Similarly, the way we connect with people, build our relationships and develop new ones has also changed. Most of us are not doing in-person meetings yet, most trade shows and events have been cancelled for the foreseeable future, and even a phone call or email might go unanswered.

The best option we have is to cultivate and build relationships virtually. If you use LinkedIn, you’ve probably noticed the high volume of connection requests and sales pitches popping up in your messages. While selling over LinkedIn is nothing new, the quantity of sales approaches is unprecedented – and it’s because it’s currently the best way to build a new relationship.

However, you have to be cautious when approaching new people. At this point, many are sick of the unsolicited communications that flood inboxes on a near-daily basis. An out-of-the-blue pitch, or unwanted piece of advice comes across as insincere at best, and the behaviour of a grifter at worse.

Who Are You?

That’s the first question somebody will ask when you approach them online. Before they even read your message, they’ll want to know who you are. Your profile needs to answer that question.

Ask yourself the same question, and tailor your profile appropriately. Use the space available to inform people who you are, what you do, and what type of connections you’re looking to make. Focus on skills and keywords that are relevant and desirable to your audience. Assume that people are busy, so keep your profile concise and to the point. Relevance is akin to quality when it comes to a LinkedIn profile, and that matters a lot more than length.

Get to Know People Before You Consider Selling

Approaching somebody new with a sales pitch is often regarded as poor etiquette online. Before you’ve even tried to learn something about a potential contact, you’re showering them with, often unwelcome, pitches.

Right now, a lot of people’s businesses are in flux. Investments are more considered than ever before. Somebody who seems like an ideal customer might not have the finances to make a new investment. They might be under pressure or stress, and your sales pitch could be the last thing they have time for.

Instead, get to know people you connect with. Try and understand their current position and what their immediate needs are, and where possible…

Offer Your Time and Expertise

In our sales programmes, we often talk about the value of generosity. Investing a little of your time to offer your skills and expertise can reap huge rewards. Look for ways you can add value, even if it means providing some assistance for free. It’s a great way to start a mutually beneficial relationship and build up some credit in the emotional bank account.

Get Involved

If you’re wondering how to uncover people’s needs, the simplest method is to get involved. Participate in discussions, join groups relevant to your industry, share articles that could be useful to others, etc. When you’re active, people take notice, and those who care about the future of their business may well ask if they could pick your brains.

Furthermore, by being active, you make yourself noticeable to people who want to connect with you. People gravitate towards those who they feel are like them. Commenting on other people’s posts and taking part in discussions is a fantastic way to market yourself beyond the confines of your own circle.

The post Building Your Business Relationships Online appeared first on Robin Lines Associates.

Times Change

Moreso than ever, marketing is based on trends. When you think about business promotion, it wasn’t that long ago that Myspace was all the rage but people moved over to Facebook. A few years back, Tumblr was the most prominent social platform among young people. Now that moniker goes to the likes of Instagram and Snapchat. Currently, GIFs and videos are the in-thing but that will no doubt change at some point.

If you’re running a small operation or working as a sole-trader, keeping up with and budgeting for all of these changing trends can be an enormous, near-impossible task. That’s why your current client base might be the best resource for leads and referrals. You have to do much less work to wow prospective clients with your Instagram stories and GIF game when someone you work with can recommend you to their circles.

Keep in Touch

It pays to keep in touch with existing clients. Of course, you should be aware of the new GDPR rules regarding the storing and processing of personal data but where possible, keep a friendly dialogue open with your clients. Ask to add them to LinkedIn as a connection or drop them a line now and again asking how things are going. Not only does it keep you in their mind for future opportunities with them but it may also result in a recommendation to someone else.

Skills Change

Much like how marketing trends change, so too do business trends. Over the thirty years I’ve worked as a sales coach, I’ve seen and even helped to develop multiple new courses based on new methodologies. Professional Selling Skills, FAB and USP, Solution Selling, LAMP, SPIN, Value, Challenger, Social – I’ve had to learn new skillsets to do my job as I’m sure most of you have to do yours.

