Reflecting on the past year, we are so grateful for courageous, fearless business leaders. We continue to be inspired by those who bravely carried on in 2020. Grit and gumption.

Cheers to those leaders who showed up. Those who made the most out homeschool, while working or not, closures, pivots, business opportunities and personal and professional loss.

Earlier in the year, I watched no TV. I read only the daily work related briefs and blogs.

However, in the later part of the year, I read a good chunk of mindless trash. This is how I escape. Reading fiction, mostly murder mysteries and romance novels.

The two personal and professional development books I did read were life changing for me. Leaders must read. One was this. The other was Brene Brown’s Braving the Wilderness. I read it twice in the past two months.

Leaders will brave the new year.

How?

Do you. Brown talks about praying and cussing. Those who know me will not be surprised I love this. She talks about not being moved. Doing work in an honest way that is true to yourself. Leaders, time to truly support each other. I let others “do you.” And, I do me. Belong to yourself. ” … brave the wilderness of uncertainty, vulnerability and criticism.”

Speak truth to bullshit. Do not shut down. In other words, that is the easy road. Leaders do not avoid communication. Learn more about others. Even if we still disagree, at least we engaged in meaningful conversation. We have a deepened mutual understanding. However, at all costs, be civil.

Strong back. Soft front. The latter is most challenging for me. No more armored front. I will stay open. Leaders are comfortable with vulnerability. “A soft and open front is not being weak; it’s being brave, it’s being the wilderness.” Eeeek … here goes. I can do it.

Be fearless. I am a Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program alum. The experience was life changing. My co-hort continues to inspire me. My growth group was named, “The Fearless Five.” Coincidence? “Fear is how we got here.” Fear and blame. Own your pain. Do not inflict pain on others. Be fucking fearless.

Read the book. It is worth your time.

And, in conclusion, I am driven to make this my best year, for me and my family, business, team, clients, community, country and world.

A branded Facebook page has the power to be a gathering place, a showcase or a conversation starter for your company. As a part of your social media marketing, a Facebook Business page is a very good addition to your digital asset family to connect with your customers and build a following for your business.

Why should your brand be on Facebook?

Here are five good reasons why your brand should consider being on Facebook, and a few suggestions on how to use this social media channel and it’s features to build your business.

1. Your next customer is looking for a local business just like yours

Potential customers are using Facebook to find a new favorite neighborhood restaurant, plant store, realtor or dentist. You might not think of it this way, but Facebook is a search tool just like Google. People use Facebook to ask their friends about their experiences with businesses all the time…in front of all their other friends. They use Facebook to look up your business to see what your food looks like, what your office interior looks like, what people say about you, and more.

Facebook organically suggests brand pages to people who are located nearby. Facebook also suggests brand pages to people whose friends already like that page and engage with that business. If your brand is not on Facebook, you’re not benefitting from this simple suggestion.

If your business is on Facebook, friends can recommend you easily, give you good reviews and chat about you with their circles. Facebook is a good way to be a part of the conversations that are already happening between friends all over the country…but especially in your local trade area. By having a page, you can present your brand to your community and host those conversations.

Local customers are also looking for events in their area, and Facebook Events – another great Facebook feature – helps you easily create and post an event page with its own URL and mechanism for inviting people right on Facebook. Have a fun outdoor pop-up event next month? Build an Event page and share it. Need volunteers for a non-profit help day? Facebook Events can rally neighbors to help.

2. Engage Your Employees Digitally to Show the Human Side of Your Company

You want people to think of your business as a person that they like. They need to connect to faces, names, voices and personality. Showing the human side of your business endears your brand to your customers, and creates loyalty. You already accomplish these things in your place of business with your own employees, so extend this personality and corporate culture onto your page, giving your employees a digital way to connect with the company. This both gives them the emotional reward of connectivity and shows their friends publicly what a great company you are.

Your employees are your ambassadors. Highlight their accomplishments and their awards on your company’s page, and their networks will see that engagement as well. Value your employees publicly to build positive company culture not just among your current employees, but with your future employees.

3. Your Future Employees Are Keeping Tabs on Your Company

When you use Facebook to showcase your company, you are speaking directly to not just your own employees, but to their communities containing your future employees. Convey the personality of your company and attract new employees who are already a good culture fit.

Facebook also has another helpful feature called Facebook Jobs. Companies with a Facebook Business page can build a job post easily and immediately post it into the Facebook Jobs bank. Your followers will be the first to see your job posting – which also resides as a post on your business page. Who better to be your next employee than someone who already knows all about your brand? Facebook jobs also appear in Google search and display job local to the searcher.

