer need it, they’ll probably appreciate your asking, and you never know where a conversation might lead.

Much to my delight, I’ve recently discovered a solution for the second problem as well. Timely is an online tool that analyzes your last 199 tweets, determines when you tend to get the most engagement, and suggests the best times for you to tweet based on those results. If you use a service like HootSuite or TweetDeck, you can use those results to schedule your tweets to be posted at that those times, even if by then you’ll be busy with your client or tucked in for the night.

You can even take things a step further, and create a Timely account. Choose how many posts you want to make per day (1, 2, 5 or 9) and whether or not you wish to schedule tweets on weekends. Then, instead of typing your tweet into the Twitter site or your usual app, enter it in Timely, and it will be scheduled for publication at the time when it’s likely to have the most impact. There’s even a bookmarklet available, so when you’re reading a great blog post that you want to share with your followers, you just click on the bookmarklet and it will ”create a Timely” with the title and URL for the page you’re on. Simply edit it to incorporate your own words and any hashtags you want to include, and add it to your queue.

For every tweet you post using Timely, you can see how many people clicked on your link, who retweeted it, and the potential reach as a result. You can even add multiple Twitter accounts and multiple users! I think it’s pretty amazing for a free service, but there’s a pro version available for $9.99 more if you’d like priority email support.

I still use TweetDeck for sending replies, but am beginning to use Timely more and more for my regular tweets. My followers benefit, because they’re more likely to see the valuable content I share, and they’re not getting it all at one time, and I benefit from the increased engagement and exposure. It seems to be a win-win situation!

For more tips on using Twitter to grow your business, check out my Basic Guide to Networking on Twitter.

Please visit Your Organizing Business to read and comment on Are Your Tweets Timely?.

When you’re getting started on Twitter, your first goal is to attract followers. After all, what’s the good of saying brilliant things if no one is listening? What’s just as exciting as getting your first few followers is the first time someone likes one of your tweets enough to pass it on to their followers in the form of a retweet.

Being retweeted is a great ego boost, but there are much greater benefits than that. For one thing, a retweet confirms that what you’ve said is interesting or valuable to someone else and gives you an indication of the type of tweets you should continue to post. Even better, when your message is retweeted, your audience is no longer restricted to your own followers, but opens up to include the followers of the person who posted the retweet.

With each person who reads your retweeted message, there’s the possibility that they’ll decide to follow you as well, to click through to your website, or to subscribe to your blog. Any of these actions may ultimately lead to product sales or other business opportunities. Some of those people may decide to retweet the message as well, expanding your reach even farther – an excellent example of viral marketing at work.

If you have good manners, and I’m sure you do, you’ll want to thank your retweeters for sharing your message with their network. There are many different opinions about the best way to do that.

I recently read a post by Shea Bennett, Co-editor of AllTwitter: The Unofficial Twitter Resource on this very topic. In response to the question, Should You Thank For Retweets?, he says

No. Almost never, in fact. With a few exceptions, I don’t believe there’s any need to thank for retweets at all. It might seem polite, or good etiquette, but all it really does is add a lot of unwanted noise to the stream.

I’d never thought of it in those terms before, but it made a lot of sense. We already expend a fair bit of time and effort filtering through clutter on Twitter. Does anyone really benefit from reading our “thanks for the retweet” messages, other than the recipient? I decided to retweet his post, in which he suggests that thanks should be sent privately by direct message, if at all. In response, I received an interesting email from one of my clients, who told me she’s received nasty messages from more than one person to whom she’d sent a private thank-you. They seemed to believe that by thanking them privately, she was depriving them of valuable exposure they’d have received if she’d thanked them publicly.

I was astounded. If someone complained that they didn’t like the way I thanked them, I probably wouldn’t thank them at all next time – and they probably wouldn’t notice, because who keeps track of whether or not they’ve been thanked for retweeting something? It sure doesn’t sound like anyone I want in my network! And seriously – do they really think that ”@apersonontwitter Thanks for the retweet” is going to make even one person say “Hey, I want to follow @apersonontwitter”?

