1. Be There.

In this day and age of technology and gadgets, it is hard to have a decent conversation with someone without any interference. There is nothing less professional than trying to have a conversation and the other person pulls out their phone to send a text or update their Facebook. Leave your phone alone. In fact, it is probably better to just put your devices on vibrate so that they won’t be a distraction.

2. Ask Good Questions.

When trying to make conversation, don’t ask lame questions. There are many thought provoking questions you can ask that makes the other person really open up and talk. Ask about how they got started in their line of work or how they started their business. Talk about what you both enjoy in your jobs. The flow needs to happen naturally and easily. Don’t over think this tip or you will self-sabotage yourself. The best way to do this is to be truly interested.

3. Don’t Be A Snob.

Talk to a lot of people, not just those who you think are of the most benefit to you. Be friendly and kind by contributing to the group conversations at the tables you sit at. Be social and talk to people from all different positions and companies. If you just can’t find any reason to be nice, you should be nice in case you need someone’s business one day.

4. Have a Great Business Card.

Usually at networking events, people walk away having a hard time remembering who said and does what. It can be a bit confusing when there are so many people, and that is why businesses and business people like to hand out business cards. When someone has to remember you from your business card, it is very helpful to have a really memorable  card to hand out. Make upgrades to your card by changing up the material it is printed on, graphics used, or maybe having something to make people laugh on it. No matter what you do, make your card not only stand out, but be sure it has all the information that is required on it to help someone remember what you do and how to contact you.

5. Social Network.

Don’t let the networking stop when you leave the event. Ask permission during a conversation to look someone up on a site like Linked In, or Facebook, or any other site that will allow you to see and remember who the person is and what they do. The more professional you can go, the better. By joining up forces on one of these sites, it is easier to find that person again when business collaboration is needed. It also helps to see someone’s picture to concretely put together a name and a face.

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a)      Create short, crisp ‘tweets’ – Researches have shown that, ‘tweets’ that are less than 100 characters in length enjoy greater engagement from readers/followers. Yes, you have a maximum of 140 characters for every tweet, but you need not use them all!

b)     Place the twitter widget on your website – Your ‘tweets’ might be the most informative ever, but what if the website visitors have no chance of navigating to your Twitter profile? Make sure that inclusion of the Twitter widget (along with the other social media widgets) forms a part of your web design & development plans. By the same token, people should also be able to browse back from your Twitter profile to the main website. Click here for tips on inserting social media widgets on your website.

c)      Tweet at regular intervals right through the day – Posting a tweet is almost like sharing a piece of breaking news. Hire the services of a professional, who would be in charge of tweeting about various news and updates related to your business, at regular intervals. The tweets, however, should not be posted too often (unless, of course, you have a news agency of your own). You can use ‘tweet-scheduler’ applications (e.g., HootSuite) to schedule tweets during the non-office hours too. Find out more about tweet-schedulers here.

d)     Use the ‘#’ and the ‘@’ tags – Twitter allows you to highlight words and phrases with the ‘#’ tag, and you need to make good use of it. Place this highlighting symbol before the names of your company, brands and products/services, whenever you use them in your tweets. Similarly, you can interact with your business partners and clients directly, by using the ‘reply’ (‘@’) tag. You also need to be conversant with the different URL-shortening applications. Social media integaration is, after all, meant for more interpersonal communication.

e)      Compose tweets which would go viral – Unless your Twitter posts stoke the interest of viewers, the channel will hardly be able to complement even your best website design plans. Think up relevant tweets that would have high chances of being re-tweeted by your ‘followers’. Just like getting ‘likes’ on Facebook posts, having ‘retweets’ on Twitter is equivalent to positive word-of-mouth publicity.

f)       Think beyond text tweets – How many times have you seen your rival businesses, as well as individual users, post images in their tweets? Take a leaf out of their books, and use pictures and videos judiciously in the posts that you publish right through the day. Visually acquainting the visitors to your products/services would always work to your advantage!

g)      Find out whom to follow – Growing the total number of followers is definitely one of the prime objectives of having a Twitter profile for business, but it should never be your only target. You also need to determine the people/business profiles that you would follow. Apart from your regular business partners and stakeholders, you can also find out people/companies who have excelled in your line of business, and follow them. The total numbrer of people you are ‘following’ should never be higher than your number of ‘followers’.

h)      Keep track of the ‘trending’ topics – Your website development plans have to be in keeping with the tastes and interests of the intended visitors, and the Twitter account should be managed in a same way as well. Find out which topics/products related to your industry are ‘trending’ high on Twitter, and compose your tweets accordingly.

