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How does one define business to business networking success? 

Credit www.sxc.hu

This week I attended 3 different business to business networking  events and upon reflection I began to further evaluate each event specific to my own marketing goals as well as to the bigger picture.

In working through this reflective and critical thinking skill process, I realized there existed before, during and after criterion in all events.

Before Criterion

Notice:  Was the event properly advertised with date, time, location, purpose of the event along with any cost to attend?

Interest:  Did the marketing of the event encourage additional interest as a “must attend event?”

Followup:  Was there a follow-up process to ensure registration was received and processed?

During Criterion

Edibles:  If food was present, was it tasty, appetizing, etc.?

Engagement:  Were those in attendance engaging with others?

Energy: Was the energy level high, medium and low?

Environment: Was the environment enjoyable specific to temperature, seating, place to hang coats if necessary, etc.?

After Criterion

Event Impression:  How would you evaluate the overall event specific to your goals?

Event Response:  For those you met, did they respond to your follow-up calls?

Not all business to business networking success can be evaluated by how many new sales leads (think business cards) were collected.  In some cases, attending these events can be for new knowledge, exploration of a new industry to even just supporting a business colleague or friend.

Yet having some evaluating process in place beyond the new sales leads I believe is necessary so that you can determine in the future if you wish to attend this business to business networking event or that one?

Now upon further reflection I realized business to business networking success can be evaluated using additional criterion. What I now have s a quick assessment for each event I attend.  In the past my only criterion was how many new sales leads I wished to secure usually from zero if the event was one of support to five new business contacts. As the old expression goes, if you cannot measure it you cannot manage it.

Your marketing message (think how to get clients), what you say to people in business to business networking, in printed materials, or your website can change your business from one where you have to chase after new clients into one where they chase after you.

How to get clients all depends on what you say, and how you say it when someone first meets you, or reads something about you, or something you wrote. But most give a really weak, ineffective, first message.

What do you say when someone asks, “What do you do?:”

The Worst Message of All

The worst marketing message, the response to that question,  is the one I hear the most often . . . “I am a _______”, a label.

Why is this so weak and lame?

Because it doesn’t tell anyone what would literally compel him to beg you to help him which is . . . the results he’d get from working with you, and the value of that outcome.

No one cares what you call yourself.

Doesn’t tell him anything of value.

And it’s about YOU and not about THEM.

There are two key things that have to happen when they first hear what you do.

1. What you say has to get their attention. If you don’t get their attention with the first words . . . they don’t hear anything beyond that.
2. You’ll grab their attention when you tell them something they want and something that is a huge value.  So, give them results . . . and the value of those results. That grabs attention if the value is high enough.

By the way, when you say “I am a ______” where’s the value?  Where’s the result?

You may assume that they can figure it out, but no one really knows how valuable you are until you tell them or they experience it.  Don’t assume they should know!

Let’s take a look at an example that will leap out at you. In this case it’s an oncologist, a cancer doctor.  Compare what you say to what this oncologist says at each level of the development of his marketing message.

Start at the bottom where he says, “I am a doctor” and work your way up. Each step becomes more powerful, more attention getting IF you are one of his target patients that has cancer? Especially, the one who might be dying of cancer.

Keep in mind that a marketing message has to be targeted on a specific market to be powerful. A marketing message targeting the whole world won’t work.

Each step becomes more powerful, more attention getting.  IF you are one of his target patients that has cancer? Especially one that might be dying of cancer.

Start with the bottom message, the weakest message, is “I am a _____”, a label,  which is, what most business owners say.

Don’t be like everyone else!

Have them lining up to get what you sell instead!. Most people do.

This one fails because it doesn’t tell anything about results, or the value of those results.

The next more powerful message is one that’s a little more specific, and will gain a little more attention. “I am an oncologist.” This one is narrowing in on a niche, but tells “no results” nor “value.”

But both messages 1 and 2, at the bottom have another weakness. They are talking about the person giving the marketing message, not about the results they deliver to the target market. The prospect only wants to know what it’ll do for him, not what you do.

If you want to have people leaping into your lap to buy from you, it requires that you let them know something they are interested in. That would be something about them, their business, and some kind of result they’d get.

The bottom two messages are about the person giving the message, not the person who asked, “So what do you do?”

Move up to message number 3. “I work with cancer patients.” It’s still about the person giving the message. It does have a little information that his target market is a cancer patient. Nothing about results. This is just a little more powerful than number 2.