4. Your target demographic is on Facebook

Do you know who your customers are? Facebook Insights can help you discover the demographics of your customers, to better market to them. When people like, visit and comment on your page, you can gather information from their Facebook profiles that is helpful for your business. Using this information, you can pivot what your business does to meet your customers’ needs.

For example, if you are a CPA and your Facebook followers continue to ask you what seems like the same tax question over and over – that might be a cue to write a blog post on your website that addresses that very topic. Then, share that page on Facebook so that your followers get the information they need. And voila, you are the voice of authority and their hero.

5. Build Your Digital Presence with Facebook Traffic

On Facebook you can present information and tell stories about your company a little bit at a time; much like you would become good friends with a person over a period of time by sharing little stories about yourself. These stories give weight to your SEO and give your company better Google Search Ranking.

You can drive traffic to your website from your page. Sign up new email list subscribers. Build your authority in your field by curating and sharing relevant and useful articles. In addition, offer special sales to customers, incentives for activity on your page and hold contests or promotions.

Facebook Business pages are one of the important tools many small businesses use in their digital marketing plan. In conclusion, with 2.4 Billion active Facebook users, more and more small businesses are utilizing a Business page to connect with their customers – and future customers – through daily conversations and brand story telling.

What do customer experience and gestures have in common? They both speak volumes about your brand as a company and your brand as a person.

From giving a smile to a customer to going the extra mile for a coworker, the art of showing a kind gesture to others has been lost in the haze of living in an individualistic generation. We live from day-to-day with a driven focus of going to the next best thing as soon as we have finished a task. Although this is a productive use of time it strips away the opportunities to foster a healthy and interactive workspace or home space.

Whether it’s a work-related task or a personal task, there is beauty in slowing down once in a while and appreciating the little things and people in your life. This beauty can be seen in the relationship-building that occurs with customers or partnered companies or even neighbors. Although there should be a focus on the task at hand there should also be a focus on the art of gestures. For example, buying a customer dinner before a meeting, finding out a partner is confused about a contract and offering your help, or even sending flowers to a neighbor who is having a hard week.

Regardless of the line of work you do, gestures go a long way. Today, I want to help you improve your customer’s experiences through the art of gestures with three easy steps.

First Step:

Become in tune with your surroundings. You’d be surprised at how much you miss when your eyes are locked on a screen or on a task at hand. There are relationships you could be building with a potential customer you may have never noticed or with a passing stranger who may need help bringing their groceries into the car. With a simple smile or extra hand – your gesture has great power to turn someone’s day around.

Second Step:

Put yourself in the shoes of others. Imagine this: you have a hard day at work and feel so overwhelmed because everything seems to be going wrong. From being late to a meeting to finding out your computer didn’t save the work you had spent hours working on the night before – you feel defeated.

With low spirits, you head back to your desk. Only to find that someone has left you a cup of your favorite coffee and an encouragement note! The note acknowledges the hard work you’ve been putting in all day. Suddenly, the day seems to be not as bad as you thought. You smile and get a surge of motivation to finish the end of the day on a sweeter note.

Something so small can be so big for someone who may not realize they needed that gesture. From a cup of joe to an encouragement note, think about what you may need if you were in another person’s shoes. It may be the start of a beautiful friendship or a fantastic customer experience!

Third Step:

Incorporate words of affirmation into your everyday conversations. Take the time to give a shout out on someone’s hard work or encourage a client who is feeling overwhelmed. It takes only seconds to brighten someone’s day.

Conclusion

No matter where you are, a gesture has the capability to mean the world to someone. You have the power to make a positive difference in someone’s life. Challenge yourself to make that difference and pursue an art that can be found through you.

Curbside Sales for restaurants and retailers appear to be here to stay – so think upselling, at least for a while. Your customers still crave your product. But, they want to enjoy the purchase and the consumption of it in their own homes. The simplest way to keep retail and restaurant doors open is curbside service.

Rather than shopping in your store, customers can order on line or by phone. Then, they can swing by your store as you bring their package to their car. Instead of dining in your restaurant this evening, customers are calling in their order. The customer then pulls up to your curb 15-20 minutes later ready to take their meal home.

Curbside pick-up – partnered with on-line or phone ordering – gives restaurants and retailers an effective way to keep selling. Indeed when things open back up again, this is also a new way to increase sales to an additional audience beyond the traditional in-store or in-restaurant customer.

