This is a rebroadcast of Episode 117.
Synopsis
Today’s special guest is Mirna Bard and her topic is aligning online social networking with in-person networking. Here are some things you need to remember about social networking.
- It’s about people, not about technology. That makes it simple.
- Social networking will never replace in-person networking, but they work will together. (See episode 103 for more about this.)
- When you meet someone at an event, invite them to connect on LinkedIn, Facebook, Fast Pitch, or Twitter.
- When you meet someone online, invite them to meet up in person.
- The VCP process (visibility, credibility, profitability) still applies in online networking.
Part Two of this interview will bring us rules for building relationships online.
Brought to you by Networking Now.
Complete Transcription of BNI Podcast Episode 117 –
Priscilla:
Hello everyone, and welcome back to The Official BNI Podcast brought to you by NetworkingNow.com, which is the leading site on the Net for networking downloadables.
I’m Priscilla Rice, and I’m coming to you from Live Oak Recording Studio in Berkley, California, and I am joined on the phone today by the founder and the chairman of BNI, Dr. Ivan Misner.
Hello, Ivan how are you and where are you?
Ivan:
Hi, Priscilla. I’m doing great, been traveling a lot, back to southern California. I am up at my lake house in Big Bear, and today I have all the employees out from BNI headquarters to spend the day doing team building and having some fun up here in Big Bear.
Priscilla:
Well that sounds great! Who is our guest today?
Ivan:
We have a guest, Mirna Bard. Mirna is a social media strategist and coach. She has some great content on aligning social networking with offline networking. I would like Mirna to just run with it and talk about her ideas on how to align both online and offline networking because I think it is very relevant today with BNI.
So, Mirna, hello.
Mirna:
Hi, Ivan. How are you?
Ivan:
I am doing great! If I were doing any better, I would cancel my life insurance.
Mirna:
That’s not good.
Ivan:
Well, he is a BNI member, so I won’t actually do it.
Mirna:
Okay, good.
Ivan:
Tell us your thoughts about social networking and offline networking.
Mirna:
Well, Ivan, a lot of people can’t deny the fact that these days, businesses are adding social networking as part of their professional networking to try to generate those referrals and boost the sales. A lot of people are arguing that social networking sites have become a waste of time, but there are many of us, including me, that disagree with that point. Social networking can really provide business value.
Ivan:
I agree with you; I think it can provide business value, and that is why I invited you to speak here today. Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt you. Go ahead.
Mirna:
It is okay. Many feel intimidated and overwhelmed. I constantly get phone calls with people saying, “How does this work for my business; I cannot make it work,” because they are intimidated by a technology side where they cannot wrap their head around social networking. And it is just networking, nothing else. It is simple; we do not want to complicate it. All it is is it’s about people; it’s not about technology. That is what really makes it simple for people, and they should really not be reinventing the wheel with everything.
Of course, social networking can never replace face-to-face networking because we are missing that eye contact, the facial expressions, the hand gestures, but they are very powerful tools that can be aligned with offline networking strategies.
I like what you said a few episodes back when you were telling your listeners that is it not an “either/or” scenario, it is actually a “both/and” scenario.
Ivan:
Right, that is podcast number 103, for the listeners.
Mirna:
Yes, I believe it was 103. And I thought that was a perfect statement, because when it is done correctly, social networking, on sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, can actually compliment offline networking by putting together strategies you can really create and get the most out of both. So it is really important to have both in your marketing mix and not just one of them.
As far as social networking and how it can align with offline networking, well first, it helps us stay in touch with people. Instead of just going to a networking event and throwing that business card in a Rolodex after you meet somebody, invite that person to meet with you online, invite them to Facebook, to Twitter, to LinkedIn and really try to build that ongoing relationship with them, whether it is a personal or on a professional level. This will really help you out with creating the bond, the relationship, and the connection that you need in order to do business with that person.
