Networking or building up a base of useful industry contacts is as excellent a tool online as it is offline.
Developing relationships with likeminded individuals or businesses can really enhance your online presence and reputation.
But, just as networking can be nerve-racking offline, so it can be in the online world.
What to remember is that whether you're a blogger or a business, you're ultimately seeking visibility and popularity online.
The Internet increases your target audience, but to reach it, you need to find it, capture its attention and convince it to choose you all through the right channels.
Let's take a look at what you stand to gain if you pluck up the courage to do some networking, and how best to approach people for networking purposes.
The Benefits Knowing people and establishing relationships in the industry can never be a bad thing, but it's important to make the most out of them.
The most notable benefit online is increased visibility within your target audience.
If you or your brand are featured on a well-respected blog or other relevant website, this will immediately drive interest to your site that could lead to more sales.
The more your name or your brand and related backlinks appear online, the more interesting and relevant it's also deemed by search engines.
A diverse range of backlinks leading from quality sources and directories seriously enhances your chance of being ranked higher for specific search terms.
The Approach First of all, don't just wait for someone to get in touch with you.
Don't be a wallflower! The most successful networkers offline are those who put on a beaming smile, give a solid handshake and say a confident 'hello' followed by an introduction.
Online, this translates into a confident and informative tweet, e-mail or blog comment.
Before randomly selecting someone who seems vaguely interesting, perform thorough market research as to who might be most valuable to you.
Dig deep into the world of blogs and seek out authorities in your area of interest.
One approach is to be very direct.
Structure your introduction to include information about who and what you and your business are.
Avoid beating around the bush and make your wish to collaborate clear.
Include why it is that you're so interested in this particular person or business.
For example, you could be a hotel with function suites and you could be contacting a blogger who reviews local wedding venues.
Offer something in return for their time and effort, such as a reciprocal link or guest post opportunity.
Another approach (more suited to less confident networkers) is to build up a rapport gradually, starting with blog comments or tweets in response to something your future contact has said.
This may spark a reaction and thus a natural conversation is started.
An important factor is to never just say thanks for the help and wish your contact the best of luck for the future.
It's important to stay in touch as you never know when he or she could be helpful again.
Keep them in the loop by sending regular updates or comment on their blog posts to let them know you still care.
In the worst case scenario, losing touch with your contact could mean they either erase the blog post or backlink, or even write another, scathing post.
As you can see, networking can form an important part of your search engine marketing strategy.
If you feel you're not confident enough to attempt your own networking, there are agencies that specialise in online services that can help you out, even if just to advise you or give you an initial push.
Developing relationships with likeminded individuals or businesses can really enhance your online presence and reputation.
But, just as networking can be nerve-racking offline, so it can be in the online world.
What to remember is that whether you're a blogger or a business, you're ultimately seeking visibility and popularity online.
The Internet increases your target audience, but to reach it, you need to find it, capture its attention and convince it to choose you all through the right channels.
Let's take a look at what you stand to gain if you pluck up the courage to do some networking, and how best to approach people for networking purposes.
The Benefits Knowing people and establishing relationships in the industry can never be a bad thing, but it's important to make the most out of them.
The most notable benefit online is increased visibility within your target audience.
If you or your brand are featured on a well-respected blog or other relevant website, this will immediately drive interest to your site that could lead to more sales.
The more your name or your brand and related backlinks appear online, the more interesting and relevant it's also deemed by search engines.
A diverse range of backlinks leading from quality sources and directories seriously enhances your chance of being ranked higher for specific search terms.
The Approach First of all, don't just wait for someone to get in touch with you.
Don't be a wallflower! The most successful networkers offline are those who put on a beaming smile, give a solid handshake and say a confident 'hello' followed by an introduction.
Online, this translates into a confident and informative tweet, e-mail or blog comment.
Before randomly selecting someone who seems vaguely interesting, perform thorough market research as to who might be most valuable to you.
Dig deep into the world of blogs and seek out authorities in your area of interest.
One approach is to be very direct.
Structure your introduction to include information about who and what you and your business are.
Avoid beating around the bush and make your wish to collaborate clear.
Include why it is that you're so interested in this particular person or business.
For example, you could be a hotel with function suites and you could be contacting a blogger who reviews local wedding venues.
Offer something in return for their time and effort, such as a reciprocal link or guest post opportunity.
Another approach (more suited to less confident networkers) is to build up a rapport gradually, starting with blog comments or tweets in response to something your future contact has said.
This may spark a reaction and thus a natural conversation is started.
An important factor is to never just say thanks for the help and wish your contact the best of luck for the future.
It's important to stay in touch as you never know when he or she could be helpful again.
Keep them in the loop by sending regular updates or comment on their blog posts to let them know you still care.
In the worst case scenario, losing touch with your contact could mean they either erase the blog post or backlink, or even write another, scathing post.
As you can see, networking can form an important part of your search engine marketing strategy.
If you feel you're not confident enough to attempt your own networking, there are agencies that specialise in online services that can help you out, even if just to advise you or give you an initial push.
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