Pick-up is not a new practice, but it is one that has been quickly honed during the pandemic.

There are best practices for curbside sales that will benefit both the customer and the business owner. Keep in mind that the easier you make things for your currently stressed-out customer, the more likely they are to return for this convenience again and again.

Get ready for curbside pick-up by optimizing your website and social media

• Get your website, customer email and social media up to speed. Make sure your customers know you offer curbside service and how that works is a way of upselling. Put this information on the homepage of your site. Build a separate landing page for curbside and link to that on your social platforms. Zanata Restaurant in Rockwall added a pop-up talking about Curbside Pick-up on its homepage.
• Remind customers weekly on social about curbside service. Consider having a weekly curbside special with a great photo of the item and the deal.
• Build community with your customers. Encourage them to take a picture of their purchase (food or clothing or whatever it is) and tag your store on social media. Then you in turn repost their picture thanking them publicly. This is called “User Generated Content” and is a best practice by big and small brands alike.

Make the ordering process easy for everyone

• When customers are ready to order, provide an on-site phone number for the customer to call or text to let you know that they are at your curb ready to pick up their order.
• Process payments in advance either on the phone or via your website or app. Keep the transaction at the curbside swift and contactless. If you must transact at the curb invest in a mobile card processor.
• At the time of order, ask your customer for their type and color of car picking up, and a description of the driver for clear instructions to deliver the right order to the right car.
• Designate a parking space or a specific spot as the curb service pickup area. Mark this area with signage that has clear instructions and the on-site phone number for the customer to call once they have arrived.
• Create a designated table inside to place curbside orders to streamline delivery during busy times. Have plastic ware, extra sauces, etc here to add to bags for food orders. Add tissue and gift bags here for retail merchandise.
• If you have the outside space to create a pop-up drive thru, this format can make things easier for both the customer and the business for upselling. Emporium Pies in Bishop Arts District built a pop-up “Pie-Thru.” Customers get pie without leaving their cars, mimicking their famous long line of people waiting to get pie on any given weekend.

Upselling: Keep them coming back for more

• Restaurants: include an order menu in the bag with the take-away food to make it easy for the customer to order again. Hand write a thank you note on the menu. Let the customer know how much their order meant.
• Ask the customer if they’d like to add a gift card to their purchase to either use next time, or to share with a friend. Or, if the customer hits a certain dollar amount on an order, add a gift card to the order as a thank you. This gift card will act as a bounce back for them to return to your store again.
• Invest in higher quality to-go containers to maintain integrity of your dishes. Presentation and temperature are still important. Big Al’s Smokehouse BBQ packages every to-go order in tamper-proof, sealed packaging. Consider branding your to-go packaging with stickers or hand-written “Thank Yous.” Adding stickers with your store’s logo and phone number or website helps remind customers how to find you.

Think outside the to-go box for upselling

• Consider narrowing the selection of items to your restaurant’s most popular items to offer curbside to streamline delivery.
• Offer Family Meals versions of your most popular items. Make it easier for families to just order the “Daily Family Meal for Four” for instance.
• Package an appetizer-entrée-dessert. This is an easy to pick-up choice. Switch out this special weekly to allow for local availability of ingredients or a chance to use up what’s on hand.
• And of course, have staff deliver bags or packages to customers’ cars wearing branded masks.
• Add the ability for the customer to add grocery basics to their order: milk, eggs, butter, bread, fresh veggies. Saving them an extra trip to a store can earn you a more loyal customer.

Go above and beyond to offer an experience while they wait

• Live music outside adds enjoyment when guests come to pick up their order.
• Some restaurants, depending on TABC laws, offer drinks to go to sip on while you wait for your order.
• Customers can order ingredients for one of your signature dishes with instructions to learn how to make it themselves at home. Some restaurants have even staged events. Consumers buy the ingredients kit and then tune into a Zoom with the chef to make from home.

There are more North Texas restaurants good to go best practices for how to do curbside service right by upselling. And there are several ideas for optimizing the outdoor space you do have. Re-imagine how to use it for curbside service and outside sales.

You can successfully make this way of doing business good for your bottom line.

Continuing on in our Rocker Spotlight series is Front Porch Lil’ Rock Maria Gregorio, who will share her insights on her own career and her experience on the Porch.

What is the biggest misconception about marketing today?

People want quality marketing for very little money. Cheap and great quality don’t really go together.

What advice would you give to someone struggling with creating a brand identity? 

