Have you ever thought about how relevant you are to your customers, company, teams and within your industry and peer groups?
I have recently noticed a swirl of activity surfacing in conversations, executive direction and company missions around the theme “Be Relevant.”
Although many executives and business owners lean on years of experience, prestigious networks and situational career lessons to make decisions that drive their business forward, many are grappling with how to be more relevant, especially as social media invades our inbox. With ongoing streams of data creating platforms, new influencers, brands and competitors evolve daily.
This accelerated rate of information and access to current data is transforming daily behaviors and putting new levels of importance on current information.
How do we effectively create new behaviors to absorb more data, to be more relevant, while continuing to achieve our business goals?
■ Know your niche — With the vast amount of data across our desks each day, it is important to focus on strategic areas, which will allow you to wade through data that matters to your business, industry and bottom line.
■ Leverage tools — There are many ways to access new information but finding the time is often more of a barrier. I have leveraged Google Alerts for years, which send me daily emails on a subset of terms. I recently started using backstitch to help me personalize the Web and filter data in real time that directly influence my business activities.
■ Focus on relationship building — Many people post and participate broadly in hope that the right people and customers find them. Being focused and deliberate can help identify new partnerships, customers and opportunities. When I was working to publish my book, I specifically joined 20 new author and publishing groups within LinkedIn. For weeks, I observed the conversation to gain an understanding of the process, common conversations and thought leaders. With a comfort and confidence, I then proactively connected with a few identified thought leaders to provide me additional guidance and expertise, which accelerated my time to market.
■ Build community — If you have trouble finding a group for your niche, consider starting it. When I was looking for other women in tech, I struggled to find a local or online organization to meet my local needs. After months of searching, I started Tech Savvy Women in 2008 with only 12 experienced women in the technology field. Today, TSW is a national community with more than 1,500 members, which I started on LinkedIn. Not only has it met a business need for me, it has created great relevance not only for me but many others involved in advancing leaders within the technology industry.
Being relevant is becoming increasingly difficult with the amount of data created each day. If you are leading people, building new revenue streams or looking for new customers, many will search online to verify your knowledge and expertise before saying “yes” to you, your company or your solutions.
JJ DiGeronimo is president of Purposeful Woman and Tech Savvy Women, author of “The Working Woman’s GPS” and “Before You Say YES.” For information, visit www.purposefulwoman.com.
