Netpaths Guide to SEO & Web Design » business networking

Blog Talk Radio Show with Business Networking Director Lisa Bentson

CVOS — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 18:45:38 +0000

We are proud to be interviewed by Lisa Bentson’s Marketing Monday, which focuses on the latest tools and techniques to increase your business and improve your marketing. Listen now.

Hear the interview on the blog talk radio show in mp3.

We will discuss Creating a website that showcases the benefits of your business and builds rapport with new Visitors using the latest SEO techniques and also review how is Search Engine Optimization evolving and changing. Find out what you need to know to make their sites search friendly.

Cayley Vos founded Netpaths a web development firm in 1998 after unsuccessfully trying to find a vendor who could help with creating an e-commerce website. The resources available both for the development and marketing of the website were not able to deliver. In the late 1990′s search engine marketing was mostly comprised of automated websites that promised to submit your website to 10,000 search engines. The only result from submitting your site was getting subscribed to hundreds of email lists that subsequently spammed you with unending offers. We vowed to find a better way and now we are able to achieve top placement for our clients using a trifecta of techniques: content, links, & social media.

Netpaths is a Los Angeles based web design firm that specializes in creating search engine friendly websites and pay per click online marketing. Our favorite thing to do is to take an underperforming website and make it a profitable lead generating source and revenue producing part of your business.

Lisa Bentson is the director of Leads Club, which is the oldest business networking organization in the U.S. and has helped tens of thousands of business owners grow their business and achieve financial success. Leads Club was started in 1971 and has hundreds of chapters throughout the world. If you want to expand your network, Lisa is is a great person to know.

Please listen to this radio program and tell us what you think in the comments.

Thanks for reading our web design and SEO blog. Get the full post online Blog Talk Radio Show with Business Networking Director Lisa Bentson and tell us your thoughts. Netpaths Guide to SEO & Web Design - Simple Search Engine Optimization Steps

How To Be Better At Networking and Improving Your Personal Marketing

CVOS — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 00:41:58 +0000

In person networking is as important to growing your business and increasing your influence. Here are the top ways to not miss your next networking opportunity.

Business Networking doesn’t begin when you arrive at the conference

Before leaving for an event, networking lunch or conference (see our pubcon seo conference post) have your goals outlined and script prepared. Know who you should contact and be ready to help them. Also, If you are at an event and are not professional there is a possibility that your bad antics will be video recorded and shared online. Always assume that video cameras are running at any event and don’t do anything you wouldn’t want taped.

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At the conference lunch, or event meal, don’t describe what you do, how well you do it, how many awards you’ve received for doing it, and how you can do it for me if I’d sign a contract. Ask questions and be thoughtful of people’s responses. It’s the ultimate way to learn, and allows you the opportunity to actually contribute something of value to the conversation. Value gets remembered, verbal diarrhea simply gets recalled (not in a good way).

Approach Speakers Before Their Presentation
Instead of being one of the hundred people going up to the speaker at the end of the speech, talk to them beforehand. Find the speaker before they go on stage, introduce yourself and write on your business card that you were the one who introduced yourself before the talk. You will be remembered.

Do Something Original
Try to hand them something besides a boring piece of cardboard for your business card to optimize your memorability. If you’re creative enough to give something they will remember, chances are that person will want to do some business with you.

Don’t Immediately Friend Them
After meeting someone, if you immediately add them to your Facebook page they may feel like you are stalking them. People under 24 may have no problem with this, but most others will. It is ok to follow their Twitter stream, but be wary of more personal social networking tools, including LinkedIn. Establish some meaningful communication before trying to become digital pals.

Manage Your Personal Brand
If your personal or professional brand isn’t portrayed online the way you would like it to be, it’s not the social network’s fault. It’s not Facebook’s fault, it’s not LinkedIn’s fault, it’s not YouTube’s fault, it’s not Twitter’s fault — It’s probably your fault. Make sure to keep online appearances as you want them to be and maintain professional updates with social network websites.

Read Peter Shankman discuss his 5 ways of making networking work for you.

Thanks for reading our web design and SEO blog. Get the full post online How To Be Better At Networking and Improving Your Personal Marketing and tell us your thoughts. Netpaths Guide to SEO & Web Design - Simple Search Engine Optimization Steps

How To Be A Successful Business Networker – A 6 Step Checklist

CVOS — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 13:52:47 +0000

Creating a solid network of individuals in your sphere of influence will help you be successful in the long term. This is a six step process to creating a quality network of people willing to help you.

Meet Face to Face

When meeting people at an event, you develop an impression about the kind of person they are and what the best type of relationship you should develop with them. In person meetings allow you to share non verbal communication in a way that email cannot.

