Ep 111 - Online Networking Strategies
Business Success + Life Coach, Debbie Shadid, is talking with you about about strategies you can use to network online and build a supportive net around your coaching business.
In this day and age, the internet allows amazing opportunities to connect with people we wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity to meet. There are so many ways to network, in fact, that it might actually be overwhelming.
In this Part 2 of our short networking series, I’ll be outlining the most effective ways you can network your business online. We’ll be talking about where you can find online networking opportunities, how to talk to people when you’re networking, and what to do after meeting them.
Listen in on this week’s episode to learn how you can leverage online networking opportunities for your coaching business.
Transcript
00;00;06;05 - 00;00;24;04 | Debbie
Welcome to the Business Building Boutique podcast for new life coaches. If you are a newly certified coach who's trying to figure out how to grow your business, you're in the right spot. Join me each week to learn simple business growth strategies along with step by step marketing tips to get you seen by clients in your niche. I'm going to be your guide.
00;00;24;04 - 00;00;45;16 | Debbie
I'll tell you what to do so you can feel confident in your business. And here's the truth, ladies. You can build your dream coaching business without paid ads and without a fancy sales funnel. So if that sounds interesting and you're ready to get more paid clients, then let's get started. Hey, welcome to today's podcast. How are you guys today?
00;00;45;16 - 00;01;10;01 | Debbie
I'm going to be talking about online networking. Now, last week I talked to you guys about in-person networking. I really want to encourage you to go back and listen to that podcast if you have not listened today. I also want to encourage you to share this podcast with a fellow coach. I really want to help you guys build your business, and one of the ways to do that is to connect with people.
00;01;10;01 - 00;01;34;24 | Debbie
And it is also one of the ways that you will validate your offer. You will learn much faster if what you are saying about your services and about how you can help people, you'll learn much faster if what you are saying is really the right thing. So I want you to share this with somebody. Invite them to listen to this and you guys figure out how to get to some networking events together.
00;01;34;24 - 00;01;59;25 | Debbie
All right. So let's talk about online networking. First of all, let me just say I had not done any research for quite some time about networking events online. I cannot believe how many places there are to do online networking. If you guys will just go to Google and I'm going to give you tons of ideas today in the podcast, but if you go search under your niche, do not give up, just keep searching.
00;01;59;25 - 00;02;16;00 | Debbie
You will find things. I'm telling you, there are a lot of places. When we think about online networking, most of the time we think about social media. And I know for most of you guys you're like, I am not going to do that. I don't like the way people network online, and I am not talking about direct messaging
00;02;16;00 - 00;02;41;06 | Debbie
people. No DM's. Now, maybe you like to do that and maybe you've had success doing that, but that is not the way I like to network online, so you don't have to do that if you don't want to, but you can show up on social media. And what I want to say about that is this so many of the people in your world, your friend base, the people that you're connected with on social media, they don't even know that you're coaches.
00;02;41;08 - 00;02;59;25 | Debbie
That alone is surprising to me. So many of you guys are thinking that your person who would buy coaching from you is not in your own social media network. I mean, honestly, that's what your social media following is. Is they're a network of people and I want you to start thinking that they're a network of people that could spend money with you.
00;02;59;25 - 00;03;19;28 | Debbie
And remember, they're a network of people that are connected to people who are connected to people who are connected to people. I talked about that last week that when we think about asking for a new person to do our nails or a new doctor or pediatrician for our kids or whatever it is, we ask somebody, they tell us, Oh, so and so and so and so and so and
00;03;19;28 - 00;03;49;26 | Debbie
so, right? That is the same way as your social media following that is a group of people that even if you think you're coaching, that you sell, your niche does not fit your group of people. Somebody knows somebody who knows somebody. You want to make sure that on your social media that you actually have your bios set up so that people understand that you're a coach and that you sell coaching and that you can help them. Doesn't have to be all salesey, doesn't have to be a pitch, but let people know that you can help them.
00;03;50;09 - 00;04;10;11 | Debbie
So when I talk about social media, I'm talking about LinkedIn, I'm talking about Instagram, I'm talking about Facebook. Some of you guys, you're going to do TikTok. What I want to say about social media right now is that there are so many new platforms. I've been in business online for 23 years, and over that period of time, even in the last couple of years, there was Clubhouse,
00;04;10;11 - 00;04;34;20 | Debbie
that is not anymore. Maybe it is, but it's not popular. There was Periscope before that. That was and then it wasn't. There are so many places that come up. I want to make sure that whenever you hear about a new social media platform that you go and you get your name on that platform, you want to get the exact same name everywhere so that people can find you like @DebbieShadid everywhere, all right?