In this case, if you were hearing this message and are a cancer patient it’s likely that this one is starting to get your attention, but still not enough.

Is message #4 different? Can you imaging that if you were a cancer patient, and one that’s been told you might not survive, would this absolutely grab you and pull you in?

Wouldn’t it pull you in even if you are already being treated by someone else?

It does because

1. It clearly calls out the target audience by name
2. It clearly states what the problem is
3. It talks about results, and puts a measurable value on it, 80% walk out cured in 3 months.

If you had the problem wouldn’t that simple message have you leaping into their arms begging them to help you? It would me.

If someone that had cancer heard “I am a doctor”, the first message, how would they respond in comparison?

So how do we do that for your business?

Alan Boyer is a business coach/marketing coach who helps businesses reach another $100K to $250K every 3-6 months . . . and to stop playing at building a business.  Have you been playing in the kiddie pool (not on purpose of course) and not seriously, rapidly, growing your business?

Alan can also be reached by calling 816.415.8878 or through these websites as well:

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For the past two weeks in my weekly business column, I have shared five of the top LinkedIn Mistakes I have observed during the last six years. These are not the only ones. Over at another local social media site for Northwest Indiana, I have written to date six articles regarding LinkedIn and how to better use this powerful marketing, business to business  networking and prospecting tool to generate quality sales leads and increase sales.

So here is a listing of as many LinkedIn mistakes I have discovered. Please feel free to add yours and I will update this list with your contribution and name.

1. Incomplete profile
2. Poor headline
3. Executive summary that is a resume
4. No recommendations
5. No giving of recommendations
6. Not thanking those who give you recommendations
7. No professional photograph (head shot)
8. Using Logo instead of professional head shot
9. Failure to include keyword in headline
10. Failure to include keyword in summary
11. Failure to include keyword in specialties
12. Failure to include keyword in skills
13. No results in executive summary
14. Grammar and spelling mistakes in entire profile
15. Failure to list website and other URLs
16. Failure to include your Blog along with Slideshow
17. No groups listed
18. No interested listed
19. Groups listed, but no active participation in groups
20. Participation in groups is posting your own blog as a discussion
21. Lack of professionalism when participating in groups specific to marking promotions as promotions, job opportunities as jobs instead of marking them as discussions
22. Participation in groups is 100% self promotion always referring to your blog, your solutions, your website, little to no value is added
23. Collecting names like business cards
24. Collecting names without a goal
25. Being dis-respectful in discussions because you are always right
26. Being confrontational in discussions because you are always right
27. Being the Know It All in discussions
28. Disrespecting the viewpoints of others within discussions
29. Not being personal; focus is always on selling
30. Not providing value as focus is always on you
31. Asking for recommendations from people who truly do not know you or know enough about you in you current role
32. Not reaching out to your contacts proactively to learn how you can support them
33. Not sharing or commenting on others’ updates
34. Not being active regarding the update feed
35. Expecting by being a member people will connect with you
36. Not doing research using LinkedIn to find quality connections and sales leads
37. No process in place as how to proceed after receiving an invitation or giving an invitation to connect

Please feel free to add your top LinkedIn mistakes and maybe this list can grow to 50 or more.  Learning research suggests 70% of all learning is informal meaning we learn best from each other than from some instructor or teacher.

P.S. I may also add to these LinkedIn mistakes as well as I uncover more.

Marketing is connected at the hip to a company’s brand value. This realization became ever more crystal clear after I read this posting on CBS Money Watch of 10 Companies with Insanely Bad Marketing. Note:  CBS News recently acquired the former website of BNet.  The  actual posting on bad marketing was Okay, but one comment specifically revealed how connected marketing is to a company’s brand and brand value.

Credit www.sxc.hu

One of the commentators raised the point that initially the CBS takeover (merger and acquisition) of BNet was no big deal. But now, there has been a change in perspective regarding the brand and the writer talked about the “demise of journalism” and “we’re moving closer to the day that journalism and entertainment are indistinguishable.”

I had to agree with him or her because I too very rarely read much from this former BNet site.

Seth Godin, author of many great books, probably has the best definition of brand that I have found.  He defined brand as a noun meaning:

“set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another. If the consumer whether it’s a business, a buyer, a voter or a donor doesn’t pay a premium, make a selection or spread the word, then no brand value exists for that consumer.”

