5 Questions to Ask Yourself As You Prepare For Social Media Marketing World
By Mike Ambassador Bruny
Are you looking to make the most of Social Media Marketing World?
The event organizers have set the table for you to get outstanding knowledge and meet many of the best minds in our industry. How much you get out of your time starts with you.
So here are 5 quick tips to help you prepare for networking at the conference.
Ask yourself these 5 questions:
#1: What's The Bigger Picture?
I don't want to know what your conference goals are. What I really want to know is, “What are your overall personal and professional goals?”
Let's pretend for one moment that there wasn't this awesome conference coming up soon. Where would you be focusing your energy? What would you be striving to achieve. I want you to take the answers to those questions and let them drive your goals for SMMW.
The conference should be a means to an end, not an end unto itself. Make sense?
#2: Who Can Help?
Once you're clear on your goals, the next step is to think through who can help you move closer to those goals. You may not know the exact names of the people, but you can create an archetype. Is the person you need to connect with someone who works in graphics, branding or maybe it's someone who is more strategic and pulls things together.
Getting clear on the type of person you are looking to meet, will allow you to do two things:
1. First, you have clarity so when you hear about or meet the person who can help you, you will actually know it;
2. Second, it allows you to say something like this to the people you meet, “Hey, if you run into someone who focuses on social media strategy, I'd love for you to make an introduction or let them know that I'm looking for them.”
“Who can help you?” or ‘Who are you looking to meet?” are great questions to ask others before and during the conference.
#3: What Do I Need to Learn?
What knowledge or skills do you lack that are keeping you from your goals? The answer to that question should help you make smart choices about which sessions you should attend.
Just like you, I'd love to attend every single session at SMMW, but I haven't quite figured out cloning technology (maybe I should add that to my list of things to learn) yet, so for now I have to make a decision and go with the sessions that are going to bring me closer to my goal.
#4: What is My Story?
I'm willing to bet that at least once per hour you will be asked, “So what do you do?” We both know it's coming, so you might as well prepare for it.
We have a good mix of entrepreneurs and those who work for companies coming to the conference and my suggestion is to practice stating what you do and who you serve instead of just stating your title.
What's the problem with just stating my title? Your title doesn't necessarily tell anyone what you really do. It only gives the person you are speaking with the opportunity to hear the title and make an assumption based on what they already know/have experienced with the title. In some cases that may be great, but in many cases, it doesn't do you justice, it just puts you in a pre-labeled bucket.
Instead, practice a more conversational style like the one created by Michael Port, author of, “Book Yourself Solid.” Instead of focusing on your title, he has you focus on four things:
- Who you serve,
- What problem you solve,
- How you solve it and
- What results you've gotten.
#5: What Do I Have to Offer?
A conference like SMMW can feel pretty intimidating. I want you to remember that you have something to offer in every situation, you may just not know it yet.
Here are two things I want you to keep in mind when you find yourself feeling like you don't have anything to offer:
First, ask two questions: 1. What are you working on that you are most passionate about? 2. What's your biggest challenge in moving that passion forward? Once you know what someone is passionate about and what their challenges are, you can be of service to them.
Second, take inventory of what you already know.
Use the following acronym, W.H.E.N to inventory what you can offer.
W stands for Work. Where have you worked that may be of assistance to someone else?
H stands for Hobby. What are the things you just totally geek out on?
E stands for Education. What have you learned in a more formal fashion that may be helpful to someone else?
N stands for Network. Who do you already know that might be of assistance to someone you just met?
That's all for now. Do you have a specific networking question you'd like me to answer? I'm only a Tweet away (@AmbassadorBruny).
We look forward to helping you have the best content and networking experience that you've ever had at an in-person conference. You can help us to help you by taking this brief pre-conference survey.
Your Ambassador, Mike Ambassador Bruny
P.S. I look forward to meeting you in April. I will also be joined by two other Networking Ambassadors. You can meet them here:
Jillian Vorce: Jillian is a consummate networker who helps business professionals harness the power of relationship networking. By focusing on building genuine and strategic relationships over the past decade, she has built a vast and diverse global network of friends and business associates. Seeing the world through the “lens of connectivity and relationships,” she is a sought-after keynote speaker and consults with organizations and individuals who want to strengthen their relationships with key stakeholders to increase their effectiveness.
Natalie Cutler-Welsh: Natalie is the ‘Go to Girl' for connecting and coaching women entrepreneurs who want more fun, flow and impact in their life and business. She describes herself as a ‘Can-iwi' Canadian-New Zealander and is an impact entrepreneur, social media & networking coach, author, podcaster and mother of 3. She helps women entrepreneurs to have more fun, flow and impact through business coaching, social media, networking as well as high level mastermind groups and online communities. “My favourite thing in the world is introducing two people who just NEED to know each other!”