Networking Tips: Your Personal Know, Like, & Trust Factor

Via Ilise Benun's Quick Tips from Marketing Mentor newsletter, a link to an article by Social Media Marketing Coach, Zita Gustin on one's "Know, Like, & Trust Factor".  Basically it offers thoughts on two styles of networking - the hunter and the gardener.

The hunter approaches networking (meeting/collaborating/referring people for mutually beneficial business alliances) as "going in the for kill (the sale)".  Gustin doesn't think of that approach as networking, but rather "salesmaking".

So what is networking?  It's about establishing a relationship with others based on your/their Know, Like, and Trust Factor - the idea that people do business with people they know, like & trust.  Gustin has this to say on that topic:

And yet, so many people want to skip past the parts about the knowing and liking ... they want to go straight to the part about getting referrals or sales without building to and through the trusting part.

She suggests that to earn trust in a relationship (networking or otherwise), "you must show your character, your integrity, your ability, and your kindness and concern for others."  Then she offers 12 thought-provoking tips on how to inspire trust by revealing your character.  Worth a read.

Comments

[Darcy]

Angie, this is great information and something that I think everyone experiences daily. I have a great example for you. I recently participated in an online blog party (www.5minutesformom.com). These are all mom bloggers, most of which are just posting about daily life, but there were probably half that have a business (mompreneurs) associated with their blog. I am starting an online business with my sister and used this opportunity to find the blogs that were associated with scrapbooking or crafting, commented on their blog and invited them to visit our blog. Also invited them to sign up for our newsletter. I did this to about 30 out of the 1400 blogs listed (time constraints limited me), but I really did get about 30 new people to sign up for our newsletter. Everyone was very kind in their responses, mostly because I made sure they were interested in our content before posting on their blog. While I was searching these blogs, there was one blogger that had gone to every single blog on the list and systematically typed (copied) in the same post on each blog with links to their three websites. No comments about the content of the blog they visited, no chit chat with the blogger, no personal recognition that they actually read the blog, just a "sales pitch" post. After about the 3rd blog that I visited, seeing the same post from the same company, I began to get what they were doing. Since all of us were visiting each other's blogs and posting, I am sure just about everyone else came to the same conclusion. They were going for the hunt, while the rest of us were networking and just trying to get to know people with a similar interest or a really great blog to post on your own bloglist. Take the time, get to know your customers and it will pay off in the end.

Thanks for all your great information!

[Angie Pedersen]

Absolutely, Darcy - you totally "get" it! It's not hard to network with bloggers, but it does take time and effort. And it really does pay off in the end, like you said. What's the point of all those hours of commenting on blogs if some of those blogs don't attract your target audience? Or if you tick off the blogger and they delete your self-serving comments? Blogging is about the *conversation*, and that conversation has to be genuine. And if it's genuine, both parties will benefit. You absolutely get it, Darcy. Great real-life example. Thanks for commenting!