Online Tools To Nurture Your Business Connections
There are many online tools for the beginning entrepreneur to use to warm up your business connections. I am learning about more every day since I am actively seeking ways to build this forum and help others understand how to best grow their firms in ways best for them. Currently I am using using Facebook, Twitter, Blogger and a few more tools I will mention below. Most of these resources have free versions with the ability to upgrade and take advantage of more features.
One tool that I have used for a while is Survey Gizmo. I love the flexibility it has versus other survey sites I have used in the past. You can create and send out an unlimited amount of surveys (only receive 250 complete responses per month though). Also you can create reports, print them, and have continued access to them for an unlimited amount of time. This is good for staying connected to your current and potential customers.
I found this wonderful article – 10 of the Best Social Media Tools for Entrepreneurs – and found even more tools to take advantage of. I’m currently on LinkedIn but haven’t used Answers or Company Profiles in a way that would best get the word out about my businesses (that is about to change). I have a YouTube account but have not determined how I will use video as a promotional or educational tool (hmmm….). I signed up for Mailchimp and am exploring it as an e-newsletter solution.
All of these resources are great tools to support your business. They are only for support, will only be as effective as you allow them to be, and are not to be relied on as the sole source of business development. The best tool for business development is you since no one can sell you and your passion like you can.
How effective has social media been for your business development?
Online Tools To Nurture Your Business Connections
There are many online tools for the beginning entrepreneur to use to warm up your business connections. I am learning about more every day since I am actively seeking ways to build this forum and help others understand how to best grow their firms in ways best for them. Currently I am using using Facebook, Twitter, Blogger and a few more tools I will mention below. Most of these resources have free versions with the ability to upgrade and take advantage of more features.
One tool that I have used for a while is Survey Gizmo. I love the flexibility it has versus other survey sites I have used in the past. You can create and send out an unlimited amount of surveys (only receive 250 complete responses per month though). Also you can create reports, print them, and have continued access to them for an unlimited amount of time. This is good for staying connected to your current and potential customers.
I found this wonderful article – 10 of the Best Social Media Tools for Entrepreneurs – and found even more tools to take advantage of. I’m currently on LinkedIn but haven’t used Answers or Company Profiles in a way that would best get the word out about my businesses (that is about to change). I have a YouTube account but have not determined how I will use video as a promotional or educational tool (hmmm….). I signed up for Mailchimp and am exploring it as an e-newsletter solution.
All of these resources are great tools to support your business. They are only for support, will only be as effective as you allow them to be, and are not to be relied on as the sole source of business development. The best tool for business development is you since no one can sell you and your passion like you can.
How effective has social media been for your business development?
October 2009: My Entrepreneurial Journey
Over the last couple of weeks, I have been looking at what to do to increase my income and still harness this drive I have around entrepreneurship. This blog has been very helpful with keeping me motivated to keep it moving (along with having these two babies). I know that I want to develop my business offline – pursuing more paying clients and output. To do that I have:
- attended a couple of business networking meetings as discussed in my blog post The 30 Sec Sell! and have been invited to more
- reached out to my network as suggested in the post Leveraging Your Rolodex… to seek business building opportunities
- submitted my first physical ad to run throughout the year in 2010
I am also building my presence online via the following methods:
- updating my website to attract new clients
- continuing to update this blog on a weekly basis, really to help me grow and share information with you as suggested in the post Seth Godin and Tom Peters on Blogging
- placing my blog in multiple directories so that others interested in entrepreneurship will have an easy way to find me
- joined The Millionaire Journey, a group of like-minded people also seeking to grow their income via multiple methods. It has been good to be connected as suggested in the post Create Your Own Community… fortunately, I did not have to create this one (but I’m working on that)
- created a Facebook fan page for YB Consulting to share with those I know
What I plan to do over the next couple of months are the following:
- Identify a couple of mentors that are considered “entrepreneur experts” and learn about what they do with that energy
- Find a networking group to join that I enjoy and will attend consistently
- Promote myself with organizations and people I could potentially partner with to optimally serve entrepreneurs as suggested in the post Partnering for Success
- Identify speaking opportunities in the area to share what I know and market my expertise
- Increase weekly blog posts including posts related to current, relevant news regarding entrepreneur and small business matters
- Create a few online forums to share information with and connect related individuals
- Create electronic products to share information online and develop another revenue stream. The first product I will do is an ebook based off the presentation below that I created for NSBE Alumni RTP a few years ago:
So as you see, I have a busy couple of months ahead of me. None of this includes Cardinal Business Strategies, Inc, the latest business I have founded. Every year, I get contacted by MBA students looking for internships with YB Consulting. I would LOVE to take on interns next year because of having sooo much work to do…
Not only am I providing information about entrepreneurship, I AM an entrepreneur and loving every minute of it!