With Twitter, there are no hard and fast rules about anything – each user develops strategies that work best for them, including whether or not they acknowledge retweets and the way they do it. And fortunately, there are lots more ways to express your appreciation than merely saying thanks, whether in the public stream or by direct message. Angie Schottmuller wrote an excellent post where she outlines 7 Ways to Thank Someone for a Retweet that really opened my eyes to the possibilities and has begun to shape the way I approach this important part of online networking. Yes, it takes more time to be creative than it does to simply post “@personontwitter Thanks for the retweet” but like most things in business (and in life), the more you put into something, the more you’ll get out of it.

If you’re new on Twitter, or you haven’t signed up because you’re not sure what to do, you need my Basic Guide to Networking on Twitter. It’s packed with tips and action steps to help you leverage the power of Twitter to grow your professional network and market your organizing business.

Please visit Your Organizing Business to read and comment on What Do You Do When Someone Retweets You?.

Due to popular demand, I’m thrilled to announce that I’ve put together a Basic Guide to Networking on Twitter! It’s packed with tips to help you leverage the power of Twitter to grow your professional network and market your organizing business.

When I signed up for Twitter in 2008 on the advice of a colleague, I had no idea how it worked or how to use it. Since then, I’ve spent a fair bit of time reading, attending seminars, and simply observing what other people are doing on Twitter in order to learn what works – and what doesn’t.

I’ve shared many of the strategies I’ve learned in presentations for POC Chapters and local business groups in Southern Ontario, at POC’s National Conference in 2010, and here on Your Organizing Business, but now for the first time, I’ve organized all that information into a concise, easy-to-read e-book.

My Basic Guide to Networking on Twitter walks you through each of these key processes:

Step 1: Create Your Account

Step 2: Set Up Your Profile

Step 3: Decide What to Tweet About

Step 4: Follow People

Step 5: Attract Followers

Step 6: Plan Your Twitter Schedule

Each section includes how-to’s, my personal recommendations, and action steps for you to carry out so you can learn to effectively use Twitter as a marketing tool.

The Guide will be most helpful for readers who would like to use Twitter but aren’t sure how to get started, as well as those who are already on Twitter but are feeling lost or overwhelmed.

Even experienced Twitter users will benefit from the helpful tips and recommended resources!

That’s not all!

You can make money by promoting the Basic Guide to Networking on Twitter on your own blog or website (or anywhere else)! Join our new Affiliate Program today and earn 35% commission on any product currently offered by Organized Assistant, including Organizing Your Life, Your Way.

Please visit Your Organizing Business to read and comment on Basic Guide to Networking on Twitter.

Giving presentations is an important skill for professional organizers, whether you’re sharing ideas with your local chapter, offering tips to a group or the general public as a way of marketing your organizing business, or getting paid to speak about your area of expertise.

It’s no secret that more and more people have mobile devices that allow them to be connected to their online networks nearly all the time. What does this have to do with giving presentations? Maybe a lot!

One of these days, you may be speaking at a conference or other event and discover that the audience is tweeting about your presentation. Participants enjoy tweeting about what they’re listening to for a number of reasons.

For one thing, it allows them to share the highlights of what they’re learning with followers who aren’t at the event. It also lets them share comments with other people attending who may not be sitting close by. They can even converse with people who are close by without worrying about distracting others by speaking out loud.

It might be a bit unnerving to see people typing on their laptops, iPads, or smart phones while you speak, but it doesn’t mean they aren’t paying attention! Consider that some people actually use Twitter to record information they might have written on paper in the past. This gives them notes to refer back to afterwards, and share those notes with others at the same time.

To my knowledge, there hasn’t been live tweeting during any of my presentations so far, but I realize that it will likely happen someday so I need to be prepared – and so do you. Fortunately, I discovered a free e-book by Olivia Mitchell that’s full of great advice on surviving the experience, responding to the audience’s needs, and getting involved in the conversation. If you give presentations, or plan to in the future, please feel free to download your own copy of How to Present with Twitter.

I’ve been at both live and online events where it was taking place, and it’s quite an interesting phenomena!

Please tell us about your experiences with live tweeting, either as a speaker or a member of the audience. Do you think it enhances or detracts from the experience?

Please visit Your Organizing Business to read and comment on Speak Up and Succeed with Twitter.

