Strategies for Staying Connected when You Work From Home | Jul 07th 2007
One of the biggest challenges I face as a remote consultant is staying connected with colleagues, clients and peers. While it’s true that there are many tools to help me maintain constant contact with people who I work directly with or for, staying visible to my larger network of associates can be difficult.
I’ve learned that networking with people through e-mail, instant messages and phone calls is crucial to growing my business, maintaining client relationships and remaining visible in my industry. There are several strategies that I’ve developed to help me stay “present” in my industry even though I work far from the offices of Madison Avenue and Silicon Valley.
Keeping a Blog
Like most Web marketers, I maintain a blog. The term “blog” is short for “web log.” It’s a Web site that functions as a chronological journal focused on a specific topic or series of topics. For example, political blogs such as HuffingtonPost.com are highly visible with the media and provide a forum for different writers (e.g., bloggers) to speak up about political issues.
My blog speaks for me even when I’m not working, by coming up in Google (for example) when someone types “PPC Advice” or something else that I’ve written about. I link to my blog in my e-mail signature and from my business’s Web site. This helps prospective and existing clients get to know a little more about how I think, work and approach my business.
Having a blog forces me to keep up with industry changes and events and it’s also a way for me to reach out to past and present clients on a regular basis. I almost always e-mail a link to my latest blog post (e.g., article) to clients if I think it’s relevant to their business.
Article Writing
In my industry, writing articles is one of THE best ways to get exposure for your business. Many content and news-based marketing sites are in desperate need of articles. These sites often allow me to republish pieces that I’ve already posted to my blog. Third-party sites can be a great source of referrals for my business since they almost always publish a short byline about me including a link back to my web site.
Posting articles on well-known industry sites is another great excuse to reach out to clients. When I get an article published, I typically send out a few e-mails to clients, colleagues and peers asking them to check it out. Publishing articles on third-party Web sites also lends a bit more credibility to my expertise than just keeping my own blog.
Additionally, articles that are published online tend to stick around for a while. I still get referrals and inquiries from people who have read articles of mine that I published over two years ago.
Industry Conferences & Events
The best way to get face time with people in my industry is to attend one of the many professional conferences and events that occur throughout the year. If it weren’t for conferences, networking lunches and the occasional happy hour, I would very rarely get to see people face-to-face. I find that getting out and meeting people is a great way to regain enthusiasm for work when I’m feeling burnt out or isolated.
Getting speaking engagements at conferences is an even better way to get some industry face time. Since speakers generally attend conferences for free, this is also a cost-effective way to stay connected with industry peers and clients.
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This article was published in the Poughkeepsie Journal on July 7, 2007 with the title “Blogging, writing helping me stay visible“