Posted on January 28th, 2013

Dunbar’s number at work

By Lara Feltin, Biznik Cofounder

Posted Monday, January 28th, 2013

 

 

 

Dunbar’s Number is the theory that one person can only manage up to 150 social relationships. In a recent article for Forbes, long-time friend and Biznik member TJ McCue discusses how this number might be relevant in an era of social media.

Biznik’s tight-knit community as a perfect example of Dunbar’s Number at work. With a smaller network, you have the time to build real friendships and truly support each other. Thank you, TJ, for your great insights – and thank you for giving Biznik such an outstanding shout out!

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Posted on October 25th, 2012

“Your friends don’t trust you” — A talk for the Seattle Local Business Summit

By Lara Feltin, Biznik Cofounder

Posted Thursday, October 25th, 2012

So awesome to see so many folks at the Seattle Local Business Summit yesterday. Over a dozen people thanked me personally for the providing such a impactful event(!) Really we need to thank Dex Digital. It was their generosity and forward thinking that brought together the rich content and compelling presenters on topics that are so relevant to small businesses right now.

SEO, SEM, pay-per-click advertising, social media, networking, branding. Running a small business requires us to become proficient on each of the topics. What a gift to have experts not only bringing us up to speed on these topics but also offering viable partnership solutions. The more you outsource, the more time you’ll have to focus on your core business, and the more effort you can spend on innovating and growing your business.

I presented a talk on the five rules of engagement for networking entitled, Your friends don’t trust you. Nor should they.

What follows is a summary of my talk and a link to the slide deck and resources.

At the foundation of community is, “I see you.”

Trust is not something you win. It’s something you build. And you need to take care of it.

There are five rules of engagement. Rule #1: Know thyself. What kind of business are you? Do you provide a service? Do you sell retail? Are you a manufacturing business? Are you a technology-based entrepreneur? The differences matter because small business owners, independent contractors and entrepreneurs have different needs and the networking organizations that offer opportunities to meet others cater to those unique needs.

Rule #2: Be human. The three authors of The Trusted Advisor have a Trust Test that goes like this: T = C x R x I / S. “T” is Trust. “C” “R” & “I” are Credibility, Reliability and Intimacy. “S” is Self-orientation. Credibility & Reliability is nothing more than are you who you claim you be and as good as you say you are. Intimacy is emotional comfort. The negative ingredient is self-orientation. Low self-orientation is recommending a competitor because they’re a better fit. High self-orientation is the sharmy sales-guy who’s always looking for a lead and moving on when he doesn’t find one. The higher your credibility and reliability, and the more comfortable you make others, the higher your self-orientation can be. It’s not rocket science. It’s being simply being human.

One definition of marketing is getting someone to know-like-and-trust you enough to reach in their pocket and give you money for your product or service. In business networking, Know-Like-Trust becomes Know-Recommend-Vouch. But not all businesses are the same. Some businesses can rely on simply knowing or liking. If your business requires a vouch in order to get a referral, how are you making that easier for those who in a position to send you a referral?

Social networking’s grandfather was Mark Granovetter who published the paper called “The Strength of Weak Ties.” In a nutshell, his study shows that people in your 2nd-degree network — friends-of-friends — are in a better position to send you new business. E.g. If Mike trusts Joe and Joe trusts you, Mike’s in a position to trust you too. How are you leveraging your weak ties?

One way to do so is by… rule #3: Show up. (Wood Allen said it best.) Attend events. Participate in online discussions. Follow up after you’ve met someone. Track the referrals you’re sent and thank those who’ve sent you a new client — it’s the best way for it to turn into more new clients.

Your friends don’t trust you. Nor should they. I have a friend from college who’s a bookkeeper. We’re social on Facebook and I like her. It doesn’t mean I can send her bookkeeping clients, I have no idea if she’s any good at bookkeeping. How many of your friends could say the same thing about your product of service? How can you change that?

ExactTarget.com conducted a study called Subscribers, Fans & Followers. Of all online consumers 43% said they had “liked” a brand. However 70% of those who had liked a brand said they didn’t feel they had given the company permission to market to them. And 39% said, “Marketers should NEVER interpret my ‘like’ as permission to post marketing messages that would appear on my News Feed.” What do people use Facebook for then? 59% of users say they use it to “maintain personal relationships.” Only 15% say they use Facebook for “professional contacts.” How are you using Facebook to engage with your customers?

