I told the group how Bill, a client, asked over lunch if I
recalled the e-mail he had forwarded from someone offering SEO Services. His
questions were, “Was that Spam and should I do some optimization on my website?”
Chris, our young internet guru said, “What did you tell him
and do you need an SEO expert?”
I told him, “It depends and probably.”
Kate, back from her latest sales consulting trip to the bay
area jumped in with both feet. She blurted, “It really depends on what kind of
business he’s in. If he’ a plumber he’ll do better on Angie’s list but if he is
in any kind of professional consulting business he should be thinking about a
long list of more proactive things. For instance:
A
Newsletter
Blogging
Mining
Linked In for connections
Sending
personalized e-mails or letters to purchased lists
Maybe using
Facebook…but very carefully
Considering
Twitter”
I added, “Don’t forget the Trust Building Tools:
Networking
Speaking
Writing
Teaching
I believe it all comes down to, a simple question: How do
people pick the professional services they use?”
Kate answered, “Some people say it is generational and there
is some evidence of that but I really believe it is a combination of the
person’s age, their familiarity with technology and the services they are
looking for plus the degree of trust required before an agreement is reached.”
“I agree, I said, one of my clients is a management
consultant. She knows that she needs to speak and write to be perceived as an
expert. Her web site and her Linked In profile need to confirm that and provide
testimonials that lead to sufficient trust to get to a face-to-face meeting.”
“Right,” she said, “but a friend of mine who is a Certified
Financial Professional has it a little tougher. He tells me he can’t use
endorsements on his we site or Linked In profile because of an SEC regulation.
He speaks and teaches and writes like the management consultant. His newsletter
is essential to maintaining a relationship with current clients and some
prospects. I told him that a blog and using the new rel=author tag capability
from Google would be helpful. I also suggested that he sign up for the premium
services with Linked In and start really mining that source.”
Chris gave that a thumbs up and put in, “Either of them
might consider some advertising on Linked In because you can target by
profession and geography among several other things. But make sure the profile
and the website are in sync before you run an ad and that you know exactly how
you are going to handle inquiries.”
The check arrived. I agreed to get it if everyone thought
about this question and came back with more ideas when we next met.
Learn more about how professionals can get to Trust to build
their business at www.JerryFletcher.com
Motivate the professionals in your organization
with an appearance by an international professional speaker. See video at www.NetworkingNinja.com