In today’s world of technological communications, it seems that the world is getting smaller every day. Thanks to the likes of Facebook and Twitter, it’s increasingly common for one’s college friends to know their childhood friends or for someone’s current boss to have worked with his or her previous boss. For some people, this interconnectedness may be exciting or fun. But anyone hoping to expand their business, explore new professional opportunities or associate with new people may find today’s techno-relationships stifling rather than liberating.
If you fall into this category, don’t get depressed- there are ways in which you can use social media to meet new people and to expand your network beyond the overlapping circles you’ve come to resent. Try the following five suggestions to use social media to meet new and exciting people in your niche.
1 – Take Advantage of Linkedin – For Real
It may sound obvious, but many people aren’t using Linkedin to their optimal advantage. In contrast to social networks like Facebook where picture-laden profiles often lack details about your friends’ friends, Linkedin allows you to browse your Halloween contacts’ professional connections and to get a full sense of what each person does. With this understanding, you can either reach out to a friend’s connection directly, or ask for an introduction.
Another way to use Linkedin is to join groups in your field or related fields in which you can connect with total strangers who work in your niche. If you work in web design, for example, join groups of marketers and webmasters who may want to use your services. Don’t be afraid to reach out and to pitch your
latest idea (or yourself) – many professionals appreciate hearing bout new opportunities, and those who don’t will likely just ignore your overtones, leaving you no worse off than you were before.
2 – Get Attention with a Mention
It sounds unlikely, but I’ve seen several people make fantastic connections simply by mentioning someone that they don’t know on social sites like Twitter. If you’ve launched a product or written a specifically inspiring article that you think deserves notice in your niche, share it, and publically mention people that you’re looking to connect with who you think would directly benefit from your offering.
3 – Be Authentic and Appropriate
One of the biggest drawbacks of social media outlets these days is the ability to create a false profile or a misleading sense of oneself. But people who truly stand out online are those whose persona exudes honesty and integrity, rather than a raw desire to get noticed. If you plan to use social networking tools as a way to meet people in your niche, make sure to present yourself with a profile get noticed for its positive attributes rather than its inappropriateness. This applies especially to sites with photo sharing options and those in which a single use of slander or bad language is likely to get you ignored for all the wrong reasons.
4 – Don’t Overdo It
One of the biggest mistakes that people make when using social media to meet people in their niche is to ask for too many introductions. This type of behavior may yield an initial contact or two, but will more likely cause you to alienate the people who do have connections, so that they avoid you, or, worse, mention your desperation to the people you’re trying to connect with. When using social media as a means to connect with others, create specific reasons why you’d want to connect with a specific person, so that the intermediary sees value in each connection. This will dramatically increase your chances of success.
5 – Meet in Person, then Connect Online
In the past, meeting people required the exchange of business cards which would be promptly lost or discarded, effectively ending the relationship. Today, connections are significantly longer-lasting, thanks to the ability to connect online after meeting in person. If you attend professional conferences, workshops or presentations, make sure to speak to people in your niche, and to invite them into your social network after the event. In the worst case, if you didn’t get up the nerve to speak to the people you’re truly interested in, you can still try to connect with them online after the event, by sending a note that you both attended the same event, or you loved his or her speech, or something that will get attention. Once connected, don’t make your pitch immediately – let the relationship grow naturally before showing your true intentions. After all, nobody likes to connect with people who have purely
selfish motives.