Think about how often you’ve heard someone say, “why would I want to blog? I don’t care about what someone at for breakfast.”

What’s often missed in statements like this is that blogging isn’t just about sharing your personal life. It’s also about sharing your business.

Unlike a traditional, static website however, a blog – or as I like to call it a personal publishing system – gives you the opportunity to connect directly with other people. People who may be in your target audience. Or peers and others who gain something from reading your posts.

But a blog is more than another medium for connecting with people in your target audience and peers. It also provides a platform to engage in conversation. Those conversations can lead to relationships. And those relationships can lead to increased business.

The key is the relationship. And blogging makes the relationship possible with more people, in more places and at more times than any other platform yet created.

Personally and professionally I’ve created dozens of great relationships with readers, bloggers, business owners and peers that have lead to everything from direct business opportunities to referral business to partnerships. Blogging opened for me opportunities that I just didn’t have with my static website.

Now, through the comment box, through email, through linking, and through many of the social services like StumbleUpon or Facebook, I have the chance to meet interesting people from all over the world. People who share my interests. Some become colleagues or friends. Others become clients. But all have come through social media…through blogging.

Blogging (aka social media) is making my business more visible in more ways than I could have imagined. But how is it serving you? How is your blog selling your business? What works, what hasn’t? And what would you recommend as a ‘have to do’ for new business bloggers?

(note: image from Paul Van Metre on Flickr)

Doesn’t matter whether you sell products or pitch a service – you probably want more clients, customers, buyers, patrons, consumers, subscribers, users, etc. Doesn’t matter what you call them – you’d like more.

After all, doesn’t more subscribers equal more people to market too? More patrons mean increasing sales? And increased sales equals more revenue. Isn’t that how it works?

Most of us know that. Yet many business owners set their focus too strongly on increasing revenue. They spend their time, their energy and their resources focused on making more money. And so they become like a hamster running around the wheel of trying to increase their profits – often, getting nowhere.

But what if you took some of that time to build relationships with your clients and customers? What if you took some time to build relationships with some of your leads? Better yet, what if you spent some time and resources to build relationships with other business owners? Businesses that compliment yours in one way or another. Or grew relationships with other business owners you have other interests in common with? What could happen?

What could happen is that you find yourself with more work than you can imagine.

As I’ve said now for years – people do business with people, not businesses. So business, ultimately, is about relationships. So when you focus on the relationships in and around your business, you’re paying into the greatest resource you have at your disposal – people.

It’s people who…

• …are your clients, customers and patrons
• …are your leads and prospects
• …are paying for your products and services
• …you’re in business to serve
• …tell their friends about you
• …become return customers
• …refer you business
• …use and evaluate your products and services
• …write reviews of your products and services
• …want to partner with you on future projects
• …whose problems your business can solve
• …read and comment on your blog
• …recommend your site on Digg, Mixx, StumbleUpon and other social link sites
• …who want to connect with you on Facebook, MyBlogLog and LinkedIn
• …who become your affiliates
• …your business needs
• and finally, it’s people who need what you offer.

So your business is about people. You need people to run your business. And you need people to increase your revenue. So why not focus on creating relationships with people?

How are you focusing on relationships in your business? How has it changed your business?

And what’s one thing you’ve wanted to create to build relationships in your business that you haven’t gotten too yet?

(note: image from edyperesfoto on Flickr)

Then came talk radio. Now people could call in and add their two cents to the topic discussed by the host. I often think of social media as being like talk radio.

For instance, now people can interact with the ‘hosts’ of blogs; engaging in interesting, lively and informative conversations. Or they can meet each other in Facebook or on StumbleUpon. Yet it goes further than that. Now, rather than just commenting on topics, social sharing and networking sites allow users to have control over what content gets seen – which stories get pushed to the top. It’s really an amazing time.

Yet, whether we’re talking about blogs, Facebook or new social sharing sites like Mixx, one thing remains constant – the relationship. Social media has made the internet about relationships.

Knowing I see the internet now almost solely through the eyes of social media, Liz Strauss asked me:

What do you find is the key to great relationships with social media friends?

I can answer in one word - connect!

The key is to make contact. When anyone comes your way, send them a thank you by email. Or give them a phone call. Bloggers love to meet each other. Find out what you have in common…and share.

For instance, I don’t go into the relationship looking for anything. Sure, I may see some potential for business or business partnerships or so on. But I don’t let that be the motivating factor. Rather, I just want to connect with the person on the other end of the keyboard. Then, I let the relationship evolve organically.