I love to blog, and I’d write a new blog post every single day if I could. Since I can’t, I’ve created a daily compilation of articles, blog posts, videos, and images to help you in your organizing business, using a cool new online tool called paper.li.

Your Organizing Business Today is an online “newspaper” consisting of items that have been tweeted by some of the people I follow on Twitter. Rather than other professional organizers, the selected Twitter users offer various organizing products and tools, business marketing strategies, and other information you might find helpful. Please check it out and feel free to leave a comment below to suggest other users or subjects that you’d like to see included.

For a wider range of topics, you can also read The @JanetBarclay Daily, which includes posts from a much wider variety of Twitter users.

Paper.li is a free tool that’s easy to use, so you just might want to set up your own daily or weekly “newspaper.” It’s a great way to see the highlights of the people you’re following, especially when you don’t have time to scan your whole news feed! If you’ve created one, why not share it by posting a link below?

Please visit Your Organizing Business to read and comment on Daily Reading for Your Organizing Business.

Once upon a time, all you needed was a professional-looking business card and maybe a brochure. In more recent years, it became expected that even a small business like yours would have a website. These days, prospective clients want to get to know you personally, through Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, or other social networking websites.

Just signing up for these sites is not enough; you need to create a compelling profile that will make it clear why others should connect with you. Most social networking profiles include three basic pieces of information: a photo, a short description, and a link. Deciding what picture and information you’d like to share before you even log in will help you to simplify the process.

In today’s post, I will share some guidelines for creating an engaging profile, but first, let’s ensure that your profile data is secure and that you don’t unintentionally share any private information.

Your User Names and Passwords

Although it may be tempting to use the same password for each site, this is not wise, for security reasons. Consider that if someone is able to hack into one account, once they figure out your password, they can hack into your other accounts as well. Under no circumstances should you use the name of a pet or family member, or even a dictionary word, as your password, as these are far too easy to guess.

I’ve been using Roboform, which generates strong random passwords and stores them securely, for several years, and it has completely eliminated the need to remember my passwords or type them every time I log into a site. With the free version, you can store up to 10 logins indefinitely. I highly recommend it!

Your Privacy

Take the time to familiarize yourself with a site’s privacy policies before you decide to join, and to stay on top of any changes that might require you to adjust your settings. You can usually choose what information is and is not displayed, but Facebook in particular is notorious for changing its policies, and if you’re not up to speed with the changes, you might find yourself sharing information that was previously set as private. If certain information is optional, consider whether it is to your benefit to have it appear on your profile. Otherwise, leave it off.

Your Profile Photo

Begin by selecting the picture you will use on your profiles. Using the same one on all of your profiles will be less work for you and will also ensure that people who don’t know you well will recognize you from one site to another.

On some sites, your profile picture is displayed as a very small thumbnail image, so it’s best to use a headshot rather than a full body shot.

Using your business logo rather than a personal photo may be a good way to enhance your brand recognition, but keep in mind that it may be less engaging. As Brian Manzullo said in a recent Web Journalist Chat,

Readers want to talk to people. They want to see faces, not company logos.

Whatever image you choose, make sure that it is the correct size and proportion for the site so that it doesn’t cut off important parts or turn fuzzy.

A professional photograph is ideal, but don’t worry if you don’t have one. Just be sure to choose one that is in focus and shows you at your best. If you look tired or grumpy, it doesn’t exactly invite people to talk to you, does it?

Avoid displaying the site’s default image if at all possible, as many people won’t give you a second glance if your profile lacks this important detail.

Your Short Description

Don’t make the mistake of just typing something in off the top of your head, because what you put in this section is critical to attracting people to join your network. Also, resist the temptation to leave it until later, because it’s too easy to forget about it.

In many cases, you are limited to a specific number of characters, so you have to be very selective in what you say. Avoid making it a sales pitch, and instead create a compelling message that will make people interested in learning more about you and what you have to say.

When writing your description, be sure to use the keywords and phrases that are apt to be used by people who are searching for someone like you, to increase the likelihood that your profile will come up in their search results.