You also get the opportunity to meet people offline. When I meet people on these social networking sites, it is really a nice way to invite them to have coffee with me, or lunch, or even invite them to a particular event. A lot of the social media sites are putting together meet-ups and events so people can connect offline.
Ivan:
The Ecademy has been really good at that over the years. I don’t know if you are familiar with Ecademy.
Mirna:
Yeah, I am. It is a great site.
Ivan:
They have been very active in terms of setting up business networking meetings face-to-face to support their existing online program. I think that is very smart.
Mirna:
They are all doing a great job at it. LinkedIn has groups, and they are always having events. Twitter, we now hear of Tweet Ups. Tweet Ups are just offline meet-ups that are giving people the opportunity to connect offline, which is just another great way to build those relationships.
When I personally go to offline meetings and networking events, now people come up to me and recognize my name and say “Oh, you know what, I am following you on Twitter,” or “I just friended you on Facebook, and you are providing great content.” It makes it easier for me to connect with these people and have that bond again.
It is also an icebreaker. When you are attempting to meet someone online because you know you are going to meet them offline, it really becomes that icebreaker. I don’t know if you remember this, Ivan, but when I first joined BNI, I actually connected with you on FastPitchNetworking.com first.
Ivan:
I have met a lot of members that way, either through FastPitch or LinkedIn, and I have to tell you, I was one of those people who did not want to sign up for Facebook. I dragged my feet for I don’t know how long, but after I signed up, there are so many members who have connected with me on Facebook, and it has been a great way for them to follow my podcast. This very podcast gets put up on my Facebook, my blogs, and other things. It was great to connect with you, and with other members that way.
Mirna:
It is great because once you do meet them offline, you have that icebreaker, you have that conversation. Just like when we met, we started to talk about Twitter right away, and we just had this nice conversation about social networking and Twitter. And it became a great icebreaker for both of us. I think this is how people can really use social networking to align it with their offline networking, including it in their marketing mix.
They are very similar. The only difference with social networking and offline networking is that social networking is like a cocktail party or networking event on steroids. The reason I say this is because it is very fast paced conversations that are happening every second, and you are trying to keep up with it.
If you are on Twitter, for example, it is like standing in the middle of a networking event and just chatting across the room with your conversation to see who is listening to you and who is paying attention. Would you agree with that?
Ivan:
I would. There is one other thing that I think is very important with understanding online networking; that is, the V.C.P. process that I talk about so much still applies. The whole idea is Visibility, Credibility, Profitability. It is almost easier to try and push to Credibility and Profitability even faster online than offline, because you are not actually standing in front of someone. And that is a mistake; you still have to build the relationship before you can ask for referrals or doing business with people. Would you not agree?
Mirna:
Yes, definitely. Like I said, there is no need to reinvent the wheel. The same rules apply offline as they do online. When I tell people this, it is a surprise to them, and it should really not be a surprise. We are not reinventing anything. Online social networking sites just gave us the opportunity to connect with these people and establish the relationships. And again, just like you said, you really have to build the credibility and the rapport before you jump into any kind of hard selling or spamming on these sites.
Ivan:
Well, we need to wrap up this podcast, Mirna. We are going to do a part two, if you want to give us just a one line preview of what we are going to cover on part two of this podcast.
Mirna:
Just like we talked about today, the rules do apply to both offline and online networking. In the next podcast, we are going to be going through all the rules and showing you exactly what you need to do to build those relationships online to increase your business and increase sales and referrals.
Ivan:
This is a great list of rules, and I am looking forward to covering this with you next week, Mirna.
Priscilla, back to you.
Priscilla:
Okay, great, Dr. Misner. Thank you so much.
I think that is it for this week. I want to remind you that this podcast has been brought to you by NetworkingNow.com which is the leading site on the Net for networking downloadables. Thanks so much for listening. This is Priscilla Rice, and we hope you’ll join us next week for another exciting episode of The Official BNI Podcast.
