MAKE IT EASIER TO PROSPECT ON SOCIAL NETWORKS: USE SIGNATURES AND A TEXT GRABBING TOOL

We all should be using business and social networks to be prospecting for investors and clients but once you find someone or they find you, it can be difficult to exchange contact information and tedious to use webmail within the social/business networking system.

Do you find the WEBMAIL interface on Linkedin or other networking sites to be inefficient, the inbox search function to be terrible, find it tedious to constantly ask people for their contact info or give them yours, and just don't have time to add people to your contact database? Here are some tips!

1. First and foremost, always include your signature in every single email you send out to anyone you ever want to hear from again. A default signature can be created in any email program you use whether it is Outlook, Gmail, Yahoo Mail, etc. It is 2010 and I receive business emails every single day from people who do not have their contact information at the bottom of their message. Not only do I find it frustrating but I immediately question their level of competency as a business person. Be professional and use a signature!
2. Every word processing program such as MS word has a multiple item clipboard today. Always have a customized signature available on your clipboard with not only your contact info, but a message stating: "To insure we can continue to build a valuable business relationship, please include your contact information when you respond to me." Keep your clipboard minimized all day as you work and have the signature available to paste into every social and business networking outbound message you send. (We are all in a hurry and don’t want to type it all in replying for instance to a message on Linkedin) Since these sites don’t want you to leave, you have to make an effort to communicate offline and they know that. Beat them at their own game!
3. If you don't have a signature and text grabbing tool, its time to get started. I use a great time saving free software program called copy2contact which lets you grab, review, and save new contacts and appointments in just seconds. It works with Salesforce, Blackberry, Outlook, NetSuite, and Palm Desktop. Linkedin also has free productivity tools where you can get a text grabber, and create a beautiful signature with professional graphics. I think these free tools are an EXCELLENT free find! Click on the "tools" link at the bottom of any Linkedin page to find them another time.
4. I have all my webmail on Linkedin filtered and forwarded to a folder called Linkedin within Outlook so I can grab peoples signatures and send my signature whenever I reply.

IT IS TIME FOR THE MADNESS TO STOP! PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR CONTACT INFO/SIGNATURE IN EVERY MESSAGE YOU SEND OUT ON BUSINESS NETWORKING SITES AND ON ANY EMAIL YOU SEND!

If you have other tips to add, please be my guest. Please consider becoming a follower of my blog as well.

To your wealth!
Russell Roesner *President*Equity Coalition*415 680 3454*San Francisco, CA

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http://www.equitycoalition.com/
http://findinginvestors.blogspot.com/

How to appear Legitimate in Todays Market

In today's world and yesterday's world too, a large part of business success has rested on the old saying that "Its perception over reality." If you are trying to raise capital or for that matter do any other form of business these days, you have to pay attention to how others perceive you by your online presence. This article goes over the basics of how you can legitimize yourself or at least not sabotage yourself by appearing professional online.

Email: I receive a number of people sending me opportunities to invest or financing inquiries from people with email addresses ending in Yahoo, Google, Hotmail, etc. If your email address is not connected to your own domain name, it shows me that you are probably working from home and have not developed your company enough for me to take you that seriously. To take it a step further, if you are using web mail, then it means you don't have a website either.

Domain Email: You don't even need a website to have a domain name and email service. I use namecheap. For $9.69 year, I can register a domain name. For $3.95 a month, I can have an email only account with up to 10 mailboxes using my own domain name. It is easy and takes an hour, even for a beginner. Go-daddy and Laughing Squid have similar plans.

Website: As I often do, I'm going to tell it like it is........If you don't have a website you do not have a company today and you will not be taken seriously by people you contact. An adequate website can be created in half a day with many web-hosting companies. Network Solutions has a program called image cafe where you can choose from 100s of canned website templates depending on your business focus. If you can use Microsoft word, you can do this. Many people without a website think they have to hire a web designer and spend months planning it out. I was one of those people 2 years ago. Let me give you a simple tip. Start off with a simple website, even if its just one page functioning like an online business card. You can build upon it over time. The point I want to drive home is that having your own URL and website is required today and is very easy to do.

Linkedin: When someone contacts me for the first time via email, Linkedin, or even a phone call, I look them up on Linkedin. It is absolutely essential you create a rich Linkedin profile about yourself. When someone I don't know does not have a detailed Linkedin profile or no links out to a website, I move on.

Again, its about perception over reality. You may not be a big company but if you have a website, a real email account with your domain name, and a rich and detailed Linkedin profile, you create an air of legitimacy that will help you win business and gain clients in today's market.

To your Wealth!

Russell Roesner, President
Equity Coalition
2440 Cabrillo Street
San Francisco, CA 94121
415 680 3454
www.equitycoalition.com
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