00;04;35;00 - 00;04;55;13 | Debbie
Even if you never go use that platform, claim your name there because you never know what platform is going to take off. You can also go on social media and just educate people about how you are going to be able to help them. This is the important part that we all need to do is even the life coaching to us is something that we're so familiar with.
00;04;55;13 - 00;05;20;26 | Debbie
There are so many people that really don't understand what coaching can do for them. They really don't understand even what a life coach is and so it's our job to educate people. That is one of the ways that you network with people. When you network, you want to have an invitation to connect with you. And again, it doesn't have to be, quote, a sales call or a discovery call or a consultation call.
00;05;21;12 - 00;05;52;16 | Debbie
One of the ways that I have built my business the fastest is that I have coffee dates, virtual coffee dates. I want you to connect with people without the intention of selling people. I'm getting ready to do a workshop with our mindset coach, Jennifer Richie. I think it's going to be two times the second week of June, so make sure you guys follow up with us and pay attention to what I'm doing, because I'm going to be offering a two hour workshop for new coaches and I am not selling anything.
00;05;52;16 - 00;06;20;02 | Debbie
It's a way for me to educate you. It's a way for Jennifer Richie, who is our mindset coach, to talk about common mindset problems that new coaches have. I have an outline with the ten things that new coaches need to know about building a business online. But I'm sharing this with you because there is no pitch. I am coming to educate you to connect with you, to build a bridge, to build a bond, to let you see what I do, but I'm not selling you anything.
00;06;20;26 - 00;06;44;00 | Debbie
And that is what you guys need to do. You want to share useful information and then trust that the people that you share useful information to will want to connect with you. That's what happens when I do my workshops for you guys. Those are online networking events, and I typically do a new workshop every single week when I do that, I don't sell.
00;06;44;00 - 00;07;01;28 | Debbie
During those workshops. I talk to you about what I do. I teach you something and I teach you something from start to finish with an entire solution in it. I don't hold anything back, and I trust that you want to connect with me because you see that I'm an expert that can help you. This is what you guys want to do.
00;07;01;28 - 00;07;38;12 | Debbie
So make sure that you are sharing useful information. Make sure that you are a connector. I love when I am networking in Facebook groups to be able to connect people with other people. If you are a coach that's in my world and I know what you do and I know you, you'll often find out that I am connecting you with another coach who maybe is in a similar niche where I think you two could collaborate together. That's another really beautiful thing about online networking is collaborating. Reach out to people within your niche.
00;07;38;13 - 00;08;05;02 | Debbie
Fellow coaches, I just did this yesterday. I just connected with two really big people in the coaching world and I'm going to partner with them and I did that because I reached out to them. That gives me an opportunity to be in front of their community and for them to be in front of my community. Let me just say, the two coaches that I connected with yesterday, they are far beyond where I'm at in my coaching business and they still want to connect with me.
00;08;05;20 - 00;08;25;19 | Debbie
So don't judge who's going to want to talk to you, yes or no, just put yourself out there. All right. Let's talk about Facebook groups now. First of all, you could start your own Facebook group and that could be a place where you could bring people together and the beautiful thing about that is, is it doesn't matter if there's another Facebook group similar.
00;08;25;19 - 00;08;47;25 | Debbie
I know I worked with one of my clients who helps people through high conflict divorces, and she said, oh, my gosh, there are so many Facebook groups out there about people who are in high conflict situations. And actually they don't maybe want to get divorced. They're just trying to work things out. They're blended families who are in high conflict problems.
00;08;47;25 - 00;09;07;11 | Debbie
They're having challenges and the Facebook groups that she was going into, they were all negative. People were complaining there wasn't anything positive happening there. So I said, start your own Facebook group and make it on your own terms. You guys, when you start a Facebook group, you can make your own rules. You can decide this is going to be a place where we're going to uplift people.
00;09;07;11 - 00;09;25;25 | Debbie
We're going to encourage people. This is a place where I'm going to offer solutions. I'm going to help people. And let me tell you again, I know I keep saying this, but you guys can give all of your stuff away for free. You can help as many people as possible. You do not need to hold anything back and people will still hire you.