Staying at the forefront of your area of expertise, learning new skills and offering them to your existing clients can also help you get those referrals you want. If a current client doesn’t need the new programme or service you’re offering, they may well know somebody else who does.

Keep online profiles, websites, blogs, etc. up-to-date with every new skill you’ve gained and the service you offer. I recommend a periodic review of your most important marketing assets to make sure the information they contain is current and relevant.

Let Clients Know of Other Services

I offer a variety of services in addition to sales coaching. If you also provide several services, then make sure your clients are aware. They might have contracted you for one area and not know that you’re adept in other areas that they have a current need for. Even if a customer doesn’t need another service immediately, they may require a future solution or, again, be able to refer you to another prospect within their circle.

Be sure to listen to your clients. You’d be surprised how often a customer might mention a specific challenge or obstacle they’re facing that you’re ideally placed to help with. Remember, if you can offer the solution they need then speak up!

Ask for Business

Never forget to ask for more business. Let your customers know that you’re available and ready to work at any time in the future. Sometimes a client might even have more of the same work for you now. Don’t start spamming inboxes, of course, but remember that a little persistence isn’t a bad thing. If your client is happy with the work you’ve done, then they will be more inclined to give you further business.

In closing, always keep a positive relationship with your clients. Keep in touch with them, try and connect with them on platforms such as LinkedIn and always keep them notified of anything new you might be able to offer. Your existing clients can be a strong source of repeat work and a powerful voice with their referrals and recommendations.

The post Utilising the Potential Opportunities from Existing Clients appeared first on Robin Lines Associates.

There are those who sit around waiting for opportunities to come to them. Occasionally, one gets lucky – but luck is all it is. We are all lucky at some point in life, but the problem with relying on luck is that we have no control when it comes and how it helps. The clear majority of us cannot and should not rely on luck to make our way in life. We should take control and make our own luck.

Last week when we looked at identifying target audiences, we encouraged you to take time to understand the problems a business or client faces. This week, we want to expand on that and look at how you can build relationships. While opportunities can arise from various sources, we cannot ignore the fact many come from our connections.

Remember the “monkeysphere” we mentioned last week? If someone is asked to recommend a person for a job, they will often show bias to friends. This bias is why companies make an effort to try and connect with people on a personal level. Staff are trained to address you by your first name. Algorithms try to identify what products or services are relevant to you. Marketing materials attempt to imply a bond between consumer and supplier. Similar logic applies in business. If you are not making friends, you are not creating opportunities.
 

Create Opportunities

How do you create opportunities? There was a time when taking out a golf club membership was considered to be a necessity in business. Today, however, we have a few more options. For example, have you ever looked at local business events? You might be surprised just how many big and small events take place near to you every month. Google them, or check the local newspaper. Many towns even have specific clubs for small business owners or local entrepreneurs.

Find the events that fit with what you want to achieve. Some of these events will be casual gatherings, whereas others will be more formal events with guest speakers. Try to attend a variety of events and be prepared to do some networking. Look for opportunities to build a relationship with other people, especially those in similar fields.

Since the same people often attend these events, being seen at them gets you noticed. Even without speaking to someone, you are communicating with them that you are serious about your work. Being perceived in this way can encourage others to want to get to know you. Every connection you make is a potential opportunity, especially if you take the time to build the relationship.
 

Get Social

Another way to build relationships is via social media. Twitter can be a great way of reaching and engaging with influencers in your field. While many of the most followed Twitter users rarely check their engagements due to sheer volume, their actual followers will. Responding to tweets with a thoughtful response can attract people to you. LinkedIn is another way to engage with potential influencers. However, be aware that some people prefer to keep their circles to people they know.

Identifying what engages others on social media can also be very useful. If the influencers you follow regularly tweet about specific topics, tweeting or writing blog posts about the same subject can attract attention. Remember, influencers are so because they influence the conversation; they are the Thought Leaders we have discussed previously.

