Seth Godin has a good post on Flip the Funnel.

Seven questions to ask yourself. Great stuff.

We often get calls from people looking for the magic buzz pill. It is really just a lot of work, a clear strategy, and thinking like the customer. His questions will help you focus on your strategy.

One way to network and meet people is to go to every event and try to meet every person there.

Another approach is to build a network of high quality via selective targeting. To build a target list of influential people you would like to meet, here is what you need to do.

• Know what your goal is
• Know how each person on your list can help you achieve your goals
• Know enough about the person that you can carry on an intelligent conversation
• Read trade magazines and belong to appropriate associations to help identify people of interest.
• Ask other people you know about the people on your list (one at a time, don’t read the list to them.) You’d be surprised how many of the people you know may know someone that can help you get an introduction.
• If you work hard to meet someone, go the the meeting prepared.

It is good to take advantage of random opportunities, but the fastest road to success is a road well planned, or the lottery.

What kinds of titles can you write to get people to read your blog post?

• Ask them a question – How do you increase….
• Imply a list of useful information – The 8 secrets to….
• intrigue them – How to bend an apple (You are reading this, aren’t you)
• Breaking News – Caught in the act! XYZ……

Review your past blog posts and see if you are writing good headlines. Think about if you would have cared enough to read it. Remember that having key words in your headlines is important too, so don’t make them all crazy like this one.

Of the 4 quotes I got, yours was the highest by a lot. You’re hired.

Recently I have had the fortune to help put together several quotes. In the past, we have not been as busy and were always more worried about getting the work. Over the last year, the buzz and word of mouth have kicked in to the point were we are booked and hiring.

We have also gotten our message honed to the point that people understand we care as much about their success as they do.

Recently, we did several quotes. In two cases we came in the highest in a group of 3 and a group of 4. The person for the group of four asked us to reconsider the quote, because he really liked what we had to say but it was hard to justify the additional expense.

Two of us went out, reviewed the quote in detail with him, and added about 35% more to the cost for some additional work. It looks like we are getting this job.

It is very interesting that you can come in the highest and still get the job. It came down to something very simple. We could build him software for much less, but we could not make him successful in achieving his goals for less, and we insist in only working on realistic, goal and revenue driven projects.

You can create a lot of buzz and not compete just on price if you put your clients success first, and forget about the product you are selling for a minute.

Putting together a complete web strategy, including buzz and word of mouth, is extensive. Here is a set of articles: 8 Secrets to your Online Success.

Have you ever been someplace that you did not know anyone?

Become a peripheral host.

A peripheral host is a person who takes it upon themselves to greet, take care of, and introduce to others, any person who seems like they have also not been there before or know many people.

If I wrote, “Don’t worry about it. Own the room.” We would know that is easier said than done for many people. However, if you take the mindset that it is your job to be the host of the people that do not walk in and do not immediately gravitate to a group of people, you will soon find yourself meeting many people. This especially works well in a large group, such as a conference, seminar or larger networking group where not everyone knows each other yet.

The funny thing about this is that people will assume, just from being hospitable, that you are involved in organizing the event.

Most people walk into a large group atmosphere and start looking for clues as to what they are supposed to do. If they know people, they will gravitate to them because people that have been there longer will know what to do. If they do not know people, they will start to graze, moving about the room looking at things, getting a drink, etc. while they scope the room out.

Few people go to an event like this and do not want to meet other people. Take the initiative as if this person just walked through the front door of your home. Ask them a few questions and introduce them to the other people you have met. It will go quickly.

Within a short time, people will think you know everything about the event and all the people at it. You will be all the buzz.

Seth Godin has an interesting post about treating customers differently. (Charging them more or less for the same product or service.) He has some good points about how much easier it is to do and makes a point that it should be done. I agreed when I read it, but then last night I got home and had second thoughts.

We have a child in a good piano school. It is expensive, and we never hesitate to pay the bill even thought their are cheaper options out there. Everyone pays the same price, but some people have multiple kids in it, so obviously they spend more.

While I like the idea of treating different customers differently, I think it is very easy for some of us to forget that some people are hyper sensitive to fairness, and even a slight perceived preference to someone else, pricing or otherwise, creates a lot of emotion in the person and can lead to negative buzz.

In the case of the piano school, my wife believes that they tend to have favorites, and once that opinion is formed it is easy to find additional evidence to reinforce that thought. Whether intentional or not, it is probably true. I do not care, but she does.

So yes, you can treat difference customers differently, even charge some more and some less. But be aware that people do not all think the same, and a slight difference in treatment could result in a lot of bad buzz.

If you are a regular reader, you know I am a fan of the Career Intensity book. Don’t take my word for it though, check out this review. I will be shocked with all the pre-release attention david is getting if it is not a best seller.

(And no, I am not paid to say that.)

Everyone knows it is important to have a broad network to succeed in business. A broad network also helps when you want to create some buzz if many of those people are advocates of yours.

We are currently hiring for a position that requires some tech, some design, some writing and marketing savvy and good communication and project oversight skills. It is not a great salary for a computer programmer, but an excellent salary for people in other fields.

We wanted to use WOM to find the candidate, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that someone I have known for 6 months was able to forward it to someone she thinks is a perfect fit.

The key was that she is graduating this semester and she is one of those people that you know is going to do well the first time you meet her. I assume she has to hang out with similar people, even though I knew she would not be interested.

So how deep is you network? How many people do you know and are very different from you? A diverse network is going to be more interesting and more powerful, because it gives you access to more varied groups. You may not know all of these things about everyone, but if they are a strong connection of yours, you will have a good idea of many.

• Age
• Race
• Religion
• Occupation
• Nationality
• Interests and Skills
• Location of Residence
• Sexuality
• Marital Status (With or without kids)

Do an audit of your Top 50 in the network and see how diverse you are.

Here is why you should not write in the same voice for blog posts and comments on blog posts.