What holds the key for me has been to be real, authentic and honest. I’m simply who I am and I try to make space for people to just be who they are. So I think you have to make room for the relationship to develop in its own, organic way. Some people I’ve met have remained acquaintances. Some have become friends. While others have become clients or business partners. Yet each developed in its own way, without any manipulation or prodding. And I’ve loved it.

Of course I say this knowing that the past few months haven’t afforded me the time I had previously to make those connections. I’ve been a bit busy with a major house remodel and the birth of our third child. So I have less time these days. Yet I still reach out. And if you haven’t heard from you me yet, don’t think you’re not on my list. Just give me a little time and we’ll meet.

So in a phrase, the key to great social media relationships is to connect. Reach out and make a new acquaintance, a new friend or a new business opportunity. You never know where the relationship is going to go.

Which is why I’m chomping at the bit to continue our one2one conversation by asking Liz:

How do you find the time to be so engaged with your readers in the comment box, keep up your thousands of connections, write on yours and a number of other blogs, while taking care of your clients? Where do you find the time?

I’d love to know how you keep it all going. Not just Liz, but you too. How do find the time, with family, work and personal time to keep up with your social media relationships?

What’s difficult is getting really clear about who you are, what you do and who you do it for. The problem is, there are tons of approaches for doing this which sometimes leads to confusion. Do I need to write a business plan? What about vision? Etc. The questions are many, but the answer are endless.

Of course, once you’ve answered the questions about your business, you have to ask a whole other series of questions around marketing. What system? What mediums? How best to reach our target audience? Etc. This can lead to even greater confusion, frustration and waste of time and money than the business development quesitons.

This whole process can be really big. That’s why I’m always looking for ways to simplify it. Because, really, developing and growing a business isn’t as hard as we make it. Basically, we need to create a compelling service – one that solves a problem that people need solved. Then, we put our service in front of the people who have the problem. That’s really it.

So it’s really very simple – especially with the internet.

That’s why I was excited when I found Matt Cutts‘ 3-step process to building up a really good site (read: business). Take a watch:

Matt Cutt’s 3-Step Process

1. Create a compelling service – spend the time to create something people can love.
2. Start a blog – get links and engage in conversation.
3. Smart marketing – SEO and have something interesting to say.

Pretty simple, right?

So if I was taking Matt’s 3 steps and putting them in my language, I’d say:

1. Create a service, you love, that solves a problem that needs solving. What are you good at? What do you love? What is the need? Bring these three questions together and you’re on your way.
2. Start a blog – and learn how to use it. First write, and write often. Join in the conversation on other blogs immediately. Learn about linking and link often. And really learn how to use one of the social networking sites. You can get to the others later.
3. Get the word out and be authentic – Matt says if you use WordPress, much of your SEO is handled for you already. I’d say 80%. The other 20% is in the details. So worry less about SEO in the beginning and more about the quality of your content. And have something interesting to say – but say it in your way. Be a real person because it’s people that people want to do business with.

So if it’s this easy, why don’t more of us do it? What gets in the way? And why do we make it so difficult?

What do you think?

(note: image, Joe Walking Up The Steps from hip.kids on Flickr)

It’d be great to meet Seth Godin – oh, wait, I did meet him last summer when he was on his book tour for The Dip. Great ideas, nice presenter, but didn’t find him too engaging personally. Maybe it was the setting.

I’ve also had this odd fascination with Robert Scoble, though truthfully, I’m not sure why. Maybe he just gets it in a way I’m still trying too. Or the authors of the Cluetrain Manifesto. That book solidified how I look at business and it’d be great to bat it around with those guys a bit.

Gosh, really, there’s tons of bloggers I’d like to meet. After all, I’m blogging because I love the conversation. I love to learn. I love to share what I know. I just love meeting people. People from all walks-of-life. I want to hear their stories and learn from their experiences. So really, there’s tons of bloggers I’d like to meet…

Like you!

But since in our last one2one conversation Liz asked me who’s the person I’d like to meet, I’ll go ahead and choose someone.

But you know, the blogger I’d like to meet most at this moment is someone I should have met last May at SOBCon07. He was there. I saw him around. We just never got a chance to meet. Who is it? Muhammad Saleem. Why? Because this guy knows social media and I’d love to pick his brain.