Where possible, whether it be on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook or another social network, try and respond with a comment instead of simply liking the post. When your goal is to build your connections to create further opportunities, a like is meaningless. Few people bother to check who else has liked a post. Sometimes you do just genuinely ‘like’ a post or update and have nothing further to contribute, and that is fine. It does not say anything bad about you, but if you could say something, you are missing an exposure opportunity by not saying it.
 

Stay Rational

A final word of warning about social media: everything you publish on the Internet is cached and logged forever. Those with a habit of engaging in highly charged political discussions, or tweeting inebriated insults towards fans of a rival football club may want to start a new profile and rethink their behaviour. Even a deleted tweet can come back to haunt you.

Whichever way you choose to begin building your circles, keep active and consistent. You want to position yourself as a reliable, rational and regular voice in your field. The more people that begin to take notice of you, and the more relationships you can build, the better the chances that opportunities will start to come your way.

The post Building Relationships and Creating Opportunities appeared first on Robin Lines Associates.

As the adage goes, image is everything. In this case, however, we are not only talking about the photograph on your LinkedIn page but what you are communicating about yourself.
 

Consistency

Let us first look at consistency. Think about Apple as a brand. They are a manufacturer of premium tech products. Arguably, their products are overpriced when compared to competitors. Varying features aside, the iPhone is no better than a flagship smartphone from another company. The iMac range is considerably more expensive than even a mid-range laptop from competitors with similar specifications. This is true across the entire Apple product lineup.

However, people still buy Apple products. Queues form outside shops for the latest iPhones. Why is this? It is because Apple has cultivated a consistent, premium image. Additionally, Apple has mastered incremental upgrades over overhauls. People will pay the price because they believe they are getting that extra level of quality and service. Consumers love consistency, in both quality and design. When Microsoft introduced Windows 8, an objectively better operating system than any predecessor, they received a huge backlash due to overwhelming user interface changes.

Consumers are not the only ones who value consistency; future employers will too. Consistency is the first thing you should strive for when building your professional image. Your managers and your clients will value someone they feel they can trust to bring the same effort and commitment to every project. Learning time management strategies can be very helpful here. Similarly, setting aside specific periods of the day to check and respond to emails or return phone calls helps to start building a solid, consistent foundation.
 

What is Your USP?

Another thing that both potential employers and consumers look for is uniqueness. Everybody wants to feel that he or she has something that few others possess. Think back to Apple; for all the units they shift, comparatively few people own an iPhone compared to an Android phone. Even fewer own an iMac compared to a Windows-based system. Why did Paul Pogba, Cristiano Ronaldo or Neymar command such huge transfer fees? These people have skills that few others do, and with that comes an enormous amount of merchandising potential.

What unique abilities do you offer that can become a marketable draw? What thing do you believe is something that you can do better than almost anybody else? We are not looking at arrogant delusion but self-awareness of what makes you unique. Are you an excellent reader of people, or blessed with quick reactions to rapidly changing circumstances? Whatever your critical ability is, you should find a way to make it part of your image.
 

Be Creative

Creativity can help sell your uniqueness. In today’s social media connected world, standing out from the crowd is critical to being noticed. Fortunately, there are many ways to do this. Putting some effort into your social media profiles can reap significant rewards, especially when you remember our previous posts on aiming for the jobs you want. Do not just upload a photo of you in a suit and reel off a few bits of your previous jobs; present yourself in a way that your competitors are not. You might want to refer to our post on Generating Leads on LinkedIn for some ideas.

Do not be afraid to address the difficulties you have had. Any leader worthy of the title knows that virtually all of us have suffered setbacks. However, setbacks do not define the person. How we respond does. You might want to consider turning some of these difficulties into case studies for a portfolio of your work, detailing the brief, the obstacles and how you confronted them. This comes back to consistency – quitters are not consistent.
 

