Views
Opinion column
by Murrel Bland
Anne Cull advises clients that social media can be used as an effective business development tool. That was the message she brought to about 60 persons who attended the monthly membership meeting of the Kansas City, Kan., Area Chamber of Commerce Friday, Dec. 4, at the Venue at Willow Creek.
Cull, who owns Think Viral, a business-to-business company in the Kansas City Startup Village in the Rosedale community, said it is necessary to go to the best places to attract clients and prospects. She said it is most important to implement trust with people you most want to do business with.
“People who trust you are willing to make referrals,” she said.
Cull said it is important to use social media selectively and to avoid extensive spam messages. She suggested the best social media sites to use for building a quality database are Linkedin and Twitter. And she said that before joining these sites it is important to ask the basic question—is this person someone that you might do business with.
She suggested that in building this database on Linkedin, it is important to print out an Excel version of contacts and to keep only those whom you want to develop as clients. She said it is important to devote a certain amount of time—say 15 minutes a day—to keep your database current.
Cull said that Facebook may be cute, but it will generate much spam that will overload your website. You will waste too much time sorting through Facebook messages, Cull said. She agreed that Facebook may have millions of users, but if you don’t reach the right people, it doesn’t matter how many people you reach.
She also said Twitter also can be an effective business development tool—but only if it is directed at those that you really want to contact. Twitter allows a 140-character message called a “Tweet.”
Cull said that Linkedin and Twitter can be very useful tools to discover where networking opportunities are such as Chamber of Commerce meetings.
Cull worked for Sandler Training before going into business for herself in 2009. She attended California State University at Long Beach.
Murrel Bland is the former editor of The Wyandotte West and The Piper Press. He is the executive director of Business West.