At first glance, social media can seem random and building successful marketing campaigns can be elusive. How do you build momentum with the RIGHT people? How do you create results instead of just adding to the noise?
Recently I spoke with Stu Heinecke; Best Selling author, Hall of Fame Marketer and Wall Street Journal Cartoonist about those questions. He has a rare vantage point from most influencers on social media because he’s new to the social world. He’s already been named an influencer by leveraging years of experience building fast growth marketing campaigns and applying it to social media.
A few stories and the first half of our 8 Unedited Minutes™ interview are here:
In the very beginning, Stu noticed that getting started on platforms like Twitter is a slow process. Initial challenges he brings up in our interview are:
You can follow people on Twitter but if you have very few followers yourself you’re not likely to get followers.
- One of the things that’s critical is knowing WHY you’re connecting with different people which means you must spend time learning about people. Yet…
- We all want to SAVE time! How do we get the maximum return?
Start Turning Online Conversations Into Meaningful Connections
How do you find the RIGHT people? Then, how do you get their attention, especially if they’re decision makers or influencers? Here’s a three-step process that I learned from Stu to get focused and get things moving.
Ask yourself:
1) Where are you spending YOUR time?
First, think about the projects you’re working on and what you’re passionate about in any area of your life. Who are the interesting thought leaders around those subjects that inspire you? This will help you find people with shared purpose and passion.
2) Who are the people that you can APPROACH?
Create a list of people that inspire you, that you want to work with or that might be working on similar projects. Pick people will listen if you reach out to them on Twitter. This might not include Elon Musk or Richard Branson, even if they are interesting. You need APPROACHABLE people to make things happen faster.
Once you make that list find out what they’re writing about and talking about online. (Tip: Nimble gives you all that information VERY quickly and easily).
3) What are you going to ASK FOR when you do connect?
Instead of reaching out with random tweets plan and have a strategy. Know what to ask for – and what NOT to ask for. Stu isn’t asking someone he just met for a sale. He’s looking for meaningful connections that could lead to collaboration. When you reach out to people ask to learn about THEM, that’s a big shift from many of the pitches and “Can you give me…” conversations they might have.
It’s about starting conversations and creating opportunities for collaboration. Head over to Twitter, then ask and answer the three questions above and start creating connections!
Connect With Stu!
- He’s passionate about sales, marketing, and connecting people. Reach out for interviews with him like this one so he can share more advice!
- He’s working on his next book about weeds and how their resilient growth applies to content strategy. He’s looking for business leaders to interview.
- You can find him on Twitter as @byStuHeinecke and at www.CartoonLink.com
Stu’s short bio:
Stu is a Wall Street Journal cartoonist and best-selling author of “How To Get A Meeting with Anyone”. He’s dedicated to producing unfair advantages for B2B clients using “Contact Marketing” that enables sales reps to connect with virtually anyone.