Are You Memorable?

Finally, for today, consider how you can make yourself memorable. Anthropologist Robin Dunbar suggested there is a cognitive limit to the number of stable social relationships that we can maintain. Dunbar’s Number is often referred to as ‘the monkeysphere’. Once we reach the upper limit of approximately 150 people, it is theorised that we are unable to maintain further connections. Worse still, we are no longer able to conceptualise those people as people.

People remain in our monkeysphere depending on the importance that we place on them and how memorable they are to us. What this means for our professional image is that we must always strive to make ourselves memorable; to remain as one of the ‘people’ in our client’s minds. As I have often said, people buy from people. Making yourself memorable is one way of ensuring that they will buy from you.

You might want to read our brief guide to networking. Another way to become memorable is to aim to connect with people on more meaningful levels. Do not be afraid to discuss hobbies with people, or to talk about your family on your LinkedIn page. Even the smallest thing could help you be seen as an actual person and that is a big step to getting the future gigs you are after.

The post Your Personal Brand and Your Professional Image appeared first on Robin Lines Associates.

Start With an Ending

To do this, let us first think forward to where we feel we would like to end our career. Depending on your industry, this may seem an impossibility. If you work in technology, for example, the chances are that even the most cutting-edge minds cannot accurately predict every development over the coming decades.

However, what we can think about is at what point we could look back on our working life and be happy with the results. Do you want to be a CEO? A Lead Designer? A Head Partner? Maybe you want to build your own business from scratch, make it a success and then pass over the reins to your children?

Whatever you may want, having a destination for your journey helps you plan a route. Moreover, by taking into account what we learned about our values, passions and traits, we can better plan the trip by taking a more desirable path. There could be any number of ways to achieve our goals, but we want to do so in the way that makes us happiest.
 

Consider the Past and Present

Think about your past jobs and your current one and consider what you like about them and what you dislike. When you do so, reflect on the lists we asked you to make last week. Try and draw correlations between your values, passions and traits and what has made you happy or unhappy at work. If you are an introverted person but have landed a customer service role at some point, it is quite likely that dealing with angry customers made you unhappy. If you are a creative person but have worked in a rather monotonous role that probably did not leave you feeling joyful.

However negative your professional experience, there will most likely be things you found rewarding. What we find rewarding often links back to who we are. When we reflect on these aspects, we can then start to think about what type of professional (and personal) life we want in the future. If your goal is to be a Marketing Director, then it may seem prudent to take sales jobs. However, working in sales is not the only way to becoming a Marketing Director, particularly if previous sales jobs have left you unhappy.

Again, make your list. Assess your professional life to date and draw up the positives and negatives. Compare them to your values, passions, and traits, and you should be able to begin categorising your experiences. At this point, potential paths to both success and happiness should start to reveal themselves.
 

Plan Your Journey

By ensuring that we stick to our values, we can also consider whether our goal is realistic. Would your destination be too contradictory? For example, would you still want to a Sales Director if it meant prolonged periods away from your family? We should always remember, we can change our goals. Many people get to a point in life and decide to change things. What we are doing now is ensuring we can consider any future changes in an informed way.

At this point, we should have a better understanding of who we are and where we want to be. We should also be able to gauge whether the next stage of our journey is going to fulfil us in the way that we hope it will. Most importantly, we are starting to put our personal brand together in a way that can be beneficial in the long-term. With care and thought, we can be sure that any job application or career move we make is something that we know is the right move for us.

When we are asked “Where do you see yourself in five years?” or “Why did you take your last position?” we can have an answer. We can answer all those interview-style questions with confidence and authority because we know who we are and we know what we want. Moreover, we can communicate this to others.

However, we still have more to learn. Now that we know more about our brand we need to ensure others see it too. In our next post, we will look at how to ensure your professional image and your personal brand complement one another well.

The post Moving Forward With Your Personal Brand appeared first on Robin Lines Associates.