Meeting in online social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and MySpace does not generate the same kind of connection. Many people use social media to generate the first point of contact, but these tools are much better suited for followup and relationship management.

When making connections online, call them to establish rapport. Talking makes a better impression than email and is much longer lasting.

Set Goals

Networking is a pay it forward opportunity where you give back before receiving. A closed fist receives no money, and it is after providing a helping hand that people will go out of their way to help you

Business networking is a chance to connect with others and learn about them and their needs; and then figure out how you might be able to help them. Now in order for you to be able to come through, you need to listen to what the other person says. During a conversation, the other party often shares personal details with you.

Look for some common grounds based on your experience and history. Connect, promise assistance, and deliver on your promises.

Follow Up

After investing time, energy and money to attend an event following up is the most important action.

The business networking process has 3 major steps: Pre-Networking Planning/Goal Setting, Networking, and Following up.

For best results, be diligent throughout the whole process. Follow up and connect with the people you meet at an event in an unobtrusive manner. Reach out to them within 24-48 hours by phone or email, plan a short gathering for coffee or lunch, and be ready to learn more about the individual and the professional.

This is the next step to take the relationship beyond just having them as one of your connections in your contact manager.

Offer Help

Everyone needs help with something, and if you can offer your expert assistance in time of need, your contacts will not forget this.

By proactively offering assistance you become the default go to person for the next project.

Maintain Contact

After following up by phone and possibly a brief meeting, find a way to keep in touch and on their radar. Facebook and LinkedIn are invaluable to maintain these connections.

Be active in updating your status while checking your connections’ status updates, links, blogs, announcements… interact with them, comment on their blogs, send relevant information and offer helpful suggestions.

Update Connections

Periodically go through the list of your connections and update the information. Reevaluate what kind of relationship you wish to have, their potential, and how much time and energy to invest.

At this step you will know which connections will have the most impact on your business.

Remember to go into relationships with an open hand. What are tips that have helped you build your network?

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Twiistup 3 Los Angeles Awesome Tech Business Networking

CVOS — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 03:23:12 +0000

We just got back from the 3rd social networking group Twiistup, held at the Air Conditioned Club in Venice, Los Angeles. Twiistup is a for technology focused networking group that lets startups, web 2.0 companies and tech firms mingle and display their businesses. It was a very fun event, and I made some good connections and talked to many dedicated and passionate business owners.

We don’t have the luxury of the Silicon Valley uber networking community like Tech Crunch 40, but this kind of event makes up for it. Heavy on the social, with lots of entertainment, including an appearance by Perez Hilton who gave away a copy of the video game Rock Band (which no one seemed to have heard about)

Here are some of the web companies i talked with. If I missed you please

magentocommerce.com open source shopping cart software. I have to say this looks like an order of magnitude better than oscommerce.com and will be the php cart to beat once it is out of beta.

Speeddate.com – I met Dan the CEO who said he started Speed Date right after graduating from Stanford University. He wanted to escape the real world and create a tech startup Silicon Valley style. Online dating is definitely a good niche to enter and the combination of instant video chat in a safe environment should be a winner. No current monetization on this site, kudos to them for having a no ad site.

Thembid.com – Elmer is the owner of Them Bid and he is very animated when talking about his company. It’s clear he loves what he does and is very involved in social media, including being a figg top 100 user! Elmer described his business as Craigslist.org meets ebay.com on priceline.com where you list products and services for free and people bid on them. Want to sell your 1980 toyota? List it and let people name their price for your car. This should work well once the site has significant traffic. I created my profile and love the free directory listing (to activate this you must select your business category in the profile section)

RubiconProject.com – There was a swarm of people around this booth all night so it was hard to talk to the founders but this statup company has huge momentum and is getting a lot of attention in the online publishing world. This web service uses algorithms to automatically optimize ad serving to website visitors. From their site “First, our system gets the ad impression from the publisher, analyzes it and then selects ad networks based on their strengths. Then, the ad impression is redirected to your system to serve the ad to the visitor. So, nothing changes, it’s just like working with any other publisher.”

toolstolife.com is an online coaching service by Devlyn Steele. I’m usually not a fan of online self help services, but this one is well done, free and has no advertising. I asked Delvyn how he could devote so many resources to a free service and he said it’s his passion to help people. Hard to argue with that, I’m signing up to test it out.

One thing that struck me is that none of these web companies I talked with had advertising. They only spent money and didn’t make any. I sincerely hope this pays off for them because these seem like great companies and all have something positive to offer the world.

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