Your Link

Some sites, such as LinkedIn and Facebook, allow you to list multiple links, so you can easily link to your main website, your blog, and any other sites you may have. Others, such as Twitter, only give you space for one link, so you need to decide what will be most effective. Most people post a link to their business home page, but since many users will click on the link to learn more about you and decide whether or not to follow you, it might be more beneficial to link to your “About Me” page or your blog. Some people even set up a special landing page just for this purpose, which provides an opportunity to share much more detail than will fit on your Twitter profile. Your link can easily be changed at any time, so feel free to experiment.

Other Information

Take advantage of any other fields that are available on each site in order to incorporate additional keywords and to provide supplementary details that may encourage others to engage with you. Again, don’t just start typing without considering whether the information reflects the professional image that you wish to portray, and take the time to proofread everything you write before you add it to your public profile.

Organized Assistant has helped lots of professional organizers and other small business clients to develop and manage their online presence. If you need some help getting started, or if you’re not getting the results from social media that you’d hoped for, don’t hesitate to request a free 30 minute consultation.

Please visit Your Organizing Business to read and comment on Your Social Media Profiles.

Last year, I was invited to be a contestant in Blog-Off II, a blogging competition to find the best social media and marketing experts. Although I wasn’t selected as a winner, it was a great experience which gave me an opportunity to connect with and learn from some really outstanding bloggers. Today I’d like to share one of the posts I wrote for the competition.

There are a lot of people who just don’t get Twitter. I understand that. After all, your introduction to the site probably involved a visit to the Twitter home page, which doesn’t really give you much of an idea of what it’s all about, or to someone’s profile, which often seems like a bunch of random comments full of strange characters and acronyms.

Despite that, someone may have convinced you to sign up anyway, and now you just don’t know what to type into that little box that’s asking you “What’s happening?”

If you take a look at what other people are doing, you’ll start to see several typical kinds of tweets. Here are some of the ways I’ve seen people using Twitter over the last day or so:

@HSPCliff: #HSP alert. Don’t get upset by mistakes. No matter how smart you are, you’ll never know everything. There’s always something new to learn. (Tweet Type #1: motivational)

@HouseandHome: Get free design tips and exclusive offers in our eNewsletter http://bit.ly/45ZLds (Tweet Type #2: promotional)

@organizedhome: I just wanted to say thanks to all my twitter friends. Just check stats on my blog. You are all so supportive. Thank you! (Tweet Type #3: appreciation)

@garagerev: Website for my new business has just gone live. http://www.handmadewoodworks.com (Tweet Type #4: announcement)

@Letscooktonight: Just made a recipe from my cookbook. Sausage pepper & onion heroes. MMMM tasted great. (Tweet Type #5: casual chatter)

@ProsperbyDesign: Do you have a daily SUCCESS PRACTICE or HABIT you can share? I write My Brilliant Today each day, and say 5+ thank yous! (Tweet Type #6: initiating a discussion)

I’ve included the user names here to show that even seemingly non-business tweets are often related to the tweeter’s area of expertise, and you’ll notice that most of these messages are at least a little bit self-promoting. Let’s face it; most of us are using Twitter as a marketing tool, but if you don’t want your followers to just skip over your tweets or, even worse, to stop following you, you need to be careful that your tweets don’t look like a running stream of ads. One of the cool things about social media is that it allows us to be authentic, so take advantage of that and let your personality shine through! On the other hand, don’t try so hard to show your human side that you bore people or put them off by sharing too much information. No one’s really interested in your baby’s poop! (Tweet Type #7: mundane chatter)

It’s important to remember that Twitter isn’t about throwing out random promotional messages and hoping they get noticed – it’s about engaging in conversations. You need to take some time to read and reply to what other people are saying, especially if they ask a question. (Tweet Type #8: replying to someone else’s tweet)

Another popular way to let someone know that you read and liked what they said is to pass it on to your own followers, often with your own comment added. (Tweet Type #9: the retweet)

Twitter can also be a great platform to ask your own requests for information you need for a project, upcoming trip, or just about anything else. (Tweet Type #10: asking a question)

I’ve just shown you ten different types of tweets, which I hope you’ll find helpful the next time you’re stuck for something to say on Twitter, but I’ve barely scratched the surface of the possibilities! I’d love to hear some of the creative types of tweets that you’ve seen or have posted yourself – I’m sure we can get this list up to 20!