I’d call him a social media expert. Just take a look at what he writes on his own blog, [muhammad.saleem] or at Pronet Advertising. Or check out his numerous guest posts on sites like The Blog Herald, Copyblogger, Search Engine Land. And don’t forget to search for the huge number of interviews he’s given around social media. He’s even a top Digger and one of Propeller’s “professional social bookmarkers.“

Really, just follow this guy’s trail and you’ll learn everything you’d ever want or need to know about social media, social networking, social sharing, social marketing, etc. Maybe I don’t need to sit down and pick his brain.

Nah, that wouldn’t be any fun now, would it? Not to mention, I’d miss learning who Muhammad, the person, is. And that just wouldn’t be any fun.

So is there a blogger would you most like to meet? Who? Why?

And for Liz, since this is a one2one conversation…

What’s one way you’d say social media has changed the way you do business?

Of course, when I’m asking Liz, I’m asking you too. So please, answer away. And Muhammad, if you happen to stop by, I pose the same question to you.

People share things they find enjoyable, helpful or interesting with people they know. In other words, people pass it on. That’s what social marketing is about – passing it on.

But sometimes we forget. We’re rushed or tired or just ‘messing around’ on the web and we may not think to always share things we find with people that might like or benefit from them.

So why not remind them? And when you remind them, make it easy.

Andy Sernovitz, author of Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking, and one of my favorite marketers, suggests just that. In is book he suggests:

Someone is on your website, looking at something that you are selling – and they feel the urge to tell someone else. Make it easy. That person is about to advertise for you, for free. Or they need to ask someone a questions before they buy, Or they just like what they see. Do whatever it takes to let the word of mouth happen.

I couldn’t agree more. Make it easy for people to share what they find on your site, on your blog and in your products and services sections. Really, everywhere. You never know where people will be on your site that will inspire them to share with a friend. So make it easy.

On page 124 of Andy’s book, he offers the secrets to creating effective tell-a-friend forms:

• Make it fast.
  Design a form that can be filled out in less than 15 seconds. Get rid of optional fields, passwords, or anything that gets in the way of the referral.
• Ask for several referrals.
  Be sure to explicitly ask users to forward the message to multiple friends. The more you ask, the more you get. Design the form so it is easy to add lots of names without confusion.
• Use the sender’s name.
  When you deliver the message, make sure it is from the referrer, not your website. The recipient isn’t expecting mail from you and might delete it. He will open a message from his friend.
• Include a personal message.
  Let the sender add text to the message. The referral is far more powerful when the talker gets to put it in his own words.
• Make it forwardable.
  Take a look at the message that recipients get. Is that message a ready-to-go viral email, or is it some cryptic link?
• Protect privacy.
  And brag about it. Be clear and explicit that you respect the privacy of the senders and recipients using the form and that you won’t use their emails for any other purpose (and stick to what you promise). Usage will skyrocket when you do this.

Just to drive the point home a little more, here’s a short video I found of Andy talking about how tell-a-friend is worth 1.6 billion dollars.

How do you ask people to pass it on? Oh yeah, and by the way, please feel free to share this blog with anyone you’d like.

(note: image from Duncan Davidson on Flickr)

For some, social networking is a way of life. They use it to promote themselves and keep the channels of conversation and relationship open, posting many times a day on many different networks. Some are even building their own.

For others, though, social networking is just a time waster and offers no real benefit to their business or blogging. Some have even gone as far to say that having a large network is all about ego.

So what do I think?

I think social networking is a tool – just as a blog or a website is a tool. The tool on its own is neither good nor bad. It’s how the tool is used that decides its value in your business or personal life.

You know the old saying about a knife. A knife can be used to cut the bread to feed people. Yet that same knife can be used to kill people. But is the knife bad or good? No, it’s just a knife. It’s just a tool.

Personally, I don’t think social media is a waste of time. And I’m certainly not doing it to boost my ego. I’m interested in conversation and relationships. So outside of my blog is there a better place to spend my time building relationships?

Social networking is just a tool. How are you using this tool?

Feel free to add me to your social network and I’ll reciprocate:
Facebook • StumbleUpon • Netscape • MyBlogLog • LinkedIn • Pownce • Twitter • BUMPzee

Andy Sernovitz, author of Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking, states that around 80% of online shopping time is spent researching products (and services) rather than buying. And 77% of online shoppers will read reviews before making a purchase.

So obviously what people think about you and your business is very important to your success. And with blast and interruption marketing being less and less effective, what people are saying about you becomes even more important.

