Networking Your Website in Niche Industry Groups

By Rita Wilhelm, Contributing Writer     Rita's Bio        Email article to a friend

Do you find that your business tends to attract a certain type of clientele? Does your business work with clients in certain industries?

My guess is that if your company is a B2B company, (where you sell your products or services to other businesses) you already spend much of your sales efforts working within specific industries.

A smart marketing strategy might be to locate an online group in your niche, and network with that group.

According to an iProspect study, 51% of people spend their time online watching and viewing content that is created by others. In fact, 1 out of 3 internet users at this very moment, is reading about something that someone else has written, and it is impacting a buying decision right now.

WOW! Think about that for a moment. That’s a lot of people, and that’s a lot of opportunity for you! You can make a post or enter into a conversation, and in many cases what you write may be read by countless other people.

Before you begin actively networking in your selected online community, it’s very important to first take some time to observe the rules of the group, and the culture of the group. If you do not conform to the rules and the culture, you’ll just create a bad reputation for yourself, and most likely be booted out of the group.

I run several niche online communities, one of which is a place for professionals in the gift basket industry to come together. It’s mostly comprised of women. Many have been part of the community for years.

The rules in this online community of gift basket professionals are pretty basic and common. We don’t allow spamming, badmouthing, and we have select areas where suppliers to the gift basket industry can advertise their services.

The culture of the community comes out when you read the posts. What you would find is that all the members have a common interest. They are entrepreneurs who make and sell gift baskets. When these gift basket professionals come to our online community, they find that they:

• Meet other like-minded people
• Find answers to questions they have
• Discover new and better ways of doing things
• Receive quality feedback on ideas they might have
• Celebrate their wins with their peers
• Support each other during down times
• Network with each other, and refer business to each other
• Discover suppliers that carry certain products
• Develop friendships

I think you would find this list to be common among many industry groups, and it’s the reason why many businesses join associations. The community plays an important role in helping them with their business.

Let’s say your company makes a specialty food item, such as salsa. Let’s say that you wanted to tap into the gift basket market, and network within the online community of gift basket professionals.

Once you have observed the rules and the culture, and have decided to conform to those rules, you might first decide to make your post in the allowable area where suppliers can advertise. But there would be more opportunities for you as well.

How can you do that, without spamming the community?

First of all, in most communities, you can add a signature and a short tagline. Usually, you can set this up in your profile, and it would automatically show up each time you post a comment. This signature might have your name, your website, and your tagline on it. Your tagline might say something like “The best salsa company in Texas.”

Now let’s say a member posted a question to the community, and was asking for help in finding a supplier who sells black and white wicker baskets. Or, let’s say someone needed help on what to put in a 50th birthday basket.

You can go ahead and chime into that discussion, as long as it remains on topic. You might share a supplier that you know of who sells wicker baskets. Or, you might give some ideas on what to put in that 50th birthday basket, even if it does not include salsa.

The point is that you are engaging in conversations, staying on topic, and being helpful by providing and sharing ideas, resources, and expertise, while not really promoting your product. People will see your signature, and they’ll get to know you.

Try to visit your community at least once a week, so that you can build relationships. People will start recognizing your name, and will judge you by your interactions and the quality of your posts.

Remember, people do business with people they like and trust. It’s all about building relationships.

 

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Contact Rita Wilhelm at RitaW@TheNationalNetworker.com or Post a Comment on TNNW Blog.