Sit down, talk with customers, friends and colleagues. Have lots of post-its and pens around. Branding can be a tedious process but worth it in the end when you know who you are as a company and what you stand for.

One of the biggest lessons you’ve learned throughout your career?

Keep learning and growing. If it looks like you can’t grow or learn in your position, its time to look elsewhere.

What does good marketing look like?

Responsive, meets the customer where they are, makes you smile.

If you could be anywhere in the world right now where would it be?

My parents’ house in the Philippines.

If you could go to dinner with one person living or dead who would it be?

My grandpa (deceased).

If you could describe yourself in three words what would they be?

As the Front Porch Lil’ Rock nickname hints, I am short, funny, and quirky.

What is your favorite thing about FPM?

No commute! Seriously though, that we get to do interesting, creative work for great clients.

Tell me about a major milestone in your life?

When my husband visited me in college, Memorial Day Weekend 2001. We have been together ever since.

In what ways does the team at FPM have aligned values?

I think we’re all straight shooters who want to do great work and do right by people.

Your goals for FPM?

Grow the business and continue helping small businesses achieve their dreams.

How would you describe the culture at FPM?

We are a fun group who work very hard and genuinely like being around each other. That’s not something you see every day in other workplaces.

How does FPM differentiate itself from other marketing companies?

I think that judging from our quirky titles and the name of our company, people can tell that we like to do things a little differently. It does sound a little “folk-sy” but we just want to do great work for companies we believe in.   

Fun fact?

I have never lived in one place for more than four years. (military brat/railroader wife) And I used to do acting competitions in high school. I liked playing the villain 😈

Next up in the Rocker Spotlight series is Front Porch Rock Star Vanessa Hickman, where she shares her experience on the porch and things she has learned throughout her career.

Biggest Misconception about Marketing

The biggest misconception about marketing today is that there is one solution to advance brands in their marketing goals.

Advice You Would Give To Someone Struggling With Brand Identity

Seek  third-party experts to facilitate the process!

Lessons Learned

As a marketing maven and Front Porch Rock Star, one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is “your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do”- Steve Jobs.

What is Good Marketing?

Above all, good marketing is intentional, consistent and precise.

Dinner With 1 Person Living Or Dead

If I could go to dinner with one person living or dead I would choose Jesus.

Describe Yourself in 3 Words

I describe myself as loyal, inclusive and loving.

Favorite Thing About FPM

My favorite thing about FPM is delivering results for a variety of clients. Above all, I would describe the culture at FPM as collaborative, caring and dedicated. Furthermore, FPM differentiates itself with its sound strategy, excellent execution and tenured team members.

Fun Fact

My fun fact is I graduated with a Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts when I was 20 years old.

The Rocker Spotlight Series interviews each rocker on the porch. To begin, Chief Rocker Julie Porter shares marketing insights. Let’s dive in and learn more about this incredible business leader.

Favorite Thing About Front Porch

My favorite thing about FPM is being my own boss and doing what I love for clients I love while taking care of my loves.

Misconceptions and Lessons Learned

The biggest misconception about marketing today is that it is cheap and fast. Furthermore, there are three key points: good, fast and cheap. Your marketing can be any two of these but never all three.

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is don’t be the biggest barrier to your own success- get out of your way and get stuff done. However, if you can’t get something done, delegate it to the smart people around you.

What is Good Marketing?

Good marketing is elevating the customer experience, building personalized connections, adapting to technology evolution, attracting customers using inbound and outbound marketing, and more.

Culture On the Porch

Our culture is one of straight talk, true partnership and aligned values. Therefore, the team at FPM all regards their families as their highest priority, and we are servant leaders who believe in service to ourselves, team, families, clients, and the communities in which we live and work.

Julie’s Characteristics

I would describes myself as quirky, competitive, and anxious. If I could be anywhere in the world it would be in my living room playing a game with my family since Andrew leaves for college this fall.

Fun Fact about Julie

I got to work with Renee Russo inside the NYSE to celebrate a client’s IPO. I’ve also worked with the Flying Elvi, the skydiving team from the movie “Honeymoon in Vegas,” all over the country to celebrate a promotion for an international sunglass manufacturer.

Thank you for reading! We hope you enjoyed Julie Porter sharing her marketing insights!

Over the last four weeks, strategic business leaders and owners have come to us to go back to their branding and marketing foundations. They are focused first on their team’s safety and well-being. Most talk of the “return to normal” and taking it “day by day.”