Please visit Your Organizing Business to read and comment on Ten Types of Tweets.

Today I continue my series for Improve Management Skills Month with a look at social networking, both online and offline. Mastering the art of networking will help you to build your brand, expand your reach, grow your business, and be a more confident individual. To determine whether you are networking effectively, ask yourself the following questions.

1. Do you hand out business cards without even introducing yourself?

Networking is not about one-way advertising; it’s about building and growing relationships. Don’t worry that there isn’t time at a networking event to talk to every other person in attendance – networking is about quality, not quantity.

If there’s someone there that you really want to meet, but they are engaged in conversation with someone else, patiently wait for your opportunity to talk to them. Don’t just hand them your business card and hope they’ll be so enthralled with it that they’ll look you up. People form relationships with other people, not with business cards.

A better way to make connections is to initiate a conversation and ask for the other person’s card. If they want yours, they will ask for it. It might also be appropriate to ask them to email you some additional information about something you discussed, in which case it is perfectly acceptable to give them your business card.

The online equivalent of this faux pas is to send out Friend Requests on Facebook, or invitations to connect on LinkedIn, without including a personalized note introducing yourself and explaining why you’d like to connect with that person. If you know the person already, it’s probably acceptable (kind of like saying, “Mary, can I have your business card?”), but it’s always a nice touch, especially if they may not remember immediately where you’ve met.

Twitter is a little different, because you can follow most people without their permission, but if you’re following someone with the hope that they’ll notice and follow you back, you need to try a little harder. Show your admiration and interest by retweeting some of their posts, and engage in conversation by responding to others.

2. Do you monopolize the conversation?

When you meet someone for the first time, do you talk only about your business, or do you ask about theirs? Even if they offer a product or service you don’t need yourself, it might be useful to someone else you know, and you can do both people a favor by making the connection.

Of course you want to let people know what you offer – that’s one of the goals of networking – but avoid sharing too much information. Watch for visual cues that the other person is getting bored or wanting to get away to talk to others.

In online networking, make sure that your status updates and posts aren’t restricted to announcements about your new blog posts, upcoming events, or other forms of advertising. It’s important to engage with others if you really want to build strong connections.

3. Do you add people to your mailing list without their  permission?

It just amazes me how many people think that it’s okay to start sending you their newsletter and/or promotional emails, just because you gave them your business card. I was recently at a networking breakfast where during the group discussion, someone mentioned how much this practice annoys them, and I agreed. Despite that, the person sitting next to me added me to her weekly mailing list, and I suspect that she added everyone else that she met too.

Of course, you want to increase your subscriber base, but that is not the way to go about it. I recommend that you take one of the following approaches:

• When the person gives you their card, say, “I have a weekly/monthly/occasional newsletter that I send that includes tips about organizing/special offers/information about my upcoming organizing workshops – may I add you to my mailing list?”
• When you get back to your office, email each person you met individually, tell them how much you enjoyed meeting them, and refer to something you discussed. Tell them about your newsletter and invite them to subscribe. Include a copy of a back issue to help them decide whether it’s something that would be of value to them.

When you add people without permission, even if they have the option of unsubscribing easily, you not only risk annoying them, but you put them in the awkward position of not wanting to offend someone they have just met. Is that really how you want to start off a new relationship? Sure, it takes a little more effort to email people personally, but it’s also a lot more effective. Remember: networking is about quality, not quantity.

This is less of an issue online, but I have occasionally had people start sending me their newsletters and e-flyers simply because we’d interacted through an online network, and not because I’d signed up for a free e-book or teleclass.

I could go on, but will save a discussion of opt-in, double opt-in, and opt-out systems for another post.

4. Do you forget to follow up with the people you meet?

Clearly, by following up, I don’t mean sending them your newsletter. I mean sending them a personal email, or perhaps a card in the mail, to reinforce the connection that you made. This is especially important if you offered to send them information about something.

It’s not about sending them your sales pitch, unless they specifically asked you to do that. If you really want to be remembered, why not send them an article about one of their areas of interest, to show that you were listening?