After reading Godin’s definition of the word brand, I crafted my own regarding the word “branding:”

“Verb: Are the authentic actions to connect to those expectations”

Marketing then demonstrates those “authentic actions. In my book, Be the Red Jacket, as well as many other articles I have written about the two-fold purpose of marketing.

1. Attract attention
2. Build a relationship

However after reading this very critically thought out response to the CBS posting on “10 Companies with Insanely Bad Marketing,” I realized there exists two additional and very subtle purposes or shadows behind the initial purposes of marketing those being:

1. Introduce the brand
2. Maintain brand value awareness

When CBS acquired BNet, the brand already existed that being articles and information about various aspects of business written by some noted business experts without the entertainment factor.  All CBS had to do was to maintain the brand value.  However, it made an executive decision to change the brand (the expectations) and probably accepted a lost of a few readers. Yet, the loss to brand value I believe has been far greater when looking at the absence of comments.

In a  merger and acquisition this abandonment of the brand is all too common and why most M&A fail. Companies are purchased because they are profitable. Then decisions are made to “bring the newly acquired company into the fold.” However, the brand value of this acquired company is probably subtly different than the brand value of the acquiring business.  Customers recognizing their expectations that were previously met, are no longer being met leave the now “merged business” taking their dollars with them. Many research reports estimate the M&A failure rate to range from 70-90%.

The lesson learned here might be “be careful,” “step lightly” when  looking to change your marketing because it may affect your brand.  If your brand has already created expectations by your customers or clients, your new marketing should reinforce those expectations if you truly wish to increase sales (the end result of effective marketing).

Some days business marketing seems exciting and ripe with opportunity. Other days it’s like swimming through mud. Take the thrilling wonderland of social media marketing, for example. You can be out there connecting, sharing information and tweeting to your heart’s content, and never see one red penny of ROI. Whether you have a boss, or you are the boss, your job and your livelihood depend on a return on investment for your marketing efforts, and trading valuable marketing resources for unrealized potential just isn’t going to cut it.

In this post we’ll share some of the secrets of good content marketers. What are they doing that leads to new clients and closed sales?

1. Start with Goals and a Plan for Your Content Marketing ROI

All good content marketers know that sitting down with your team to lay out your company goals and content strategy is the first step. You want to identify:

• Which channels you will use to distribute your content?
• Who will champion and complete the content and on what schedule?
• What analytics tools and success metrics will you use to track the impact of your content marketing strategy? (For example you might track social shares, web traffic, clicks, amount of time visitors spend on the site, which sites refer visitors to your site and quarterly sales growth.)
• What listening tools will you implement to track brand awareness?

2. Publish High Quality Content on Multiple Channels

The on-page content of your site is important. But off-page content is much more critical to helping your business to be found. If you are not publishing content that links back to your company website, you are like a little silo sitting way out in a hay field. All alone.

By contrast, publishing content and distributing it through press release distribution sites, YouTube and social media marketing initiatives is kind of like being a flower full of pollen in a field of bees.

Not only is it great for link building to have your content spread everywhere, but it also helps the world to know what you’re about. Publishing quality, relevant content that is meaningful to customers in your niche is key. Instead of trying to snare new customers with annoying ads, you’re delivering information they want and need. This builds trust, engagement, admiration and loyalty to your brand.

3. Optimize Your Content for Specific Keywords

Identifying targeted keyword phrases for your business is critical. Optimized content helps the search engines to act as match makers between information seekers and the content they are seeking.

But it’s more complicated than saying “My company is about Business Leadership, so I’m going to make sure the phrase ‘Business Leadership’ appears in all of my content.” It’s important to perform some in-depth keyword research to identify the “long tail” keyword phrases your audience is using to find services like yours. Otherwise it can be extremely difficult for you to get any significant search engine ranking in your niche.

The keywords you think of without actually researching them may not be the same ones your target clients are using.

4. Create a Boomerang Effect By Giving Other Businesses Some Buzz

Push marketing is over. Content marketing and referral marketing are in. One great way to get visibility for your business is to give kudos and referrals to others. This may be counter intuitive in traditional marketing terms. But it works.

Think of it like this. If another business gives you a referral or the business owner compliments you in front of a stranger, how does it make you feel? You want to do something for that business in return. And of course, in doing so, you will encourage more good will and more referrals. Referral marketing is not new, but today you have some very effective tools at your fingertips for how to grow your business through referral marketing business via social media.