Has this blog given you relevant information and inspiration for your business? What do you plan to do over the next couple of months to build business, particularly related to connecting to others? Please leave your comments.
October 2009: My Entrepreneurial Journey
Over the last couple of weeks, I have been looking at what to do to increase my income and still harness this drive I have around entrepreneurship. This blog has been very helpful with keeping me motivated to keep it moving (along with having these two babies). I know that I want to develop my business offline – pursuing more paying clients and output. To do that I have:
- attended a couple of business networking meetings as discussed in my blog post The 30 Sec Sell! and have been invited to more
- reached out to my network as suggested in the post Leveraging Your Rolodex… to seek business building opportunities
- submitted my first physical ad to run throughout the year in 2010
I am also building my presence online via the following methods:
- updating my website to attract new clients
- continuing to update this blog on a weekly basis, really to help me grow and share information with you as suggested in the post Seth Godin and Tom Peters on Blogging
- placing my blog in multiple directories so that others interested in entrepreneurship will have an easy way to find me
- joined The Millionaire Journey, a group of like-minded people also seeking to grow their income via multiple methods. It has been good to be connected as suggested in the post Create Your Own Community… fortunately, I did not have to create this one (but I’m working on that)
- created a Facebook fan page for YB Consulting to share with those I know
What I plan to do over the next couple of months are the following:
- Identify a couple of mentors that are considered “entrepreneur experts” and learn about what they do with that energy
- Find a networking group to join that I enjoy and will attend consistently
- Promote myself with organizations and people I could potentially partner with to optimally serve entrepreneurs as suggested in the post Partnering for Success
- Identify speaking opportunities in the area to share what I know and market my expertise
- Increase weekly blog posts including posts related to current, relevant news regarding entrepreneur and small business matters
- Create a few online forums to share information with and connect related individuals
- Create electronic products to share information online and develop another revenue stream. The first product I will do is an ebook based off the presentation below that I created for NSBE Alumni RTP a few years ago:
So as you see, I have a busy couple of months ahead of me. None of this includes Cardinal Business Strategies, Inc, the latest business I have founded. Every year, I get contacted by MBA students looking for internships with YB Consulting. I would LOVE to take on interns next year because of having sooo much work to do…
Not only am I providing information about entrepreneurship, I AM an entrepreneur and loving every minute of it!
Has this blog given you relevant information and inspiration for your business? What do you plan to do over the next couple of months to build business, particularly related to connecting to others? Please leave your comments.
Video of the Week: Leveraging Your Rolodex…
So, I’ve been searching for a video to highlight in relation to this month’s theme. As basic as the following piece of advice is, there are so many of us that do not follow it. Calling on your contacts seems so hard to do. Questions like “What do I say?” “Can they really help me?” “What will they think of me if I ask for help?”
Really, people enjoy providing help. Think about how you feel when someone asks you for help…
Entrepreneurship Guru Ingrid Vanderveldt provides a real life example of calling your contacts to pursue a business opportunity.
What she does not mention is the importance of actually contacting those people that you have been given the names of, then following up with those who provided the name(s) to let them know how the initial contact went. This can be challenging but very rewarding and likely worth it for you and your business.
Do not let fear hold you back from taking this advice! Remember, this blog is as much for me as it is for you… I’m preaching to myself…