Online, once you’ve connected with people, make an effort to stay in touch. I realize that your time is valuable and I don’t expect you to send personal messages to everyone all the time. But if someone sends you a message on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, or another site, take the time to respond. And be sure to acknowledge when someone receives an award or celebrates a birthday or anniversary.

The main thing to remember here is that networking isn’t about going out and getting clients. It’s not even about getting referrals. It’s about knowing the people in your network well enough that when someone asks you, “Do you know anyone who ….. ?” you’ll be able to connect them to someone. That will make people notice you, remember you, and appreciate you, and will ultimately (but not immediately) bring you new business.

One person I know who is a Master at networking is Michael Fletcher of Neworld Coaching. He goes out of his way to get to know every person in his very large network – what they do, what challenges they face, and what type of clients they’re looking for – without ever pushing his services, and it’s this very approach that has made his business such a success.

Recognizing that not everyone can afford business coaching, Michael has developed a 13-week online course called Small Business Group Coaching 101 where you’ll learn lots of important strategies to help you grow your business. This program includes weekly webinars, workbooks and other materials, and a one-on-one coaching session with Michael. If you sign up, please mention my name in the “Tell us about your company” area of the registration form.

Please visit Your Organizing Business to read and comment on Don’t Commit These Networking Faux Pas!.

The other day, someone asked me how he could get others to follow him on Twitter. That’s a question many of us have pondered, whether we’re just getting started on Twitter, are trying to grow our following, or are trying to figure out whether it would be worthwhile to use Twitter at all. Here are a few strategies that work, as well as a few that don’t.

Before we get started, keep in mind that Twitter isn’t a popularity contest! It’s more important to have a small group of genuine followers than thousands of so-called followers who don’t actually read your tweets or connect with you in any way, so don’t get caught up in schemes that promise you thousands of new followers overnight. Your focus should be on attracting followers who are the type of people you need to have in your network, including representatives from businesses who provide products or services which complement your own, potential clients, and others who can help you grow your business in some way.

One way to get noticed by these people is to get listed in Twitter directories. Several of these are mentioned in an earlier post, Finding Tweeple in Your Area to Follow. Although the focus of that post was locating people by region, some of these sites also allow users to search by keyword. You can find many more similar sites simply by entering “twitter directory” in a Google search. Always remember, before entering your Twitter user name and password into any website, make sure it uses OAuth, so you can be confident that your information is secure. If you have any doubt whatsoever about the authenticity or integrity of a website, don’t take chances.

When people first see you on Twitter, they’ll generally only take a couple of seconds to decide whether or not to follow you, so make sure your profile is compelling. You don’t necessarily need to fuss about creating a custom background, since people who use TweetDeck and similar tools won’t see it anyway, but you should make sure that your user name and picture represent you effectively. Using your bio section to make a sales pitch can put people off very quickly, so instead create a message that will make people interested in learning more about you and what you have to say.

Potential followers will usually scan your recent tweets to determine the answer to their number one question, “What’s in it for me?” If they see that you share valuable information and engage with others, they’re much more likely to follow you than if all they see is comments about the weather, the traffic, Survivor, and what you are having for lunch today.

You probably started following people in your target audience in the hopes that they would follow you back. This is not necessarily a bad strategy, since many users automatically follow everyone who follows them. (Of course, if they’re using an automated system to do so, they still may not realize that you exist.) Whether they do or not, it’s up to you to attract their attention so you can begin building a relationship. Some people will stop following someone, then start following them again, hoping that maybe this time it will work. It probably won’t. It’s more likely to make you look desperate or stalkerish. A better way to get someone’s attention is to retweet or respond to what they’ve posted, tweet about them on “Follow Friday” or another Twitter meme, or recommend them on Mr. Tweet.

Lastly, it may seem obvious, but let everyone know how to find you on Twitter. This means that your Twitter ID or a link to your profile should be prominently displayed on your website, your blog, your other social networking profiles, your email signature, and even your business card.

By implementing these strategies, I’ve grown my Twitter following in the past year from 85 to over 1100.

Please leave a comment describing what works for you. And if you’re not already, please follow me on Twitter!

Please visit Your Organizing Business to read and comment on Five Ways to Get Followers on Twitter.