Here’s one strategy:

• Log into your business Facebook page as your business fan page.
• Visit the Facebook pages of other businesses in your niche that offer non-competing services. Say hello on their page and leave a compliment about their Facebook page, their services, or an appreciative note about the connection you have with them.
• When businesses visit your Facebook page, thank them for visiting and give them an online “high five.” If you have done business with them, share a compliment about their products or services on your own page. Make sure you link back to them via the @ symbol, if you’re connected, or just post a complete link to their Facebook page. This post will show up on your own page and theirs. So it’s a nice and very visible gesture that over time can help to build visibility for your company as well.

5. Consolidate and Curate

Good content marketers know that trying to be everywhere at once is expensive. Why? Because you must either spend a lot of time trying to establish and maintain a presence on every popular social media channel or hire someone to do so. So there is a significant expense in time, money or both.

Instead of attempting to be omnipresent, think of how you can get more bang for your buck by consolidating your content marketing efforts and curating other content in your niche. Here are a few strategies:

• Use a social media management hub application, such as HootSuite, to schedule and manage your social media content.
• Change your settings in Twitter so that it automatically posts to your LinkedIn status and/or  your Facebook fan page.
• Use social media profile consolidation tools like Xeeme.com that allow you to place all of your social media, video, website and blog links on one page and monitor your online influence.
• Use content curation link to tools like Scoop.it to post content from around the web that is related to your industry, including your own. For example, if you are in the pharmaceutical industry, you could create a Scoop.it page devoted to news and trends in the medical and pharma industries. Doing so gives you an attractive magazine-like landing page for industry-related content that includes your own articles and company buzz alongside others.

In summary, to ensure you achieve the content marketing ROI you are looking for, align your social media efforts with your business goals and harness the power of the digital marketing tools available today.

Connect with Jayna via:

Your Wish Marketing at 952-913-6813 Mobile CT, USA

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Content marketing begins with relevant value which emanates from strategic planning as demonstrated through market research.  Potential customers, prospects, centers of influence or strategic partners are seeking new information.  Your goal is to become one of the top resources in this quest for this endless flow of information. Sales Training Coaching Tip:  To engage in content marketing without having a strategic plan has you in the role of Captain Wing It where you spray your efforts all over the place and then pray something will stick.

Of course there is a problem with all you can eat information, there is just too much of it. This is why relevant value is so critical.

Value as Marc Miller writes in his book A Seat at the Table truly comes from the client or prospect’s viewpoint.  In other words, people buy on value unique to them. This is my sales buying rule #3.

Yes, there may be some generic value in specific industries or specific roles, however each organization has a culture of decision making based upon certain usually unknown values. The challenge for those in sales is not to have their perception of value supersede the potential customer’s reality of value.  Sales Training Coaching Tip:  Miller’s book is probably one of the best books on how to increase sales in today’s market place as well as to how to understand value.

Relevancy specific to value is what is most critical at this point in time and works with the two sales buying criteria of commitment and urgency. For example, if the organization  is looking at compliance costs even though they also believe in building customer loyalty, what is more important to them right now?  For whatever is more relevant will also be where there is greater urgency and a greater commitment to take action.

Writing numerous postings on this sales blog as well as a weekly column for the Post-Tribune of Northwest Indiana, regular contributor for NBiz Magazine based out of Houston, Texas, not to mention thousands of other articles, I am continually reviewing what the readers are seeking based upon metrics such as reads, retweets, etc. Even though I sincerely believe in strategic planning, leadership, business ethics and consistent goal setting, those articles do not receive as much attention as ones on:

7 Top Tips to Car Salesmen’s or Car Saleswomen’s Success – 52,583 reads published April 25, 2007

7 Tips to Real Estate Agent’s Success – 41,978 reads published May 16, 2006

What is Passion? – 17,630 reads published May 29, 2005

Content Marketing a Competitive B2B Advantage – 307 tweets since January 8, 2012

Uniting See Level with Sea Level to Reinforce an Engaged Workforce of Thinkers and Doers – 31% click through rate since August 1, 2011

Can Your Business Ethics Stand the Newest Wave of Bombardment, Social Media? – 7 reposts through EzineArticles since August 17, 2010

The challenge even though relevant value may work in tandem with two of the 5 sales buying criteria, it doesn’t necessarily guarantee a sale.  Returning to the example of the first two articles about car sales people and real estate, many of these  sales people do not have the allocated dollars to hire a sales coach. However the article still gives provides the opportunity to attract more attention and build more relationships.  Yes I have earned dollars through these articles. Sales Training Coaching Tip:  Determine your niche in content marketing.