00;09;25;29 - 00;09;47;00 | Debbie
So, even if you had a Facebook group and you were an empty nest coach, are you a person who helped someone create new habits or you were a coach helping leaders? These are all clients that I work with. They can set up a group and you can help leaders. You can teach them everything you need to know, and they still want to work with you.
00;09;47;00 - 00;10;12;28 | Debbie
In fact, the more that you show your expertise, the more likely it is that they're going to say, You know, I want to connect with Alisha, I want to connect with Martina, I want to connect with the people that are doing the things that I'm interested in. So you can start your own Facebook group. One thing I want to recommend is that you schedule your posts ahead of time you look, life happens, and it is difficult to get in there and stay in there.
00;10;12;28 - 00;10;30;16 | Debbie
So schedule your posts ahead of time. Super easy to do that. You guys can do all of your posts honestly, for an entire month in less than an hour. It's very easy to do it when you do your Facebook group, make sure that you have what they call engagement posts, which are those posts that will get people talking.
00;10;30;26 - 00;10;54;28 | Debbie
It's so interesting because I've had two different Facebook groups that I've grown, and as much as I want the questions to be engaging that I post about, hey, what struggles do you have in your business? I'm less likely to get engagement on that post, but I am more likely to get engagement on a post where I say, tell me what your favorite date night is or share your favorite Starbucks coffee?
00;10;54;28 - 00;11;25;17 | Debbie
Or, what is your one hack for getting dinner on the table by six every evening? When you have questions sometimes that are fun questions to answer, or what book are you reading right now? Or your favorite vacation spot? Those posts actually get a lot of interest, and I do think that sometimes it's because when we are on Facebook as business people, we're kind of always working and it's fun to get in there and just sometimes have a little bit of a break and answer some crazy question about your favorite coffee drink.
00;11;26;02 - 00;11;46;03 | Debbie
So make sure that if you're going to do a Facebook group that you are mixing it with like fun posts and educational posts. All right. The next thing you can do to network online is find Facebook groups to go into. Now, I know the first thing that you're thinking is I've already tried that, Debbie, and it doesn't work because I cannot sell in those groups.
00;11;46;03 - 00;12;13;21 | Debbie
And I did not say sell in Facebook groups. I said network in Facebook groups and network not in a selfish way, but network in a supportive way. So you can be an expert, you can be a cheerleader, you can be a resource, you can be somebody who answers questions. And guess what, you guys, you'll sell coaching because people will see you as somebody that they will connect you with somebody else who needs your help.
00;12;13;28 - 00;12;38;04 | Debbie
This happens to me all the time. I go in and I answer a question in a Facebook group, and the next thing I know, I'll have a consultation booked and I'll say, well, how did you hear about me? And they'll say, I saw that you answered somebody else's question in a Facebook group. And even if that person who scheduled the call with me did not make a comment, it's like I saw what you said and it was so helpful.
00;12;38;15 - 00;12;59;25 | Debbie
I wanted to talk to you. This is how this works. Let me talk about finding the Facebook groups that will fit your demographic. Now, I did this again today to look and see about Facebook groups. I'm telling you guys, there are so many. You can be as specific as you want to. You can go look for female engineers who are looking for technology support.
00;13;00;05 - 00;13;23;13 | Debbie
I'm not kidding. You can look for anything you want and you can find a Facebook group that fits that. What I want you to do is I want you to find Facebook groups that have activity in it. So it will tell you how many posts there are every day you want to have one, not that has hundreds of posts because your messages in there will get lost, but you want to have enough activity that, you know, the group is active.
00;13;23;13 - 00;13;54;00 | Debbie
So I don't know what that number would be. Maybe 40 posts a day, something like that. Ten posts a day. I don't care. But enough going on, one post today is not enough. That is not a group that's active that people are participating it. So find the group. Once you're inside the group, you can go to the search, the little search glass that's up at the top and you can enter in a word that's a keyword that will take you to the posts that you want to answer those questions that you can add value.
00;13;54;01 - 00;14;32;08 | Debbie
So maybe you're in an empty nest Facebook group and you have the word "interact". Or you put "rut" or "overwhelmed" or "stressed" or "lost", whatever word it would be that applies to somebody who is an empty nester. They're feeling lost. You search that word and all the posts where that particular word has been typed will come up. And then you can go in and support those particular posts by providing feedback by providing answers, by saying hello, by connecting with people within that thread underneath that post.