They use this time to re-evaluate and plan. The COVID-19 crisis is causing business leaders to be strong and agile. One of our favorite client quotes over the last several weeks is, “With drive, passion and desperation, we will RISE!”

David McCormick, the C.E.O. of the hedge fund Bridgewater, was a Treasury Under Secretary during the 2008 crisis. At that time, he said, “America must step up to retain its economic might.” This rings true today.

Step up we must.

Another business leader told us recently, they feel like everything is, “Ready. Aim. Fire.”

This does not have to be.

Focus on your foundation first.

3 Strategic Branding & Marketing Fundamentals

• Define or re-evaluate brand architecture. Think of this as the foundation of your brand. It has four pillars: brand vision, brand personality, positioning and affiliation. Our branding process is collaborative. It builds conviction. The process is built upon perceptions and goals held internally by key stakeholders. Using all points of view, we ensure brands are both differentiating and emotionally relevant.
• Build or revisit your marketing plan. Every business should have one. Marketing drives new business development. Without those sales, you do not have the resources required for your business’s long-term stability and success. Therefore, as important as these plans are, most business owners and leaders do not devote enough time and resources to them. We tell our clients use a rifle vs. shotgun approach. Your services and/or products are not for everyone. The plan focuses on key targets who are most likely buyers. Think fewer, deeper. As a result, more meaningful strategic initiatives on a consistent basis develop connections and broaden awareness.
• Re-evaluate or enhance your website. Is your website true to your brand? Its personality? Is the navigation user friendly? For instance, lucrative website loads fast and is mobile friendly. In other words, make your site work hard for your brand. Don’t get the veto vote because it doesn’t.

Successful business owners and leaders take the time to develop their brand architecture. Then, they develop marketing strategies and plan to build a company with a purpose. Above all, remember, “With drive, passion and desperation we will RISE!”

As we are staying-at-home, trying to flatten the curve, how should businesses and non-profits adjust their marketing strategies?

Double down on digital.

There is substantial evidence to suggest that the next new normal will look very different. Much as 9/11 changed how we fly, this pandemic will change much of how we live our everyday lives.

Tap the Breaks

A business leader’s first reaction may be to slam on the breaks on marketing.  Knee-jerk reactions are not helpful. Decisions made from fear are not helpful.

Let’s gently tap the breaks.

Yes, overall spending on digital ads is down 33% and spending on traditional media is down 39% from what companies had expected to lay out. But Nielsen data shows that when people are forced to stay inside, they watch about 60% more content than usual.

And, there is more good news. Home goods saw a 51% sales increase in Q1.

Don’t stop all your marketing and advertising. If your company or organization stops marketing all together, when shelter-in-place ends, you will have to start all over again introducing your company to consumers and clients.

Double Down on Digital

Advertising is most effective when it is consistent. Shift your advertising spend instead of just stopping suddenly.

While everyone else is pulling back, you may be able to maximize your ad spend. Because there has been such a steep drop ad spending, your company can take advantage of cheaper rates and lower bids on pay-per-click advertising.

“The best time to double down is when others are not. You may not see the biggest return right away, but in the long term, you will.”

Neil Patel, Marketing Guru

The Return of Email

Email is a crucial part of your marketing mix. Remind your customers through email that although storefronts may be closed, they can still purchase your products and services online. Don’t go in for the hard sell, just be reassuring and compassionate. Remind them that you are here for them, in whatever capacity that may be, no matter what.

---

Your company is on the metaphorical Ark right now. Unlike the housing crisis and other events before it, we can see land (relief) in sight.

We are pleased to see companies coming to us to re-fresh their brands. Companies are asking us to update their collateral materials. And, some are asking us to help them double down on digital.

At some point, we will be able to go back to our everyday lives, with new and different habits to practice. Prepare now for that moment when you reach land. And in case we must get back on the Ark again, you’ll know what to do.

And now for the second installment of our two-part series on The Great 8 of Marketing Success. Numbers 5-7 are distinctly digital in nature and deal with how you can communicate and meet your customers where they are. Our last recommendation caps off our series with a decidedly human touch.

Number 5: Website

Prospects – both clients and candidates – are going to your website to validate your company and expertise. Make sure you are communicating your point of differentiation and your brand personality.

