Strategic Networking

Strategic Networking

How to you build your online presence? There is a fantastic way to build your online business that is not only fun, but free!

Basically you find someone who is in a non-competing business and you work together to build both of your businesses at the same time. This type of networking takes a bit longer than just meeting people and asking them for their business, but it can payoff much greater in the end.

When you first start looking for strategic partners, it may take you a while to find the right fit. You need to find someone who is like minded so that you feel that the partnership is worth the time and effort. When I first started this process I targeted business relationship managers at banks. It took me several attempts before I finally found the right person to work with. Here are some tips to get started:

1. Join a few social networking sites like Facebook or Linkedin. Help other people with their business, share ideas, and give them referrals where appropriate. Find out what networking meetings they are going to and see if you can come along.

2. Always look to do business within your strategic networking groups. Instead of just going online and doing a search; look to your networking partners within your Facebook or Linkedin accounts. If you are going to make a purchase, why not stay within your network? You may even be able to negotiate a better price with someone you know. Over time, you will find that people you have done business with will do business with you.

3. Networking events can be more fun if you go with someone else. However, don’t make the mistake of sticking to that person like glue at the event. You already know that person! Make it a game; place a bet on who can get the most business cards at the function. If it is a dinner, don’t next to each other so that you will have new people sitting on both your right side and left side. Have your friend sit one or two persons away from you. That way you can still talk if it makes you more comfortable, but you are not spending the whole time with someone you already know.

4. If you are on Linkedin, make sure that you read the questions that others post, and if you know the answer…post it! This establishes you as an expert and gets your name out there. Once you get to know some people who may make viable strategic partners, step it up.

5. If you find someone who sells a service or product that is complementary to yours, have him write an article for your website. Give him a page on your website to sell his service. Ask him to do the same for you. This type of arrangement won’t necessarily help your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) as much as if you weren’t sharing links, but the fresh content will help the web crawler recognize your site.

6. Likewise, if you have a website that sells products that are complimentary, you can share Google ad costs with the business. Have the clicks go to a landing page that describes both products and then when someone inquires on the site you can split the leads. By sharing advertising costs, you can afford to pay more per click, get your ads higher up on the Google search engine, and get more clicks that translate to more sales.

Katherine Kline is Vice President of OFD Enterprises. She can be reached by emailing kathekline@OFDEnterprises.com or by calling 866-445-6683 ext 5207