00;14;32;25 - 00;14;59;11 | Debbie
Remember, I want you to be a cheerleader I want you to be a connector. You can offer resources like a podcast to listen to, a book to read. You could even offer a recipe. I mean, it depends on what group you're in. But honestly, you can share a tip for getting something done. You can share whatever it is you did over the weekend, anything that would fit your group, your niche, that would be something that would be useful.
00;14;59;24 - 00;15;24;17 | Debbie
You could also send them something. And to do that, you could say, you know, I've got a resource I want to connect you with. Send me email outside of this post and I will share that resource with you. Sometimes I even put my email address in the post, or sometimes I say, I've got something for you. If you'll check your messages, I will send you a DM and I will share what it is outside of the post.
00;15;24;20 - 00;15;58;12 | Debbie
That's a great way for you to take the conversation outside of there. Again, I want you to be willing to connect with people and have coffee chats and have conversations with people that you network with without selling them. Networking is about building relationships and relationships do not get built in one conversation. Sometimes we're in such a rush and I want to encourage you to wait for the right time to be able to make an offer to somebody so you could connect with somebody and become friends with somebody before you ever make an offer to them.
00;15;58;17 - 00;16;20;13 | Debbie
So think about how you can help them. You also want to talk about what you do in coaching, about the tools that you use, about the transformations that have happened. Just be supportive in any way in your Facebook groups. All right. Beyond Facebook groups, you guys, this is where I was saying there are so many places to search on Google.
00;16;20;13 - 00;16;38;16 | Debbie
And if you guys hang tight at the and I'm going to tell you what you need to know about your business to be a good networker, to have effective networking. You can go search Google, you can find Meetup groups. This is a networking platform that is all around events. It is the perfect way to connect with local communities.
00;16;38;16 - 00;17;02;25 | Debbie
And you can find communities that will represent your interests. You can go online and you could look for empty nesters again. You can look for women in technology. You could look for engineers online or you can look for women in agriculture. You can look for women over 50. All the niches that you guys have, you can search in, meet up meetup.com and you can find networking groups.
00;17;02;25 - 00;17;33;06 | Debbie
You can also start your own networking group there, which would be amazing, really fantastic. So you could do online interactions there but you could also take them offline, right? You could also connect people through a group roundtable, an industry roundtable, or you could have a virtual coffee date. There are also Slack groups. Now, I went in and searched that this morning, you guys, there are thousands of Slack groups in all kinds of industries of all kinds of topics and categories.
00;17;33;06 - 00;18;12;28 | Debbie
There are also networking events online that are by your niche. So I searched networking events for women over 50 - you guys cannot believe how many came up. I searched networking events for empty nesters, all kinds of groups came up. Something that you need to know is that you should network in groups that are not necessarily your niche. When you go online and you find a women's Christian group online networking event, even if you're not selling Christian coaching, it doesn't matter because you'll find people in there who might want to buy your kind of coaching or who can connect you with.
00;18;12;28 - 00;18;33;15 | Debbie
And while I'm on this subject about connecting you guys, you've got to ask for a connection. You've got to say to people straight up, who do you know that I need to connect with? Who can you refer me to? You have to ask. People will not do it unless you ask. Now you've got to make sure that you know these things.
00;18;33;21 - 00;18;54;24 | Debbie
When you go to network, this is how you're going to make it effective. Number one, you've got to be super clear about who you help. When we get that question about niche, do I need to have a niche or not? You don't need to have a niche, but if you don't have a niche, it is very hard to figure out who you're going to network with, where you're going to go, network, how you're going to do it.
00;18;55;07 - 00;19;18;24 | Debbie
And that little first I help statement is so much better when you're able to clearly articulate who it is you help. I help women over 50 who have found themselves as their kids have gone off to college, wondering what's next for them. That's very clear. Then you can have the person who is the right person, their ears perk up and they're like, Oh, that's for me.
00;19;18;26 - 00;19;38;11 | Debbie
You also want to know what their problem is and you want to be able to say their problem better than they can say it. You want to be able to say something that they're like, Oh geez, how did she know that? Right? You want to bring awareness to something maybe they're not even aware of. You also want to know why they need what you have to offer.
00;19;38;11 - 00;20;02;22 | Debbie
Why fix this problem? Why does somebody in an empty nest situation need to have coaching? Why does it even matter what is on the other side of your coaching? I call it What's at the end of the rainbow? What's the pot of gold? When you network with them and you're able to tell them the solution that you provide and like what the transformation is, what's going to change for them, then you get people really interested in.
