Building Relationships Effectively Online

I think my Dad has finally stopped using the term “your internet friends.”

Whenever he’d say it, it would make me laugh because I recognized that it probably seems a little odd that I’d call people whom I met online my friends…not internet friends…just friends. Odd as it may have originally seemed to my father (and perhaps to some of you too!), here’s the deal:

I have a business (Diva Money Club) with 3 wonderful friends whom I originally met online….and this business is changing people’s lives. Not just the people who are Platinum Members, but also the lives of women in Liberia through the microcredit loans we’re funding with a portion of our profits.

I am making nice returns on my money via small business loans and short term mortgages with several friends whom I originally met online (I shared one example of this in a previous post).

I connected with an awesome group of people down here in South Florida and nationwide all initiated from a couple interactions via Twitter with The Go-Giver author (and now someone I call friend), Bob Burg.

I could go on and on about how my online interactions have brought immense value to my life.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been hearing so much nay-saying about social media and I truly do understand it because it can absolutely be a time waster if you’re not careful.

That being said, I’d like to share my favorite 3 tips — things that I have done and continue to do personally — that make building relationships more effective and lead to less wasted time.

Tip #1: Take select relationships OFFLINE

You’re only going to get to know someone so much from your online interactions…you get limited characters in your tweets and direct messages and you don’t want to write huge messages within Facebook comments.

Whenever my initial several interactions with someone lead me to believe that this is a person I really should get to know better, I move it from an online interaction to telephone (or in person if at all possible). One pre-scheduled 20-30 minute conversation has done WAY more for my relationship building than 10+ brief online interactions.

Now to protect your most valuable asset of time, you want to be selective here and you also don’t want to pack your time with a bunch of phone calls or in-person meetings. Be intentional about this. Make the networking a key part of your weekly, bi-weekly (my personal preference), or monthly activities to grow your business, create a list of people you desire to connect further with, and then schedule accordingly.

Also remember that you don’t have to always have phone calls….if preferred communication for both of you is online, then you can always continue it there once you’ve connected. My point is that nothing beats putting a voice and/or a face to a name for establishing stronger and faster rapport and trust. Within a 20-30 minute conversation that follows some online interaction, you can determine how you can best be of value to that other person and how they may bring value to what you’re doing.

Tip #2: Share personal updates…not just business updates

I think my fellow Diva Susan said it best to one of our platinum members in the forum…here’s what she said (and I agree with it 100%):

“Most business people who are using social networking for business ONLY are completely missing the point. If you only talked about business at a party you’d be boring. Share personal pics, jokes and spice it up so your followers can get to know you. People buy from those they know, like and trust.”

I’m not suggesting that you put super-personal or private information out for the world to see…I do believe there is such thing as TMI (too much information) in social media. However, personal information that you’d freely share with someone you just met works pretty nicely! You can also ask questions and get opinions from others. For example, I’ve received awesome recommendations for products (that I’ve since purchased) thanks to input from my social network. These interactions build the “know, like, and trust” factor!

Tip #3: Get Facebook Mobile

Adding facebook mobile to my Blackberry has allowed me to be more interactive on Facebook without wasting time that should be used for something else. Whenever I have “dead time” (like waiting in lines, waiting for someone to arrive at an appointment, or riding in the car), I can quickly and easily share updates and comment on others’ updates or content. I can also take pictures and share them easily which provides opportunity to interact. If you have a smartphone, give it a shot and see what you think!

If you’re already using social media sites, I hope that you found some of these tips to be helpful. More importantly, I hope that I’ve opened some eyes to the possibilities and positive aspects of building relationships online.

I wanted to leave you with some related resources that I think you’ll like!

Matt Rosen’s Social Media Talk — my Hawaiian bud Matt did a talk on social media recently at his Hard Money Conference in Vegas. He shared it on his blog, so check it out if this is a topic of interest to you!

Lo Sheriow’s Massive Buyer’s List Today — you’ll notice I have a testimonial on her sales page…that’s because I sooo wish that everyone who was trying to use Social Media to find buyers, partners, private lenders, etc. would read it and put her information into action. Costs only $37 and totally worth it if you want learn how to be effective! You can absolutely close deals as a result of social media. Lo shows how to get it done.

How to Build Relationships on Facebook…and Stay Under Your Employer’s Radar — this is a quick video blog post specifically for those people who have concerns about their employers seeing their “side hustling” networking activities and updates on Facebook.