WPblab EP139 – Using Social Media in WordPress Business Development

In this episode of WPblab, Jason and Bridget talk about the ways you can level up your biz dev. It’s great if you build websites and plugins. But how does anyone know? How do you build a referral network? How do you keep top-of-mind with your connections? Tune in to find out.

We’re happy this week to announce Bridget’s Content Planner Worksheet which is available for purchase.

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What is Business Development?

Business development is essentially the activities you do which keep your brand top of mind. What’s in your biz development stack?

This conversation came from a conversation on Twitter between Bridget and Rene Morozowich.

Social Media for Biz Dev

Our work is referral based. In person events are great. Our friend Ross Gile is great at Chamber of Commerce events. But don’t forget social media as well.

“Being on social media is business development.” Bridget

Tell people what you do with your clearly-written bio.

Secondly, follow the industry(ies) that you specialize in on Twitter. Put them on Twitter Lists. Spend 5 minutes a day replying to them. NOT RETWEETING. Replying. That’s business development on social media.

“You get their attention by being friendly, not DMing them.” Bridget

Don’t Be Gross

You are so gross when you DM people on LinkedIn. Don’t do it. Jason will say you are gross. If you do some cold calling or cold contacting, do your research. Make sure the product or services you have are in alignment with the businesses you’re contacting.

There Is No Dream Without The Work

Being engaged in your audience constantly keeps you top-of-mind. People will say to you, “Oh yeah. I forgot you do that.” You have to put in the time. Period. There is no magic here. It is your business.

Do a search once a week on Twitter. “How do I get my website,” for example. See if you have an opportunity to reply to them. There are so many people who ask questions on Twitter that are never responded to. It’s a missed opportunity. Do the work.

https://twitter.com/EmsGotThat/status/1176312630388154371

Also, you should be specializing. Are you? Then, build your network of people to refer. Specialize and refer.  That makes you valuable. That’s biz dev.

This is how Gary Vaynerchuk built up WineLibrary.com. Do the work.

Client Work: Ups and Downs

You should have staggered work for cash flow reasons, says Jason. Be ready for the client ups and downs. Sometimes you get more work. Sometimes you lose it. That’s client work. Period.

There’s enough work for all of us. This is why referring is a good idea.

Where’s the Kid Photos?

Be human. We know you had a kid. Let’s see their photo. You got a new cat? Tweet it out. We need to have something to connect with you. Jon Brown, for example, talks about his lifestyle of being a digital nomad online often. You think digital nomad and immediately say, “Jon Brown.”

We’re Not Marketing Well In WordPress

We need the social network. So why aren’t we using it? Why aren’t we using LinkedIn? The C-Suite is on LinkedIn. People don’t talk about politics on LinkedIn. You’re allowed to brag on LinkedIn.

What kind of work do you do? Does it say that on your about page? How about your contact page?

We go to WordPress Meetups and camps. That’s good. But keep the relationship going with conversations on Twitter, a Slack channel, or even a personal email.

How Much Time Should You Spend Per Platform?

You should spend at least 5 minutes a day. If you’re not tweeting, you don’t have notifications. If you don’t have that many followers, you won’t have that many notifications. If you want to level it up, 5 in the morning and 5 after lunch. Go further by 10 minutes in the morning and 10 at lunch. Bridget recommends against push notifications for social media.

Put it in your Google Calendar. Bridget likes to read Twitter while she’s drinking her morning coffee. (Leave your desk at lunch, but that’s a different episode.)

You can manage LinkedIn in five minutes a day. Facebook Page maybe five to ten minutes a week. Or just look at notifications. Put it in your workflow. It’s reasonable to spend an hour or less a day on your business. It’s your business. No one can care about it more than you.

“Doesn’t your business deserve twenty minutes?” Bridget

Our 30 Minute Mark Sponsor

The first 30 minutes are brought to you by Kinsta.

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Tool or Tip of the Week

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Bridget finally decided to use EDD (Easy Digital Downloads) to sell her content planner. She opted to also use SendWP for $9/month. It only took ten minutes. Your PayPal Account has to be a business account or you won’t get the pingback to verify the purchase. It wasn’t a big deal.

She also recommends watching The Nineties episode on Computers — Episode 6: ‘Information Age’. It’s also on Netflix.

Jason recommends ExpanDrive. It shows as a folder in Finder and streams the file to them. “ExpanDrive is a fast network drive and browser for cloud storage. Securely access the cloud from any application, including Finder and Explorer.”

Do you have any tools or tips we should know about?

We’d love to hear from you. What are your experiences with this subject?

Tell us in the comments below.

Weekly Watercooler Discussions about WordPress and it’s community.

5 responses to “WPblab EP139 – Using Social Media in WordPress Business Development

  1. Jason Tucker ????????‍???????????? Avatar

    It happens once a week and it’s so annoying.

    1. Follow on LinkedIn
    2. Search on my work website for phone number (I’ve looked at google analytics for our staff page)
    3. Phone call to my office.

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