The first thing any prospective client will likely see is your profile picture. This is your first chance to make a good impression. The conventional wisdom is to use a simple headshot. However, depending on your business, you might want to break with convention. If for example, you are an illustrator, then you could use a self-portrait to provide an immediate example of your work. Your profile picture should say as much as about you as it possibly can.

When building your profile, consider the keywords that someone might use to find you and avoid simply listing your job title(s). For example, if you work for a media production business, your title might be Creative Director. However, people are unlikely to search for vague terms. Instead, you might want to consider what roles your title encompasses and put them down instead. Someone is far more likely to search for ‘video marketer’ than a ‘creative director’.

Entice People

Your profile will be listed among numerous other profiles. If you are to generate any business, you need to stand out. Give people a reason to click your profile.

The best way to do this is to combine your keywords with a brief statement about what you do. A Social Media Manager might say something like “Social Media Manager experienced in increasing engagement rate and reducing cost-per-click”.

In the above example, that quick statement tells us the field of expertise, along with knowledge of the important aspects of a social media manager’s job.

Summary, Not Life Story

Your Summary section needs to be clear, concise and speak to potential engagers. Avoid turning into Charles Dickens and scrawling a gigantic wall-of-text that becomes challenging and tedious to read. Instead, write a couple of sentences that indicate your history, and your enjoyment of your work. Share a little bit of your personal journey, but not too much, and then ensure that your summary contains your keywords.

Feel free to give yourself credibility by referencing your experience and previous clients. Above all, make sure your copy is speaking to your target market. Your Summary must stay focused on what you do, and what you offer.

Finally, ensure that your Summary ends with a Call to Action. If you do not include a Call to Action, prospective clients may believe that you are not currently looking for extra work. Instead, tell people what to do next; should they visit your site to contact you? Should they connect on LinkedIn and send you an InMail? You must make it easy for people to take the next step.

Grow Your Network

In searches, LinkedIn favours the profiles of those connected to other connections. You are unlikely to appear high in the search results of someone with whom you have no connections at all.

Connecting with colleagues and previous clients is a good first step. Regarding the latter, past clients are a good way of generating word of mouth leads on LinkedIn. In today’s world, people often defer to their circles when choosing professional services for business. Former and current clients, therefore, are very likely to link to your profile if someone asks for recommendations.

You may also want to consider joining relevant LinkedIn discussion groups. Virtually every industry, from business consultancy to creative writing, is represented on LinkedIn groups. By joining and engaging with these groups, you increase your presence and credibility on LinkedIn, which can lead to more connections and a greater public profile.

Get Active

Too many people treat LinkedIn as a CV storage directory. You cannot expect to put up a profile and for people to come to you. Think about why major brands such as Nike and McDonalds continue to advertise their products and services? It is because they want to remain at the forefront of consumer’s minds. You should treat LinkedIn similarly.

Writing your own posts/articles, and responding to other people’s is a good way of keeping an active profile. If you regularly post insightful and creative content, you increase the chance others will engage with you.

Similarly, engage with new connections. Send them a quick note thanking them for connecting with you, and offer them something of value. Whenever someone endorses you, do the same. Avoid using automated services for this, however, as people quickly become accustomed to automation and it lacks the personal touch.

Encourage Testimonials

LinkedIn has one major advantage over a website – the testimonials are definitely credible. When you see a testimonial on a website, often you have little to no evidence that the testimonial is not made up! A testimonial on LinkedIn, however, is traceable to another profile. This is the reason why every testimonial on Robin Lines Associates is taken directly from LinkedIn. A user can click through to LinkedIn and see the endorsements on my LinkedIn profile.

When generating leads on LinkedIn, many people will head straight to the testimonial section. They are looking for evidence that a person is capable of delivering what they promise in their profile.

A good way of encouraging testimonials is to offer them yourself. If you have worked with a particularly good client, then let the world know. You might be providing a service for them, but it does not prevent you writing words of appreciation for a good manager or consultant. Much like sharing business cards, one kind gesture often encourages another.

