Networking is one of the crucial parts and processes of a business.

It is by networking that you get to meet other like-minded individuals, as well as make your business known.  While you might want to stay at home watching your favorite TV show or sports, getting out there and networking is more beneficial to the business. Thankfully, technology has made networking much easier, thus no need to fly across the state to meet other business executives and clients.

This article outlines the top 3 technologies you can use to improve your networking capabilities

1. A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System

A CRM system is a must-have for every business. This system makes it possible for both you (the company) and customers to interact thus creating a relationship. As long as you are ready to spend some time networking with your clients, the bond becomes even stronger, which again helps your connections grow. With a CRM system, you should be able to address most issues and form relationships pretty well.

Although CRM systems today are powerful and more efficient, they are but a database.

For this approach to work, you will want to have everybody you meet in the database. As long as they are entered into the database, it will be possible to make follow-ups without forgetting what you last talked about. You can start building a relationship by just adding them to your mailing list (with their permission of course), sending them a thank you email or set a reminder to help you check with them (even if it is twice per year).  It would be advisable to meet every other person you meet equally. Someone you meet for breakfast today might not be a prospect now but could be a loyal customer later on.

 The CRM system should help you stay in touch with all prospects in the long run. This way, he/she will think of you when in need of the service/product you have to offer.

2. A Business Card Scanner

Although technology may have defaced many traditional networking methods, the business card has remained relevant and valid to this date. Business executives and entrepreneurs still use the business card to network and even reach out to potential clients. While you may want to toss the stack of business cards aside, each card should be viewed as a potential business.

As hinted earlier on, someone may not be a prospect now but could be one in the future. His/her friends and family might be direct prospects too. As long as your first meeting was a success, you need to cultivate the relationship even farther. Handing them your business card, or even better, investing in a business card scanner app will come in handy for this purpose. The scanner app helps you scan the card with your phone, then enables you to edit it to fit the specific need. The app also eliminates the need to type up every business card you get, it scans, edits, and uploads the card details to your CRM system automatically. Business cards are yet to become obsolete. The app redefines their use making it easier to reach out to your contacts, as well as saving you the time and effort of having to carry tons of them in your pocket.

3. LinkedIn

LinkedIn is one of the best platforms that makes it possible for professionals to network.  If you haven’t been active on LinkedIn, it is time you started. It not only holds a huge database of professional resumes but also provides an avenue for people to network.

After participating in a networking event, take some time to connect with persons you met on LinkedIn. Instead of sending them a generic message, take time to personalize it and mention how much you enjoyed getting to know them. Most people are more than willing to network, hence 99% of these will accept your invitation.  You can also use LinkedIn’s search engine to find potential prospects among other connections that could benefit your company.

Connecting with people on LinkedIn helps you by:

1. It opens the door for future connections.  LinkedIn messages stand out from generic email messages.

2. Enabling you to peruse the contact’s connections and profile. You get to learn of things you have in common with the contact.

3. It opens all sort of opportunities with other professionals on the platform. As mentioned earlier. LinkedIn is a professional’s social media where they come together. You can use the platform to reach out to various professionals, even when it merely means having a professional relationship.

From the facts and tips outlined above, it is evident that you can use technology to build your networking empire. All you need to do is make proper use of technology, and know where to look, and how to benefit from it. Many businesses and companies use these strategies to create new connections and build a client base. You too could benefit significantly from these.

Having a good website for your business is a must and it has become easier than ever before to create one. There is a lot of information that covers the many ways to take advantage of different tools to successfully create a professional site. You do not need to have a lot of experience with web design to create something that looks good and represents your business in the best way possible.

Even after you have completed the technical aspect of the website, you need to figure out what you are going to put on it to keep people interested in staying on your site and looking through your content. It is a decision only you can make because you get to decide what is most important and what belongs on your website. While it is your decision, you can check out the full list of different things you may want to consider putting on your website.

Many other business owners include this information and have had success with getting a lot of traffic to their websites each day.

You should know that keeping things simple is perfectly fine.

You do not need to go all out when you are putting your website up for the first time. In fact, some of the consumers may even prefer a simple and easy-to-navigate design because it loads faster and looks better to them. You can always add things as you go.

Information About Yourself

It helps to include a section on your website that provides some information about you and the inspiration you had for starting your business in the first place. You can provide details on the education you have received and the experience you have gained over the past several years. By providing more information about yourself, you are letting people know how passionate you are when it comes to your business and you are letting them get a bit closer to you.

Details on the Products You Sell

While photos can speak many words, it is still beneficial to have details on the different products you are selling. Along with including photos of those products, one of the best things you can do is add a few details on what the product is made from or how people can use it. Not only is this a good way to provide additional information on the products you would like to get people to buy, but it is also good for SEO purposes.

Where Your Business is Located and When Your Business is Open

Some people will visit your website because they want to know if your business is located close to them or they want to figure out when you are open and when you are closed. Providing this information is a great way to get people to stop by your store at the right times. After all, you would not want them to stop by after you have closed because then you could miss out on the sale if they do not end up coming back.

Having a certain type of domain will also help people figure out where you are located. For example, Canadian business owners can purchase the .CA domain instead of a .com domain. Anyone visiting the site could easily tell that your business is in Canada instead of the United States. Do not forget to take advantage of adding information to your profile on Google My Business.

