Personalizing A Relationship With Your Potential Clients

By Stacy Karacostas
Expert Author
Article Date: 2010-03-25

I've been playing in the social networking space for a few years now, and truly believe it's one of the best low-cost marketing tools out there. I've landed new clients, found speakers for my teleseminar series, and been invited to write articles and speak for organizations-all because my profiles resonate with the right people.

Sadly, far too many entrepreneurs treat their profile like a resume. It's all formal, third person blah, blah that really isn't interesting to most people. The problem there is that goal of your profile is to make a personal connection. And what kind of personal connection is anyone going to make with you by reading your resume online?

Instead you want to look at your social networking profile as a way to introduce yourself and your business. And, ideally get them interested enough to want to learn more about what you do or offer.

10 Guidelines for Creating a Killer Social Networking Profile

1.   You can absolutely use the same basic profile info on all your social networking Websites. However, you may want to tweak it to suit certain communities or target markets better-much the same way you tweak a resume to suit each job you apply for.

2.   The more complete your profile is, the easier it is for someone to get to know you. So do you best to fill in all the sections. And be sure to add links to your Website (and blog if you have one) right away.

3.   Be conversational and relatively informal. Social networking is about building relationships, and it's hard to do that if you sound aloof, academic, or overly formal. Don't be afraid to sound human and even have a little fun!

4.   Although it is about you and your business, your profile needs to be written from the perspective of what you do for your clients or customers. Regardless of what the sections of the profile might be called, it's not all about you. It's got to tell something about what's in it for them if they take the time to learn more or they probably won't.

5.   Use all the available tools and widgets to optimize your profile. Many social networking sites let you add video, audio, your blog feed, Twitter link, Facebook feed, etc. The more multi-media pieces and interlinked sites on your profile the better.

6.   You MUST include a photo. The Web is inherently very impersonal, and you want to make a personal connection here. So a warm, friendly headshot is essential. It's best to use a slightly less formal headshot if you have one. Or, crop your formal business one to make it more interesting somehow. The standard head and shoulders looks old-school on the Web.

7.   Use Keywords and Tags (these may be called as categories as well). Whatever they're called, you wanna make sure you include words in those areas that are likely to be what people are searching for online. This helps your profile get found more often by the right people. Keep in mind these are not necessarily the exact same words YOU use to describe yourself and what you do.

8.   Don't try to directly sell anything in your profile. You just want to let people get to know you. However, you can absolutely talk about what you do or sell, as long as you aren't pitching them to buy right then and there.

9.   You don't have to create your entire profile at once. If you don't have all the parts ready to go, start with the parts that are easiest to put in place first. Then you can add more over time.

10.   Keep in mind that like live networking, social networking is about making connections, building relationships, and finding ways to help others. That's how you become known as a trusted expert and resource. Focus more on that and less on you and your goals and you'll be in excellent shape!

Of course, social networking is just one piece of the online marketing puzzle. The key lies in having an interconnected strategy. For example, Twitter alone isn't likely to do a thing to grow your business. It'll just help you grow your list of Twitter followers unless you use it to send them elsewhere.

Sure, you can get some solid online traction just by having your profile on sites like Facebook, LinkedIn or Biznik. But to really make it work like gangbusters to grow your business you need to use ALL these online tools to drive people back to a killer Website or blog.

Once they're on your site, you can connect with them on a deeper level, and make them an offer of something useful in exchange for their contact info. That way you can stay in touch and continue to build a relationship until they're ready to buy.

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About the Author:
Practical Marketing Expert Stacy Karacostas, founder of SuccessStream Sales & Marketing Solutions, specializes in taking the stress, struggle and confusion out of growing your small business. She's the author of the 2-page marketing plan workbook Putting Your Business on the Road to Success, and The Small Business Website Bible. Stacy also writes the fun and informative Marketing Junkie blog and Bright Ideas weekly newsletter.

For more practical, business-building wisdom help yourself to a copy of her free report The 7 Deadliest Small Business Marketing Sins... Are You Guilty?