How are business “friends” and personal friends different? They’re not. When you accept an invitation to connect with someone on a social network you’re becoming “digital friends.” They both follow the same rules of the Trust Test. Trust is something you build — rule #4. Build trust first before you start selling to anyone.

And that leads to rule #5: Be helpful. Professor Susan Friske did a study out of Princeton that can be summarized in the two questions people ask themselves upon first meeting you — How warm are you? How competent? Meaning, are you a friend or a foe? If you’re a foe, can you hurt me? If you’re a friend, help me?

At the very foundation your customers are asking, what’s in it for me? How are you answering that?

View the full slide deck here: http://www.slideshare.net/biznik/your-friends-dont-trust-you-slbs-2012

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Posted on October 10th, 2012

Biznik Lite (free) users can now comment in Biznik articles

By Matt Lawrence, Biznik Director of Community

Posted Wednesday, October 10th, 2012

 

 

After several discussions with members and users at the paid and not paid level, and our own internal discussions, we realized a lot was missing when we restricted the Biznik Lite user from commenting in an article discussion, and what a huge benefit their comments would have to the whole community.

So we changed it. But we need your help.

As you may already know already know, it is free to create a Biznik Lite account with a web card in place of a profile.

And though we have a fine filtration process which keeps MLM companies out of Biznik, and our Mugshot and Real Names Policy helps to keep the community as non diluted as possible, there will always be those nefarious spammers who try to game the system.

If you see a spammy comment in an Article, please do one of three things:

• use the flag icon in the comment

• forward it to: support@biznik.com

• or flag the user who made the spammy comment (by visiting their profile/web card), and we will take it down right away

Thanks, and we look forward to seeing your participation back in the Articles discussion.

1 Comment | Posted in News

Posted on October 8th, 2012

What is your high score on Snake

By Matt Lawrence, Biznik Director of Community

Posted Monday, October 8th, 2012

 

 

Biznik has a new intern, Angela Potter.

Angela Potter, new Biznik intern

We could not me more excited to introduce her. She not only has coding props (check out her handy work with the classic, Snake) but she knows her way around a marketing plan. She approached Biznik at the perfect time: lots of great work to do, and not enough hours in the day for this small team to get it all done.

Some projects we are eager for Angela to work on are:

  • getting events in more cities in the US
  • proper categorization of members and users (for benefit of search results)
  • user experience on the myfive.com project

A recent grad of Northwestern in Evanston, Illinois, Angela is back home in the northwest.

Angela posses a unique  perspective on the world, but she is open to hearing differing points of view without judgment or bias.

She is a great conversationalist.

Her background in concert flute and music theory only make her insanely fun to talk to about what is music, why it has developed the way it has, and how to make new music last long into the future.

What are you waiting for? Go beat my score!

a screenshot of my recent score on Snake

1 Comment | Posted in News

Posted on September 18th, 2012

Productivity on the iPad

By Matt Lawrence, Biznik Director of Community

Posted Tuesday, September 18th, 2012

 

 

There are a number of apps out there which help small business owners manage their client lists, productivity and networking opportunities.

George Page on Vashon Island used FileMaker Go for the iPad to custom build a solution for himself and his dairy farm and restaurant business.

Are there any solutions that you have custom made for your business which increase productivity?

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Posted on September 11th, 2012

Small Business Event in Chicago

By Matt Lawrence, Biznik Director of Community

Posted Tuesday, September 11th, 2012

 

 

The Chicago Small Business Summit has been tailored to solve the struggles you face in your business on a day to day basis

Chicago business leaders will present, participate on the panel and host breakout sessions to ensure that you walk away from this half day event with a new set of tactics. Your will learn skills to market better, and be found more easily. Oh, and it’s free.

(NO pushy sales pitch from Biznik, Dex Digital, The Bears, or any of the presenters. We promise.)

An entrepreneurial powerhouse panel with Carol Roth, Hedy Ratner, Mary McFarlin, Sara Glassford, and Troy Henikoff. The panel will be led by Barry Moltz and will help shape how you run your business.

I had a chance to attend the Small Business Event in Portland and it was awesome. If you are in Chicago, I hope you can go.

Check out more event details on Biznik.

 

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