In Andy’s book he says, “Traditional marketing is no longer the safe way to go. It may make you more comfortable, but it is becoming gradually less and less effective… It’s time to focus on making customers happy – earning their trust and respect and getting them talking about your stuff.”

So how do you get your customers and clients to talk about you and promote your business? Well, first, “Happy customers are your best advertisers.” (from Andy’s book).

But I go a step further…I say get your clients to fall in love with you.

Think about what happens to you when you fall in love. You’re giddy and excited. Your face carries a perpetual smile and your stride has a bit more bounce to it. And when you’re in love, you can’t help but telling people about it. Especially your friends.

That’s exactly how you want your clients and customers to feel from their work with you. You want them to leave your meetings excited, hopeful and with a bit of bounce in their stride. Then you’ll be the topic of conversation when your client talks to their friends.

So how do you get your clients and customers to fall in love with you? Here’s 7, rather easy, ways to begin:

1. Be nice
   Above all things, if you’re kind, polite and compassionate, they will feel it. And they’ll internally compare how they feel interacting with you with how they feel with others. It’s subtle, but it makes a huge difference.
2. Be fully attentive
   Whenever you’re interacting with a client or customer, put everything else on hold. If things come up during a meeting, write them down so they don’t get in the way of your being fully present. You know when someone isn’t fully there with you – and your clients do too.
3. Exceed their expectations
   Whenever the opportunity presents itself, take the extra step. Doing small tasks that have little impact on your time can pay huge dividends in how your clients see you. Going above and beyond creates a ‘wow’ affect. It makes them feel like they’re the most important client to you. And that’s what they’ll talk about with others.
4. Listen to what they’re really telling you
   People don’t always do a great job saying what they really mean. Listen to their words, AND listen to what they’re saying between the words. When you answer the unspoken questions and concerns your clients will trust you even more because they’ll feel like you really ‘get them.’
5. Help them understand how
   People have hired you or bought your products to help them solve some problem in their business. So make sure it does. If they don’t understand how to use it, they won’t and, in turn, you won’t succeed either. They have to be successful for you to be successful.
6. Always follow up
   If you say you’re going to do something by a certain time, do it. Do it earlier, if you can to exceed their expectations. And if you can’t do it on time, let them know as soon as you do. If you keep your clients well informed, it will go a long way to building respect and trust.
7. Stay in touch
   Even after you’re finished working directly with them, stay in touch. Give them a call or send an email that specifically asks them how they’re doing after working together or buying your product. Trust me, this will be a very pleasant surprise. And, it can give you valuable feedback as well.

Here are but a few ways to make your clients fall in love with you. Put them in action and you’ll have raving fans who want to tell everyone they know about you.

I know I haven’t covered all the ways to make your clients fall in love with you. So let’s talk about it. What’s worked for you? What hasn’t? And what have I left out?

I’ve found that while many have heard the term, most don’t know what it really means. Yet, most of us are engaged in social networking dozens of times each day.

How?

Well, if you tell a friend about a service or product you like – you’re social networking. If you share another blogger’s post with your blog readers…you’re social networking. Hand out a business card – you’re social networking. Returning phone calls, responding to email, contacting your blog commenters, building relationships with other bloggers, even writing on forums – all of this – and more – fall under social networking.

Basically, social networking is a way that people of some similar interests connect. The beauty is that this happens when people you may not know find you (and your business) because of some connection they have with someone you both know.

Social networking is happening all the time. The real question, then, isn’t whether you’re engaged in social networking. Rather the question is are you taking full advantage of the social networking you’re already doing?

One great way is to utilize social networking communities such as Linkedin, MyBlogLog and Facebook. Each can get you linked to friends and colleagues who link to people who link to people – creating your network.

Need a little more about the basics of social networking? Common Craft put together another great video describing social networking in plain English. Check it out below.

From the video transcript describing using social networking sites:

When you find someone, you click a button that says, “Add as Friend”. Once you do this, you and that person have a connection on the website that others can see. They are a member of your network, and you are a member of theirs.

What’s really cool, is that you can see who your friends know, and who your friends’ friends know. You’re no longer a stranger, so you can contact them more easily.

This solves a real world problem because your network has hidden opportunities. Social networking sites make these connections between people visible.

Like a map for a highway, they can show you the people network that can help you get to your next destination, whether it’s a job, a new partner, or a great place to live. Your network is suddenly more useful.

How do you use social networks? And what results have you gotten from using them?

Thanks to Chris Brogan and Beth Kanter for helping me discover this video.