Five Steps To Build Better Business Relationships Faster

There are so many aspects to building the right business relationships that it makes it hard to know where to start…until you start at the very beginning. This video looks at introductions, handshakes, eye contact and more with the idea of making sure you make the right impressions.

What is a #bustup??

Thank you for you interest in #bustup. Below is a quick write up about the event. We expect 100 people to be there if we are completely unsuccessful. 3000+ people will join us if we knock it out of the park. Obviously if an organization like Ford, GM, BCBS or Quicken Loans said to their employees and partners “we should go do this cuz it’s the right thing to do” even the 3000 # looks low.

What: #BUSTUP

When: June 25, 2011 Starts at 9. The busting will go until 4. The party goes…well this IS Detroit so who knows when that stops

Who: Motor City BlightBusters + Motor City Connect + #backchannel + everyone else we can get

Where: Northwest Detroit near Grand River and Lahser

Why: We will transform the energy in our city

More info: Our event Facebook page

What is a #bustup? You may be familiar with the term “tweetup”- when people on twitter get together in real life to meet. A #bustup is a tweetup with a specific purpose.

For the past 3 years, Motor City Connect (large Detroit based networking group) has partnered with Motor City Blight Busters (23 year old non-profit near Brightmoor) to remove negative energy from Northwest Detroit. We do this typically by knocking down a dilapidated house or 3 and cleaning up the area near Grand River and Lahser. It’s been a wonderful experience and 90% of the people who attend can’t wait to come back.

We managed to capture Stephen Clark’s (news anchor on Channel 7) attention in 2010. He was kind enough to run THIS STORY on the news. This year, he reached out to me and said he would like to bring #backchannel (a group of twitter people who interact with him/newstaff during the news cast) down to join Motor City Connect for a day of Blight Busting. He has also indicated that the station manager is intrigued and would like to support this initiative possibly as part of the Detroit 2020. He also mentioned a couple of really cool things that I won’t type

The more Stephen, John George (Blightbuster’s founder) and I have discussed it, the more we have decided this could be a great party day. Sure there will be work. But why can’t there be fun too?  We can easily setup a stage and bring in music. The acts with whom I have spoken are excited. It is very possible that we will be hosting a screening of the new film short: Lemonade Detroit as well.

Right in the area we will be working is the Artists Village and the historic Redford Theater. I truly believe we can turn this into a festival. It’s fitting because the date we are doing this, June 25, is about the same as the 23rd anniversary of Blight Busters and John George’s birthday.

We want to make this day a community building and community bonding experience. With the help and support of the Detroit area corporations, chambers, artists and citizens we can make that happen. It’s great that we have Channel 7 on board. We are also connected to quite a few of the social media elite in town. Are you interested in making this happen?

We are looking for sponsors to help make this a fun, family friendly event and to start a lasting legacy for our Detroit while raising some some much needed funds for Blightbusters. I would be happy to discuss details on sponsorship with the appropriate parties.

Thank you so much for your time and consideration.

The relationship marketing era is upon us

“Word of Mouth” advertising is quickly becoming “word of web” marketing. People aren’t using “search” anymore. They are finding things before they know they’re looking for them. And that’s great IF you and your business are well positioned.

To remain relevant (competitive no longer matters) you MUST be a part of the conversation.

Smart marketers know how to attract and more importantly engage THEIR audience. Its no longer about quantity. Its about quality. The right relationship with your consumers allows your message to be amplified far and wide AND FAST!!!

What are you doing to leverage the relationships you have and create the relationships you need?

The 3 R’s have changed for business today

When I was in school we learned about the 3 R’: Reading
Riting
Rithmatic

These R’s were considered the core skills students would learn. They were easy to remember, and the values in the skills were easily understood. In retrospect they could’ve been better understood had they all actually begun with the letter R but this isn’t a spelling test, or a history lesson. This is a lesson in the R’s of modern day business.

While I’m certain reading and writing are still important (my jury has always been out on arithmetic) there are new R’s which require our immediate attention.

These three elements are the core skills, and matters of practice for modern day businesses.

The first R is a driving factor in the happiness of our lives Relationships. Relationships have always been a staple for people, and come in many different types:
Family
Friends
Co-workers
Clients
Business partners
Spiritual connections
Most importantly, the one we have with our self.

Aside from keeping us happy, relationships are the life streams of our business communities, costumers’ connections, and a constant reinforce for our personal brand. We must take great care not only to connect but to also relate to the people around us.

Relationships do not thrive without some neutering and commitment. You must maintain a balance of all aspects of give and take in order for an authentic relationship to be maintained.

Which is why the second R is Recommendations. We’ve always collected letters from satisfied clients, and now more than ever word of mouth is making or breaking brand images. Capitalizing on modern social networking tools allows for constant rapport care, but also an opportunity to mutually recommend peers, professionals, staff, and the like.

Linkedin uses the term up upfront, but don’t count out other venues such as facebook or twitter. A quick positive status update on facebook, or brief thank you tweet on twitter is another trick to represent those who you would recommend.

The third R is brand spanking new: Real-time search. The SEO/SEM strategists have been extolling the virtues of search for a couple of years now, and this business has evolved. It is no longer enough to own page 1 on Google. You need to make your presence known on page one on Twitter, Facebook, and other social sites.

Relationships
Recommendations
Real-Time Search

The modern R’s of business take old school classic spin on the new school technologies. And when you use these 3 R’s well, you get the most important R there is in business:

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