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The past few days, as I mentioned I have been connecting with people at a national trade show. It was a very successful experience because my focus was on focusing on people analytics and not follower counts.
I listed specific names of people who visited and focused on whether they were current clients or potential clients.
In addition, I hooked up with some real advocates for myself and my company. These are the valuable connections I have made on Linkedin and Twitter. These connections are valuable in the fact that they help tell my story and actually take an interest in what I do.
As a result, I have the following:
- a list of names,
- their needs
- follow-up questions
- a way to connect with them: email, phone, social media id.
I will take this type of information over any follower count or like count. I happened to hear some more social media talk at this trade show and still cannot believe how many people are so adamant about building follower counts.
Hey, if this is your goal buy an automated follower, package and start building your numbers. I can even give you two good products that will accomplish this task. Also, you can buy some likes while you are at it on Facebook or spam the heck out of your friends and at least get their attention. For some people the focus is on numbers, I know i used to be there. I had over 3,000 friends on Facebook and 20,000 on Twitter.My counts were awesome and growing everyday.
The numbers game is a very dangerous path. It is misleading because the followers are really not “true” followers. You are only connecting based on a keyword that happened to be in your profile or a tweet, if you are on Twitter. On Facebook, when you use your id to connect with people you do not know, you get way too much personal information and it people who connect with you may see some of this information and wonder about you and what you stand for. In addition, these numbers are really just that, they are numbers.
Because of this I made the decision to cut back on my followers on Facebook and Twitter and Linkedin for that matter. I am much more selective in who I connect with and I really ask myself if connecting to this person will add value in some way to my profile and goals.
Focus on people and people data. When you start moving in this direction, you will build meaningful lists and connections and your opportunities for growth will really be focused in the right direction. I look at counts, but I really don’t spend much time with them as I used to. I believe if you connect with the right people, the numbers will take care of themselves.
Here is some of the data I am looking at:
- New Accounts – Where did they hear about us?
- Do they view our site via computer or mobile phone
- Does this new account have an id on Twitter, Facebook or Linkedin
- What happens when I google their name?
- What is their social profile?
- Who are they connected to?
When you get closer to your clients and learn a little more about their connections, it is amazing to see how this information can really be used in ways that initiate all types of follow-up work.
Image courtesy of Vichaya Kiatying-Angsulee / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
