How to make meaningful connections online

It often astounds me the lack of knowledge kiwi exporters have about the tools they can utilise online to connect, create and develop meaningful business relationships.

Thus I thought it was long overdue for me to share some tips on how to do just that!

Right off the bat you need a website - even a super super basic one. It needs to (at the very least) act like a brochure, covering the three bases 'Here's what I've got', 'Here's why it's good for you' and finally 'Here's what you need to do next'.

Struggling with that? Head over to Wordpress.com and create a blog there. You can be up and running within the hour.

Best of all Wordpress blogs are optimised to show up in search results very very fast.

The reason you need a website? You don't know who is out there searching for your product or problem that you solve at this very instance. Your website will help you capture these people.

Having just completed this myself for a client we found interest from all around the world within the first week.

Checked that box off? Next you need to invest in some Google Adwords (Note: this does depend on your market as to which search engine you use but Google will cover most western countries). Google Adwords allows you to advertise on search results (seen above and to the right of search results).

This allows you to immediately get your website in front of people interested in your product. Due to the intention behind the search i.e. 'help with soil contamination' your product is positioned well to capture it.

Next stop is Alibaba.com. A quick look at the New Zealand page on Alibaba shows hardly any kiwi companies listing! Alibaba is a product sourcing website partially owned by Yahoo.

Given its Chinese roots it is dominated by products manufactured in China. However there is still room for some of us Kiwis. Place your product listing on here as well, highlighting the bases I covered above with your website, also link this back to your website.

Great - now you're doing really well.

What about proactively reaching (and engaging) into the market? You need to be utilising the social trifecta: LinkedIn, Twitter & blogging.

LinkedIn is like Facebook but for professionals. It allows you to connect and talk to people in your industry all around the world. The three best uses of it are to create a group for your target market to hang out, connect correctly with those that would buy your product and finally collaborate/share tactics with people around the world facing similar problems.

Twitter is along the same lines. Use your profile to help connect & engage with people. On Twitter you need to be watching search.twitter.com. Run some searches everyday for the problems your customers may be having, ie 'Accounting Software Recommendations' - you can then connect with these people and begin a dialogue.

Finally, blogging is going to be your main asset. You need to look at blogging in a way that helps your target market – ie, if you were a washing detergent look at blogging about how to get stains out of clothes OR buying a washing machine. This allows you to capture and engage with potential customers. In my experience blogging returns four to one in revenue terms out of the trifecta.

That's it! I know it's a basic overview - but you now have a plan to get out there.

* Ben Young from BWAGY is the author of The Best Ideas are Free.