For a professional, when it comes to business and lifestyle the two are one in the same. That’s why today you can see how social media networks are intertwined so tightly. Most professionals know the value of networking and social media and work hard to become proficient with them. It isn’t difficult.
One of the easiest things to do is set up a social media calendar where you put yourself on a schedule. Mondays are your Facebook days. Tuesdays and Thursdays are your Twitter days. Fridays are your joining new network days. Wednesdays are your pitch and post on You Tube days. Built the right way, you can easily cover all social media and networking tools out there and continue to build time for new ones.
In addition to the ubiquitous nature of social media, it also allows for a lot of networking and sharing of business information. If you want to share events, buy or sell discounted products and/or services, attract future partners or investors, seek out like-minded people or engage potential customers via a business page, social media and networking are the perfect solution. Another example is to pitch and post on You Tube, for groups, chat with new clients and post free ads.
The value of melding business and lifestyle also can help a professional truly reach out with their brand. For example, if you read a blog, you can tell pretty quickly if the owner is actually invested in the blog’s main idea, or if he is just rewriting words that he’s heard. The bottom line is that visitors can sense value. If you’re just filling up space, today’s intuitive and experienced reader will know it.
When looking for a business, consider your lifestyle and use that as a stepping off point. Formulate your business as an extension of who you are, as that is really what it is going to be. Any entrepreneur will tell you that they had a natural proclivity towards one or two business specialties and that helped to dictate what career direction they ventured into.
Once you have your idea, start networking. Get to know what is out there in terms of like-minded people who are looking for your resource. Join groups and forums. Discuss the details of what your value is and how you can help their needs. Be sure to brand yourself well as you venture into networking and social media. There are a lot of voices out there and you want to stand out as the best provider from the beginning of your career.
In the end, you are going to find that social media and networking are similar. They both bring huge value to your sale-ability by marketing your product or service. Be sure to utilize them both carefully and wisely. Take time to build your network and then continue to offer value. You’ll soon find that you are the go-to professional within your network.