Most service sites look the same, sound the same and make the same mistakes. Take a look at your website and see if you can take it to the next level:

• Eliminate the word “we.” Replace it with “you”, “your”, “our clients”, or “our candidates.” It seems like a small distinction, but you might be surprised by how much more customer-centric your copy will sound once you replace one word.
• Include links to your social networks. And if you already have links to your social networks – great! Are they up-to-date? Or do you still have a link to your Google+ account? ( Hint: you might want to delete that one.)
• Sell results and testimonials. Third party endorsements go a long way and potential customers want to see the value you can bring to their company.
• Use minimal stock photos. We get it – when you were getting your website off the ground, you used whatever you had on hand to get it done. But stock photos can reduce the credibility of your company and take from the authenticity of your brand. Make the investment and book a professional photographer.  
• Optimize the site for mobile. No one likes to pinch and zoom on their phone when they are trying to view a website. And increasingly, Americans of all ages are likely to say that they mostly access the internet on their smartphone.
• Make it easy for people to contact you with a form and make sure your phone number and email address are front and center.

Number 6: Social Media

Consumers are increasingly using social media to not only connect with friends and family, but also with brands. Social media is increasingly influencing consumers’ buying behavior:

• When consumers follow a brand on social media, 67% of consumers are more likely to spend more with that brand.
• Social media can drive retail foot traffic: 78% say they will visit that brand’s physical retail store.
• These results become even more pronounced when you narrow in on millennials: 84% said they were more likely to buy from a brand they follow on social media.

But, don’t count out older folks – young people may have been early adopters of social media, but older adults using social media has increased as well.

It’s easy to be overwhelmed by social media. That’s why we recommend narrowing your focus and pick two social networks to be active on daily. Most social networks are monetizing their platforms so organic social media, i.e. free, is becoming less effective, which is why you must be active consistently.

But which platforms should you choose? It depends. We recommend meeting your customers where they are. With almost a third of the world’s population using Facebook, the 500-lb. gorilla in the room might be a given. If you have an aspirational brand whose customers skew female and under the age of 49, Pinterest or Instagram may be a good fit. If you are more of a B2B company, look at joining YouTube, LinkedIn or Twitter.

Also, make sure you are connecting with the people you meet, whether you are introduced virtually or in person. Utilize both your personal timeline and create a company account if you don’t already have one.

Number 6.5: Social Media Content

As for content, have you ever been to a party and you were cornered by that one guy who talks about himself all night? Don’t be that guy.

Instead follow the rule of thirds: 1/3 of your content should be devoted to sharing content, 1/3 to engaging with others and 1/3 promoting yourself. Share open positions at your company, business successes and company news, just don’t let all your content be about you.

Number 7: Email Marketing

Email marketing doesn’t have to be crazy complicated or expensive. Email marketing is inexpensive and effective. If done correctly, you will be surprised at the results you see after every send.

Use a simple automated platform like MailChimp and send an email to your audiences once a month, or if you are just starting out, once every other month. Make sure you are updating your databases and are not sending the same content to both your clients and candidates.

Target your content to the reader and use your email marketing to establish yourself as a thought leader. Share information and expertise. This is especially true for B2B businesses; email marketing is most effective if you are sharing news people can use. At Front Porch, this is the direction we choose to take with our email newsletter. We offer marketing advice and highlight our clients.   

Similarly to social media, do not use email marketing to talk 100% about your company or you. It will not work.

Number 8: Networking

We are very fortunate to have several places to network in North Texas – industry associations, chambers of commerce, community organizations and the list goes on.

In deciding which group is right for you, consider these things:

• Can I learn and grow?
• Are this group’s values aligned with mine?
• Can I contribute my knowledge and skills?
• Do we have common interests?

When you are at these meetings or events, remember:

• Give to get. Focus on what you can do for others, not what they can do for you.
• Make sure you have business cards. (I know that sounds obvious, but you’d be surprised.)
• Ask questions and listen.
• Follow up. Sometimes this is the hardest thing to do because we are all wearing so many hats, but it is important to connect on LinkedIn with people you met, send them an email and if the situation calls for it, send a handwritten thank you note.

As business owners, we need to network. We need to work “on” our business as much as possible, not in our business.

Networking is a process. Remember that most business owners are looking for connections. Make time to network intentionally. Be bold and step forward into their world.

I urge you to not “go big or go home,” but as we tell our small to mid-sized clients, “Fewer. Deeper.” Do a couple of things well and knock it out of the park.

If you do your marketing well, then your target audience will come to trust your brand. Trusted relationships develop into emotional bonds that are hard to break. Consequently, loyalty to your brand means greater business success and reduced competitive threat.

Remember The Great 8. Engage your clients and candidates and turn them into customers and brand ambassadors.