Chapter 9 Creating an e-presence for referrals
The
internet brought about great opportunities for business to expand in one easy
access route; a keyboard and a screen. The internet is all about eyes and
culture, the psychology of the internet is similar to the psychology of body
language.
The
first rule of engagement in body language as well as in e-presence is
persuading the viewer within the first three seconds.
A
web presence is a combination of web-pages, networking, advertising, and search
engine performance. Let’s take a look at all the different modes of internet
application to create an e-presence for referrals.
Building
a web presence also has rules, and they are:
1. Focus on your objective
This
means that the objective is to increase your income not your contact list. One
of the biggest mistakes in creating a referral network is that many users end
up transferring their objective to creating a large network of connections and
forget about the real reason they are building their web presence. Loosely
translated this means “don’t turn the path into the objective.”
2. Build an interlinked network of
pages
Make
sure you cover every possible angle of the internet. This means that you need
to build web pages (more than one) that are linked to each other. You must open
social media pages that you are capable of updating on a regular basis. Build a
profile on as many referral networking sites as possible. Create Blogs (and
Vlogs if necessary) to update information on a constant basis. Use feedback on
other sites as a means to convey personal messages.
3. Create an effective SEO campaign
For
every web page and presence, you have, create an SEO campaign to show that site
on as many first search pages as possible.
4. Make sure you can update
information easily
Do
not fall into the mistake of building up static web pages that you cannot
update. If you cannot find the time to update your presence, then do not open
it. On the other hand, having a lot of dead-end pages that link to active sites
is one type of viral advertising, but only do that if you are ready to “know”
where every dead end is located.
5. Schedule your maintenance
Maintaining
sites and social media requires time and patience. Make sure you create a
schedule where updating information is performed on a daily basis. Also, remember
that some sites require feedback, such as forums and social media. Be prepared
to answer questions and chat with people online at set moments that you decide.
6. Balance Work and Pleasure Hours
Remember,
the internet does not sleep, eat, and have a family. You do. So, you need to
think of the internet as your physical office. What are your office hours? When
do you want to open your office for work? If you don’t set your routine, you
will crash under the constant weight of demand, the same way you would crash if
you stayed in your office 24/7.
e-Presence Pages
There
are many types of pages to choose from, so let’s look at most of them here.
1. Web Sites
These
are either personal pages, company pages, e-shops or other information
processing sites that are tailor-made to your specific needs. It is sometimes
good to have more than one site addressing your services or products. However,
this is dependent on the type of product you sell. The retail sector should
have more than one site (e-shop) to sell products and should have multiple
products being sold on other e-shops such as Amazon and e-Bay. Service
professionals should have one main site and possibly a site for every specialty
that are linked together, a production/manufacturing/fabrication company should
have one main branded site and e-shop pages for their products.
2. Social Media
Don’t
fall into the trap of “needing” social media presence on every social media
site, unless you are capable of supporting each and every page you open. There
is nothing more off-putting then hitting a dead-end Facebook page. Set up
social media pages only if you can update them regularly and are willing to
interact with all kinds of unusual people. Instagram is a photo site where you
can showcase your services or products, as well as photos of happy clients.
3. Business Networking
Unlike
social media, business network sites are aimed at “referral” networking.
Linkedin is the world leader providing a number of opportunities and membership
plans. There are many online business network sites, don’t fall into the trap
of joining everyone, most are dead ends, and will confuse searchers seeking a
serious service. When you do decide to use a business network site, make more
than one page for yourself and your business, but send the same message.
4. Blogs and Vlogs
These
are extremely important sites; you can join a community or create your own
using WordPress, which is the leading blog method. YouTube is the best option
for Vlogs, and creating a subscription and personal page on YouTube will
enhance your presence only if you are willing to commit and create video
content. All blogs should be maintained on a regular basis, allow for comments
to maximize their potential as well as pull discussion and interaction your
way.
5. Professional Associations
Societies
and organizations have personal member pages; these are extremely useful for
promoting your professionalism and academic stance. Try to join as many
organizations as possible; it will help build up a professional image.
6. Wiki sites
There
are a number of “Wiki’s” out there, they are all peer-reviewed, but if you can
create pages on them, do so. Wiki’s tend to be believed, and they enhance or
solidify a reputation.
7. Google app sites
Google
has a number of “app” sites such as “travel” which is useful for supplementing
your network. These pages are used to enhance your Google+ profile, which you
should create and maintain for professional as well as personal reasons.
8. Academic Alumnus
If
you have a college/university degree, create a full profile on the alumnus
page.
9. Mobile Messaging and Chat
Supplement
all your web presence with many ways of reaching you. Viber, Skype, WeChat,
Whatsapp, Telegram, Google Hangouts and more. Make sure you create as many
communication options as possible. It increases your presence as well as offers
free communication services to cut down costs and speed up discussions.
10. Journals and Citations
If
you are an academic, or a professional that writes about your services or
products for trade or peer-review Journals, make sure your journal and
citations links are accessible from all your various pages.
11. News Feedback
Some
news sites allow for feedback to articles. Use this chance to reply to articles
that are linked to your profession or product. Don’t hide behind an anonymous
profile, create a real profile so that it can be linked back to you.
12. Customer Reviews
All
e-shops worth they're while having customer review sections. Make as many
customer reviews for products you have bought and used. These also help build
up an image of reliability.
13. Search Engine Adverts
Create
a campaign using site advertising such as Google AdWords, Linkedin Adverts,
Facebook Ads, etc. Make sure all your web pages are SEO compatible with your
campaigns. You will find that as you create more campaigns, you will be editing
your sites to become more compatible.
14. Site Adverts
Some
online marketing companies provide site-specific ads, unlike search engine ads
which aim to promote your site over search engines, site-specific ads are aimed
at using Google AdSense which is how you set adverts on your site, so too do
other sites allow for adverts to appear on their pages.
15. HR Resume Pages
Go
to as many HR sites and open a resume, you don’t need to open an active search,
just open a resume page so that your professional data is reached here as well.
It also helps when companies do seek someone like you and can lead to contract
jobs, not just part-time or permanent positions that might not interest you.
16. E-Books
If
you are willing to take the time to write up informative e-books about your
service or interstates, it is worthwhile creating 10,000+ word e-books and
publishing them online. You can post them on business networks, or sell them
via Amazon or other media companies. E-Books add to your professional
credibility, especially when you make “how to” books. Supporting them with a
Vlog increases their potential exponentially.
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