December 9, 2009

A while back my friend John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing wrote an article about how to get the most out of the OPEN Forum site for small businesses.  John gave five good tips.  I thought I would extend his article by offering my own set of 3 tips using the OPEN Forum site to grow your business.  John’s tips covered: 

• Join the community
• Build a compelling profile
• Start the connection process
• Take advantage of the network
• Engage those leads

All good advice – and I suggest you read John’s entire article. 

But I’d like to extend the discussion.  I’ve learned that the OPEN Forum site is like most things in business: the more you put into it, the more you get out of it.  Here are my three additional tips for getting the most out of the OPEN Forum site:

1.     Nominate your Business for Pulse

OPEN Forum recently launched Pulse, a section of the site that aggregates Twitter tweets from small businesses. 

You probably know by now that Twitter has become a powerful place for business people to network, make new connections, source suppliers, and ultimately even find customers. 

However, as Twitter grows in popularity and gets more crowded, it’s getting harder to find others who share interests and needs similar to your own.  That’s where Pulse comes in.  With Pulse, you get to participate in a subset of Twitter users who are businesspeople like you.

Business people nominate their Twitter accounts to be displayed in Pulse.  Each account is manually reviewed before being included.  This way, you know that anyone on Pulse has been vetted. It keeps the noise down. You won’t have to wade through the growing number of Twitter spammers yelling at you to visit their XXX photos. 

While you’re on Pulse, search by industry categories to find tweeters from specific industries who you might want to start following.  This is a useful feature that Twitter itself lacks.

There’s even a trending topics list on the right sidebar of Pulse.  The advantage to this trending topics list is that it’s specific to the businesses appearing on Pulse.  This trending topics list is not dominated by Britney Spears or some other celebrity who really isn’t relevant to businesses, as it is on the main Twitter site.  Instead, the trending topics may actually be topics you’re interested in learning about.

In addition, there’s a featured business on the right sidebar.  With any luck, your business might be featured there one day.

There’s also a top links section, showing the top links shared on Pulse.

Check out the people on Pulse.  It’s a way to experience Twitter to discover interesting information and new business connections – but in a more targeted way than on the main Twitter site.

2.     Share OPEN Forum Content

When you share great content with your followers and connections, you make yourself a valuable resource to them.  If you are in a B2B business, this is even more important. 

The content doesn’t necessarily have to be your own.  Quite a few of my favorite bloggers and tweeters point out other people’s content regularly -- because they think it’s worthwhile.  And I agree.  They do a valuable service by directing me to useful resources I might have missed.  It means I don’t have to do as much searching on my own. 

It doesn’t matter to me that the content wasn’t created by them.  What I remember is that THEY pointed me to it.

So if you see an article or a video on OPEN Forum that’s particularly valuable, hit the ReTweet button.  Share it with your network on Twitter, Facebook or one of the other social sites, by clicking one of the social sharing buttons below the article.  Or forward it by email (press the little envelope icon under the article) to a co-worker or employee.  It might be just what that person needs to trigger an idea for a current or planned project.

Become that trusted resource for your followers, clients, coworkers, staff and business partners – by sharing.

3.     Add OPEN Forum to Your Calendar

The best way to get to know the OPEN Forum is to spend time on it. 

You must experience the site.  No amount of written descriptions can substitute for actually using it.  Start clicking.  See where each section leads.  Take in what’s on each page.  Start engaging with people.

And don’t make it a one-time event.

Set a goal to use the site regularly.  I’ve found it helps to build networking time into my schedule.  If you don’t make time for it, you’ll never have time.  Conversely, if you make the time for it, you’ll be surprised how little time it actually takes to get ROI from your efforts.

Start with just 15 minutes.  Set aside a 15-minute block of time on your calendar once a day, once a week or a couple times a month.  This is your time to work on your networking and self-education goals.  (Go ahead – put it on your calendar right now while you’re thinking of it.)

Each time you visit, introduce yourself to one or two people and add connections.  Respond to connection requests you’ve received.  Read an article or two, and leave a comment.  Share an article with your network outside the OPEN Forum. Visit the Pulse section and follow the Twitter conversation. 

You’ll probably have a hard time tearing yourself away when your 15-minute block of time is up. 

PS, don’t forget to connect with me here on OPEN Forum – I’ll be waiting to hear from you.

Anita Campbell is the Editor of Small Business Trends, an online community for small businesses.   

Join the conversation ( 2 )

• Martin Lindeskog 2 years 1 months and 27 days ago

  

  Anita: Great tips! Thanks for the information on Pulse. I have to look into it a bit more.

• SUZANNE VARA 2 years 2 months and 1 days ago

  

  Anita
  
  Thanks for the explanation for Pulse. I saw it but did not look into what it was just yet.
  
  Suzanne