00;20;02;27 - 00;20;22;27 | Debbie
You're going to also need to know what it is that you offer I know that sounds silly. Like, of course you should know what you offer, but honestly, you guys, you want to be able to say your offer very clearly. Now, on a separate podcast, I will talk to you guys about how to present your offers, how to practice your pricing.
00;20;22;27 - 00;20;48;22 | Debbie
But let me just say, walk around your house and say what it is you offer and say what your prices so that you can get really good at presenting that. If you're going to be networking online, there's just typing and you're not networking like via Zoom or inside of a group, then make sure that you've got some basic things typed up that you can share so you can go into your notes app on your phone or into Google and you can type up like a little bit about you.
00;20;48;22 - 00;21;14;10 | Debbie
You can type up that I help statement, you can type up like six or seven problems that your person has. You can type up the solutions, the transformation, so that you have those things ready. You don't have to continue to think of what they are. You can copy them and paste them into wherever the questions are. You guys might want to keep like a list of podcasts that you could refer them to, or a list of books that you might want to reference.
00;21;14;22 - 00;21;32;22 | Debbie
All of those things really at your disposal. What I recommend when it comes to online networking is that you decide, I'm going to network three times a week and you set a time. You set an alarm on your phone, you know, from nine to 10 a.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I'm going to go online and I'm going to network.
00;21;33;05 - 00;21;52;29 | Debbie
I'm either going to go search for groups I'm going to go in those Facebook groups and provide extra value. I'm going to spend some time connecting with people online. There are many support channels where you can go in and support forums outside of Facebook where you can go in and support people. All right. So I hope that gives you a lot of ideas.
00;21;53;03 - 00;22;16;24 | Debbie
This podcast could be an hour long and I want to end it and I really want to challenge you guys to go yourself and Google, look for whatever it is that you do and keep looking until you find them. Because there were many, many, many options, lots of links of where you could find networking online and then make sure that you have got this message nailed.
00;22;16;24 - 00;22;38;02 | Debbie
If you do not know who you help, what the problem is, what your solution is, what your offer is, if you don't have that nailed down, you guys, we should talk because when I work with people, the biggest thing that we get worked out is that copy. You've got to have your message, right? You've got to know how to really carefully explain in a way that somebody understands.
00;22;38;04 - 00;22;58;02 | Debbie
If you're not selling coaching, I guarantee you it's because you don't know how to present yourself. If you don't know what to say on social media, then that's keeping you from posting regularly on social media. And my goodness, we haven't even talked about that yet, but social media posting is part of the way that you network online as part of the way that people find you online.
00;22;58;02 - 00;23;30;27 | Debbie
All right. I hope you guys have an amazing day. Go network, right. Network in person. Network online. Remember what I said last week? Here's my rule of thumb. I want you to meet one new person a week, one new true, authentic connection I want you to attend one networking event in person every single month. And then today I just mentioned to you guys, I want you to network 3 hours a week, three times a week, and I want you to go into networking groups and I want you to provide value and offer support.
00;23;30;27 - 00;23;51;26 | Debbie
You do not need to sell networking is about building relationships. When people know you, when they trust you, and when they like you, they'll connect with you and then you can sell coaching. All right. Have an amazing day, you guys. Now, look, keep your eyes out for that new workshop that I'm doing, two hour workshop for new life coaches or coaches who are in the early stages of your business.
00;23;51;29 - 00;24;12;23 | Debbie
Maybe you don't have your business really off the ground yet and you've been certified for a while. Join us. Jennifer Richie and I are going to be two different times on a Sunday afternoon and a Wednesday morning. I'll be sharing the details. Make sure that if you are not on my email list, you should be head over to DebbieShadid.com, take my free canvas course, sign up for anything there and you'll be on my email list.
00;24;13;04 - 00;24;39;17 | Debbie
Have an amazing day, you guys. Until next time, bye-bye. That's it. Thanks for listening. Now it's up to you. Put what you learned today into action. Do what you need to be seen and then hired by clients in your niche. And if you're ready, stop wasting your precious time and get your business finally booked up. You're invited to join me in the Business Building Boutique for new life coaches where you will learn everything you need to be a coach with plenty of paid clients.
00;24;39;17 - 00;24;42;12 | Debbie
All right. Have an amazing week. Until next time, bye-bye.