The primary business development goal for any organization is to start a conversation with suspects and prospects. Which is why I'm so baffled by business professionals who insist on pushing those valuable contacts away through the use of social networking. Under the guise of content sharing, they post tweets and profile updates containing links to anywhere but their own web presence. Pushing people away kills your opportunity to start a conversation.

Path of Engagement

Back in the day when our Internet platform was nothing more than a website the key to attraction was Search Engine Optimization. SEO has taken a back seat to Social Networking. There are three destinations that matter when it comes to digital attraction. They all lie along the Path of Engagement.

• Social Networking - PR
• Content Marketing - Marketing
• eCommerce - Sales

When SEO was king the path was clear. Your mission was to publish content containing words and phrases your prospects might use while searching online for your services. Your audience has moved. Your new mission is to shift your mindset and your efforts to a new strategy. Social Networking. The new path starts with publishing the same words and phrases through social networking. Your profile updates must contain direct links to similar content on your website. Not to interesting articles somewhere else. Your social linking should always point to your site. Drive visitors to your site. Use it as the destination where you provide value to your followers. Simply sharing content via copy/paste is lazy. It creates zero value. Is that the brand statement you had in mind? Publish articles and posts that reference current events and trends then add value by sharing your insight, your expertise.

Internet Game Plan - Social Networking

• Find Your Audience - Choose to invest in the social networking platform where your audience hangs out.
• Watch and Wait - Learn the ropes of building a profile to "dress to impress". Seek to understand online social etiquette before attempting to be understood.
• Bury Your Treasure - Build a content marketing library so you will be prepared when asked to demonstrate your expertise.
• Draw a Map - Give clear, direct directions when linking from your social updates to your content. Never, ever direct prospects to visit your home page. Always treat them as VIPs by escorting them to a private entrance.

Insight

Your prospects have left the [search engine] building. Meet them where they are, Social Networking.