To determine relevant value begins by listening to what your customers are saying; by listening to what others are saying; by listening to what is happening within your market place, your community and even the world. Also engaging in keyword research supports relevant value in content marketing.  Keyword research can be your secret weapon to Be the Red Jacket, to stand out in the crowd with your blog postings to articles to even keynote speeches.

In today’s very crowded market place, does demand that you do stand out if you wish to increase sales. Content marketing based upon relevant value just may help you stand out a little quicker, may increase sales and may expand your market influence.

You were a skeptic from the start, didn’t think it would work.  This thing called social media.  It’s a fad and now you’re just waiting for it to pass.  You tried it and it didn’t work.  You created accounts, spent money having avatars personalized, backgrounds, fan pages, you name it you invested in it and for what?  Social media is a scam!

If this is you, you ‘re not alone.  There could be so many problems with this scenario this post couldn’t possibly cover them all, but let’s cover some of the top culprits.

1)      Unrealistic expectations:  Did you really think creating accounts on these social platforms was going to be the magic formula that was going to bring in hundreds or even thousands of new customers to your business overnight?  What exactly did you do other than creating the accounts?  Post offers and discounts?   Gimme a break.  Social media is NOT a push medium like TV and radio.

2)      No Plan or Strategy:   Did you hire a reputable social media firm with a proven track record?  If you used a college intern or your administrative assistant to post the occasional tweet or once a day fan page post, SHAME ON YOU!  Even if you did the content management yourself, without a plan in place, you’re rolling a boulder up a steep hill.

3)      Did you use more than one social media platform?  Let’s say for argument sake, you only used Twitter, and let’s say you only follow people in your target geographic location.  You really limited your market because I can guarantee, everyone you follow will not follow you back.  If you wait for people to follow you first, you will be waiting a very long time to make a dent in your online presence. (Unless you are famous of course.)  In order to maximize your online presence, you need to be present on multiple platforms.  Not necessarily the top 5, social media is not cookie cutter.  You need to do what’s best for you and your business.

4)      Did you use Facebook ads?  No you say?  Another mistake.  This is the most affordable online advertising available and you can target your niche market.  If you own a neighborhood bistro, you can market to a zip code if you want to.  You can’t do that with Twitter, the Yellow Pages, etc…

5)      Did you follow up with existing clients? No?  What a shame.  Existing clients have social media accounts and they go online.  Imagine if they liked your work the praises they could give on a fan page, Yelp account, etc… You know what they say… it’s easier to keep a customer than to find a new one?

6)      Giving up too soon: How long did you work on your social media marketing project?  Yes, social media is easy, but it’s time consuming.  It’s not something that will happen overnight or even in 3 months.  You can see improvement in 3 months, but you can see real benefits over a longer period of time.

So, I challenge you to create a plan, go back online, log back into those social media accounts!  Stay online and give social media a real chance.  You’ll be glad you

P.S.  If you need help or have questions, feel free to post them on the Your Social Media Mogul fan page.

Guest Blogger Knikkolette Fahrendorf Church is an  artist at heart, always feeling creative. She fell in love with social networking and social media years ago when Knikkolette was introduced to Twitter and it grew into a love affair when she created her website and had to learn to optimize her site, and market herself online. Now Knikkolette likes to share what she has learned over the years with friends both old and new. Sometimes she might have a snarky, “Oh No She Didn’t” attitude, sometimes she  might have a comedic sense of humor, but regardless of the view taken, Knikkolette hopes you will enjoy what she has written.

Knikkolette Fahrendorf Church can be reached through these additional links:

Content marketing is not just about writing articles or blog posts nor it is just sharing links or quotes, but now has evolved to being a content curator who is truly a relationship connector. These individuals by their actions add value by:

• Connecting to their target audience
• Building relationships and influence within their communities
• Supporting their efforts to stand out in the crowd, to Be the Red jacket

So just what is a content curator? As in any term, there are many definitions.

A curator is defined according to Webster as someone who as the care and superintendence of something.  This word comes from the word curate which in Latin means care or in French cure of souls.

Content means to contain or hold in. In today’s business world, content is about containing or holding in information that may be of value to the intended recipient be it an ideal customer or a larger target market.