How to Get in Touch with You

Make sure that consumers have a chance to reach you by including your contact information on your website. The information you put on your site should include your email, links to your social media pages, the address to your establishment, and the phone number that people can call when they want to talk to you over the phone. Having such simple information included on the website is a great way to ensure that potential customers get to talk to you and have their questions answered before they invest their money into what you are selling.

Custom Photos

Work on humanizing the business you started by taking high-quality professional photographs of the products you sell, the office that you work in, and the staff members that you have helping your business thrive. It gives people an inside glimpse of what is going on and who is behind the business that sells the products they are buying. You can always use stock images, but it is not the same as having your own photos taken by a professional.

Social Media Links

Build more of a presence on different social media sites. Some of the best ones to use include Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter because they are commonly frequented by billions of people. Always include the links to your social media profiles on your website to make it easier for consumers to connect with you on these different platforms.

Honest Testimonials

If you have some loyal customers, reach out to them and ask them to provide honest feedback on the experiences they have had when purchasing items from your business. It helps you gain the trust of other consumers while showing them that there are people who have been incredibly satisfied.

Follow-Up Piece

Try to include a follow-up piece on your website. The piece is considered a call to action and is something that encourages visitors to make a decision, whether they decide to buy something directly from the site, contact you, or check out your social media pages for more information.

You should have this valuable information on your website for the consumers to look through. It is a great way to get more traffic and to keep visitors looking at everything on your site for a longer period. If people are staying on your site longer, they could end up buying more of what you are selling.

Here’s a Few Tips to Get You Started With Your Business’ Keywords

So, you have decided to start a business but you are not sure which niche to choose. This can be a tricky decision because you may list down all your hobbies and passions but still get the feeling that you are not hitting the bull’s eye when it comes to deciding the business niche.

However, if you are under too much pressure to decide, it might cause paralysis too.

It is always better to decide logically on what the business niche should be rather than deciding according to what your hobbies are. This will help to come up with ideas that may or not be a success in the market but you will at least get a taste of either success or failure. So, even if your first business is not successful, you have room to improve and start afresh with new ideas.

If you are not able to decide on a business niche, here are a few steps that will help to find that out:

1. Identify your interests and passions

This is something that you should do first. Try to come up with at least 10 things that you have a passion for or interests you deeply.

Your mettle will be tested as an entrepreneur at several stages. As a newbie business owner, you need to identify the sector that you love in order to succeed.

You need not to find the right combination in the first instance but you need to love what you are doing. Most importantly, you have to passionate about the business. Those who don’t care what they are doing can go out of business rather quickly.

To determine your passions and interests:

• Find out what you like to do most during your free time. Or, what you look forward to doing when you don’t have any work in hand.

• What are the magazines that you have subscribed? What do you read from them?

• Do you have any membership in a club or in any organization?

2. Identify problems you can solve

Now that you have made a list of 10 interests and passions, you need to shortlist a few options. You have to find the problems that your target customer may be facing and try to come up with a solution to solve them. The tips to identify the problems in various niches are given below:

• Try to have a face to face conversation with the customers of the target market. You have to ask questions that help the customers understand what you are looking for.

• Use online forums like Quora to understand your customers better. These forums have discussions on the business niche that you may be related to. See what problems people are facing. Take note of the kind of solutions they want.

• Research on the keywords. Try Google AdWords and Google Trends to explore different keywords related to your business niche. This will help to discover keywords that customers use to find related products and services.

3. Research your competition

Competition is not always bad for business. It brings out the best in you. But you need to analyze what your competitors are doing. Create a list of all the competing sites to understand the difference between them and your business.

This helps to understand if you can make a difference among all the competitors. It also gives you an idea if the keywords you have chosen will help your website to get a good ranking. It shows if you have a chance to offer something unique. Here are a few tips to be successful in a niche that already has enough competition:

• Low-quality content – you can leave your competitors behind if they have low-quality content on their website.

• Lack of transparency – you can be completely transparent with your business activities in a niche where most business owners do a shady job.

• Lack of paid competition – you need to find a common keyword but has paid advertising and little competition to make a name in the market.

4. Determine the probability of your niche

By now you must have had an idea of the niche that you will be working on. Even if you have not narrowed down the choice to one area of interest, you must have found several ideas that look fruitful. This is the time to understand the money-making potential of the niche that you have decided. You can use ClickBank to start with the search.

Browse some of the products that fit your niche. If there are no products, there is something wrong with the niche you have chosen. It may also mean that some other competitor has already monetized that niche.

Your search result has to come up with a significant number of products. Take note of all the price and what your competitors are charging.

It is not necessary to manufacture a new product. The wisest decision will be to partner with the site owners or advertisers or product manufacturers in your niche to start generating a commission for the products they supply to you.

5. Test your idea

Lastly, you need to test the idea that you have for the business niche. Get a landing page developed that will inform about the pre-sale of the products. You can make the most of paid advertising after that.

You may get any pre-sale during the initial phase but that does not mean you are working in a viable niche. Your message to the customers has to be appropriate. Leverage the A/B split test to optimize the conversion and see if there are any hindrances that the customers are facing.

Final thoughts

As soon as you understand the viability of the niche, you need to get a full-fledged website developed by an experienced web developer. Get someone to write blogs about the products or services that you are offering and try to boost the revenue of your business by generating more traffic to the site.

However, always remember that this is a trial and error method for finding a niche. You should do a lot of homework on the niche before you start with the planning phase, else you will not be able to start with further developments. It is important that you become a good starter if you want to become a successful business owner in the years to come.