Practically all types of business-related information can be conveyed via Twitter. Chalk out your website design in a way that the live tweets are visible to the website visitors too. Twitter can serve as a powerful new-age business marketing tool – you only need to know how to use it best!

Author: Kenneth Parkar – Follow him on Google+.

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Having said that, since the advent of the digital age many of us make sure we are able to remain in touch our normal lives while we’re away. Whether we choose to take a laptop, tablet or cellphone with us, or perhaps we make a daily trip to the local Internet café, we don’t quite feel as though we can relax properly without knowing everything is OK back home. Here are four common reasons to get onto to the web during a vacation.

Send and receive emails

The first thing most people do when they log on to the Internet when on holiday is to sign into their email account. For many tourists, the email system is the only way to remain in touch with people back home, so they therefore feel happier once they have ascertained that there are no issues that need to be dealt with. A sizable proportion of travellers also check their work inbox at least once or twice while they’re away as well.

Find out the sports results

OK it’s fair to assume this is mainly a male thing, but it doesn’t make it any less important. There are plenty of tourists who won’t be able to relax fully on even the most comfortable sun-lounger if they don’t know whether the New York Jets, Manchester United or the All Blacks won their most recent game. Thankfully, the Internet makes it easy to keep up with the sporting action from all across the globe.

Social networking

A quick look at Facebook or Twitter is often all that’s needed to keep us up to date with all the news and gossip from home. Social networking sites have become increasingly popular in recent times – there are more than 160 million Facebook users in the USA alone – and for many people the day isn’t truly complete without a look at the statuses of friends, work colleagues and family members.

Check out the weather forecast

Looking at online weather forecasts on holiday serves a double purpose. You can find out hopefully how hot and sunny it’s going to be in your chosen destination in the coming days and, perhaps more importantly, how wet and miserable it will be back home. Needless to say, it can be great fun to let everyone know just how warm you currently are and how the only way to keep cool is by ordering an ice cold drink.

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While most people associate LinkedIn with businesses, there is no reason why a small business owner can’t take advantage of alternate social networks like Pinterest to gain followers and promote the brand.

Read on for three ways businesses can capitalize on Pinterest as part of a comprehensive marketing campaign and learn tips for attracting followers – regardless of the type of industry you’re in.

Think outside the box

Many business owners shy away from Pinterest because they think they have to be artistic, or they’re worried that their company isn’t relevant to the Pinterest concept. But any type of business can promote a brand via Pinterest, it just takes some creative brainstorming.

For example, let’s say you’re in an industry that is typically less conducive to the Pinterest model, like finance. You can upload pictures and creative boards that merely touch on the theme. The merchant account provider, High Risk Pay, has Pinterest boards that include inspirational quotes about achieving success, images of luxurious goods, and the logos of successful brands.

Embrace your inner photographer

If the images you believe are relevant to your business are absent from Pinterest, it’s time to take the lead. Invest in a nice camera, or use your smart phone to take pictures that embody the culture of the company. Use a reliable photo editing software to make even the most basic pictures look artistic and visually appealing. Picmonkey and Skitch are two free programs that allow the user total control over uploaded images. Another option is to create a board on Pinterest specific to images from the company blog. It’s a great way to drive traffic from Pinterest to pages or websites more specific to the business and it will increase blog exposure.

Use Infographics

Infographics and instructographics are a great way to sum up an aspect of your industry in a visually appealing way. Most Pinterest users have become accustomed to the role of infographics on Pinterest and they are just as willing to “like” and re-pin these images as any others. Instructographics allow you to gather company data and industry stats and share it with others in a compelling format. Without making a hard sales pitch, an infographic can be the call to action that spurs others towards using your products or services.

Ultimately, like any social media platform, Pinterest is what you make of it. Companies of all shapes and sizes are jumping aboard the Pinterest bandwagon because the data shows consistent growth across the network. Don’t commit to Pinterest (or any social media network) if you can’t regularly log on and engage with followers, but if you have the time and resources to craft an online presence, the payoff is certainly worth it.

Author: Brian Patterson – Follow him on Google+

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