So a content curator is some who cares about the content being distributed.  This individual just doesn’t post anything to earn a few more social media followers be them on Twitter, Google+ or Facebook.  But rather he or she is generally looking to add value because he or she cares. From this perspective, they are able to increase sales.

A question to consider:

Is what you are sharing truly nourishing the souls

of your intended audience?

My sense is there is a strong connection between one’s soul (not necessarily in the religious sense) and what one values.

In other words, a content curator is truly a relationship builder and connector. By the sharing of resources, a content curator continues to bring value to those within his or her business orbit or sphere of influence.  This individual is not engaged in self promotion by read this blog (which is a sales letter in disguise) or get hundreds of dollars of free stuff (provided you buy one item at $49.95) or attend this free conference in which I will hard sell you why you need to hire me.

When I wrote Be the Red Jacket, the goal was to truly support those engaged in selling.  Today’s marketplace is very crowded. To get notice, requires standing out away from all those other gray suits, to truly Be the Red Jacket.

Becoming a content curator may be a viable marketing strategy to attract attention, to build relationships, to increase sales, to be the Red Jacket.  Of course, this may require some additional research as to what your target audience or ideal customer is seeking. Yet, if you wish to take your small business to that next level, understanding content marketing and more importantly the role of being a content curator may be how you increase sales.

Social media is very much about the keyboard.  Connecting with people happens with a few strokes of the key and sometimes just by one stroke when you indicate you like a post. Yet, many crazy busy small business owners fail to understand that social media is not a substitution for face to face meetings.

Credit www.sxc.hu

People buy from people they know and trust (sales buying rule).  By meeting them, you as a potential vendor, strategic partner or even center of influence have an incredible opportunity.

Reach out and touch someone extends in the social media environments to an actual handshake.

Now with social media being a global event, it is difficult to reach out across the world, but with Skype and video cams you can connect with others and truly interact with them.  Since there is still a lot of local business, meeting others face to face over a beverage or meal is a great way to truly get to know them and continue to build that trust. Sales Training Coaching Tip:  Do not confuse a business to business networking event with having a one on one meeting with someone.

This morning I had an early meeting with two local Facebook friends over at another local business here in Northwest Indiana, The Uptown Cafe.  Over the past year, we had interacted, but never had met each other face to face.  What a pleasant opportunity to spend 60 minutes to physically meet these two individuals.  One is a local realtor, Valarie Kucaki and the other Eric Wignall had a marketing firm. Sales Training Coaching Tip: Marketing is not selling, but the goal to increase sales can be achieved through effective marketing.

Discussion never once was about what each other did, but rather about points in common. From the conversation, I was able to gain a sense about the individuality of each person as well as their business ethics and values. The time invested was well worth it and I am glad that I scheduled and made time.

In fact, Eric shared one of his marketing goals is to have more of these face to face meetings with other small business owners in 2012. Sales Training Coaching Tip:  Business is conducted locally as well as globally.

So as you continue to stroke the keyboard to keep connecting with others be it through LinkedIn, Google+, Facebook, Twitter or some other social media site, remember to invest some time to go beyond those keys.

Years ago one of my now dearest friends and colleagues, Laura Novakowski, shared with me something she learned from one of her mentors who had shared Socrates’ three filters. With the explosion of social media specific to marketing and to increase sales, maybe now is the time for others to employ this increase sales strategy and tactic.

Socrates’ three filters are pretty straight forward when it comes to communication:

1. Is what you say or write kind?’

2. Is what you say or write truthful?

3. Is what you say or write necessary?

This past week I have been engaged in several online discussions over at Google Plus, Facebook and LinkedIn. In a couple of these discussions, there was an opportunity to view the responses as condescending to almost belligerent.

Now in the past, I might have reacted differently. However by keeping Socrates’ three filters in the front of my conscious thoughts I replied respectfully.  What is interesting to note, I receive a couple of private emails who commented on my restraint. For the goal of social media is multiple in that you want to build:

• Influence
• Credibility
• Expertise
• Brand recognition
• Qualified sales leads

Being negative even it is executed nicely probably will not help you achieve any of these business goals.

As to Socrates’ three filters, my sense is Socrates probably had a high emotional intelligence quotient because he understood the necessity for recognizing the emotions of others and then using those emotions for positive or forward action motivation.  Many of us can learn from his example.

Sales Cartoon

Credit www.funnysalescartoons.com

Sales Quotation

“Without action and accountability, dreams simply remain unfulfilled potential.”

William Butler Yeats