Building your tribe really just means to increase your following - such as your Facebook fans and friends, your Twitter followers, your blog subscribers, and those who are loyal to your brand in any other way.
These people make up your network, your personal community, your coalition, and your very own federation. If managed correctly, they will support you, they will buy what you're selling, and they will refer you to other people. Therefore, having a tribe is very essential to your company.
The key, however, is not to just connect with as many random people that you don't even know. Instead, you want to skillfully utilize social media and other avenues to actually meet, network, and stay connected with people that are relevant to what you do. It doesn't matter how many people are in your tribe. Quality and relevance are much more important than quantity.
While this may sound difficult at first, it's actually a fairly simple thing to do and there are many ways to do it.
Here are just 3 ways to effectively build your tribe:
1) Use Twellow.com
This web site is a great tool that allows you to search Twitter profiles based on specific keywords. Use this to find people in your industry that would be great partners or potential clients.
2) Conduct Keyword Searches on Facebook
Facebook, which by the way is the biggest social media platform in the world, allows you to search for user profiles - not just by name, but also with keywords. You can do this on their web site, and even more efficiently through their free mobile apps on iPhone and Droid. Again, find people that you feel would best respond to what you do.
3) Write and Distribute Columns
Writing and distributing high-quality columns to media outlets is a great way to catch people's attention. It's also a great way to brand yourself with the media because they love to receive and publish free quality content. Utilize this strategy at least once a month, and be sure to include your web site (which should have some type of blog or newsletter signup), your Facebook fan page, and your Twitter account at the bottom of the column in the tagline. This will allow others to easily join your tribe.
Write and distribute columns - now why didn't I think of that?
ReplyDeleteGreat tips Dante thank you! :)
These are all great tips. I shaved years of failure off of my attempt to build a consumer base by following this type of advice. When I wrote my first book I assumed it was so great that people would automatically flock to the stores and buy it. Needless to say I was wrong. I had to learn how to "Build my Tribe" so that my consumers/friends would understand what "I" was all about and support "Me." Great article.
ReplyDeleteMr. Lee
ReplyDeleteCan you go into more detail regarding #3 writing and distributing columns? Perhaps, can you show an example of a column you wrote on submitted to a media outlet. Thanks for your tips. I have learned quite a bit of vital business information.
Thanks,
Monique Colbert
http://www.examiner.com/shoe-shopping-in-atlanta/monique-colbert
Dante, thanks for the tips! I hadn't consider Twellow yet but have worked on the others. I will certainly look into it.
ReplyDeleteThose are great tips I haven't tried Twellow yet. I guess that would be the next thing to do. I was wondering Mr. Lee if you could take a look at my blog to let me know if I'm on the right track for my business. I would greatly appreciate it so much.
ReplyDeletehttp://beadoctoragain.com