The post Generating Leads on LinkedIn appeared first on Robin Lines Associates.

I prefer to think that what you know helps to expand whom you know. However, the importance of good networking cannot be understated. Building up a circle of influential contacts within your field creates opportunities, provides chances to learn and even helps to market both your business and your personal brand.

Networking is building relationships and is a natural part of business, but it is an area many in which many people struggle. If you are a naturally reserved individual, it can feel intimidating, and you may well feel that you have little to offer. Let’s discuss some ways to making your networking experience fruitful and productive.
 

Networking Basics

Always do your research. No matter whether it is an industry organisation meeting, a trade show, an informal business luncheon or a LinkedIn group, some opportunities will work for you and others will not. You want to take some time to get a sense of what a particular group does, whether it is supportive of its members and whether the group shares a similar approach to yourself.

Do not feel obliged to throw yourself in every networking opportunity, because each one requires a time investment. You want to invest wisely so do a little bit of research and try and find out as much as you can before committing to a group.
 

Be Honest

Eventually, we all encounter “that guy” – the individual who believes that by spinning fanciful yarns about his achievements and experiences he can woo people. Not only do such stories rarely hold up under scrutiny, but they also provide the single most powerful insight into that guy’s character – he is out for himself.

Good networking is about building mutually beneficial relationships. Even if you are just starting out, be honest about it. There will be people who want to help you, who want to work with you. If you cannot impress somebody with your accomplishments, instead impress them with your enthusiasm and personality. People want to work with people. “That guy” is nothing but a fictional character.
 

Business Cards

Do not always offer your business card. However, do always ask for somebody else’s. If someone asks for your business card, that is great, but do ask for theirs in return. It is a simple gesture, but it goes right back to the mutually beneficial relationship aspect of business networking.

If you ask for somebody’s card, then out of politeness they may very well ask for yours. If somebody asks you for a card, even if only out of politeness, he or she are much less likely to bin it than if you offer it to them unsolicited. It also has to be said that offering somebody an unwanted business card is much like signing them up for your newsletter because you have their email address – poor etiquette.
 

Phone – Silent

At any event, your phone must be on silent. If you are speaking with someone and your phone rings, there is no positive outcome. If you ignore the phone, you look like somebody who does not care about potentially important calls. If you excuse yourself to answer the phone, then you look like someone who does not care about the person with whom you were speaking.

Keeping your phone on silent avoids this. You can always check for missed calls in between conversations. Ensure that if you do need to return a call, you go somewhere private to do it.
 

Talk to Strangers

Even if you are at an event with a host of people from work, make an effort to speak with strangers. You should not rely on your coworkers or friends to introduce you. Making an effort to present yourself gives the impression of confidence. It can also be a way to meet and talk with people that you would not have met if you had stayed in your circle.

When speaking, opt for open-ended questions. The common “What do you do?” is not going to cut it. It is too easy to answer, and if you cannot think of an immediate follow-up question to the answer, then you risk cutting a potentially valuable conversation short. You should also develop the art of small-talk, as well. People can grow weary of discussing their work all the time, so some well-managed chit-chat can help you stay in their mind as a person that they liked.
 

Do Not Sell

When you find someone who you can tell is after services just like the ones you offer, it can be so tempting to pitch to them on the spot. However, again, networking is about building relationships, and very few relationships start off well with an unsolicited sales conversation.

If they invite you to discuss your business, then have a short “elevator style” pitch prepared. If they do not, instead, ask for their card and wait a few days. Drop them a short email, mentioning that you enjoyed meeting with them and hope to speak again. If they respond in kind, then you can look to arranging a follow-up meeting to offer some services.

Never assume that because you have their card, or that you had a good chat, that you can pitch to them or use them as a business resource. Make sure that they’re inviting you to do so.

The post A Quick Guide to Business Networking appeared first on Robin Lines Associates.