What Makes a "Good Contact"?

I was talking to a few people upon my return from BookExpo, and found myself saying "I met a couple great leads and a few good ones." But now, I'm thinking "What makes them a good lead?" Are they saying "I made a great contact" after meeting me at the show?

It's not just the connection at the show that makes a "Good Contact," it's the relationship that buds at the show, and then blossoms with care and nurturing after the show.

Just like any other type of relationship, a "Good Contact" requires give and take, too. It requires trust on both parts and integrity on both parts. And you need to plan how to handle your new relationships from the early stages so they are able to grow. At CMI, we plan what we are doing with contacts before we go to a show or networking event. Sometimes you are the one getting the contact; sometimes you are the contact. You have to decide if the relationship is something you need and want in your professional life. Here are the questions that you should ask yourself:

• Is this going to be a one-way relationship, or are there reciprocal benefits?
• Do we have something legitimate to offer each other in our businesses or is it not really a perfect match?
• Do the benefits of this relationship outweigh the costs of nurturing and maintaining it?
• Am I willing to share my network with this person?

Set your own list of non-negotiables in the contacts you make -- and be aware that others are also doing the same (you hope). The most difficult part in the networking relationship is looking at yourself in the mirror and asking "Am I a good contact?"

For more great information on networking, read Jeff Beals' book Self Marketing Power.

Link Baiting -- We've Been Hooked!

As you’re aware, we’ve recently jumped head-first into the world of online networking, and we are seeing vast benefits from it already in the first few weeks. The number of unique visitors to our site has way more than doubled daily, as well as the reach of our message. According to Alexa.com, the number of visitors our site receives has gone up 400% since March 31 of this year. We attribute this jump in visitors to our presence on sites such as Facebook and Twitter, as well as Google AdWords, and our own blog. We’ve been able to spread our message further, and we would like to help our clients do the same.

With that in mind, here’s another great way to drive traffic to your website: "link baiting." The strength of the links you have connected to your site will determine how high Google’s search engine algorithm will rank it. Your rank is also determined by the number of visitors your site receives, and the way the site is designed and written.

Link baiting is not a quick process – it involves things such as getting businesses and organizations to put a link on their site for you, without necessarily returning the favor. It takes time for the search engines to crawl through websites and register the new links. In the long term, however, the benefits will float to the surface, and we know your page ranking will as well.

Erin Pankowski
Marketing Manager
Concierge Marketing
and Publishing Services

David DeFord's Take on Social Networking

David DeFord, President of Ordinary People Can Win Publishing
Company, and Author of I Wish to be Useful: A Guide for a More Meaningful Life

I've seen a recent upturn in sales of my books on Amazon and on my own website.
I attribute the increased sales to my Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn strategy.

Rather than tell every one of my Facebook friends, LinkedIn connections, and Twitter followers when I go to the bathroom or what I'm having for dinner, I keep it professional. Here are a few things I've been doing:
1. Posting motivational quotes that relate to my books
2. Telling everyone when I post a new episode of my podcast, I Wish to Be Useful, on iTunes.

These actions keep me on their minds in a positive light, and prompt some of them to check my podcast.

We’ve recently delved into the social networking world ourselves here at Concierge Marketing – and that’s just what it is – another world. There are so many aspects to social networking, but the good thing is that everything you post can be connected. That’s the trick; to get all of the parts to function as one creature and get your message out there to the right people.

For instance, when we post a new blog entry, we include a link on Twitter to let people know, so that hopefully they’ll click on the link to read it. Or if we find an article we think our friends and followers online would be interested in, we link to it. We are trying to drive traffic to our sites to give ourselves more name recognition, and also to better associate ourselves with others in our field.

Information is found and disseminated so quickly, it’s important to keep your message at the forefront of your tweets, Facebook posts, etc…Otherwise you’ll just get passed up for the next best thing. That’s something I’ve mentioned before, relevancy. So again, make sure that the things you are posting will be of value to potential or current customers.

Erin Pankowski
Marketing Manager
Concierge Marketing
and Publishing Services