Best advice my Mom ever gave me: ‘when they ask for a volunteer, you step up’. So, I’m happily writing this blog from my virtual office space in Nelspruit.
I attended a very informative PSASA Virtual Chapter meeting on 9 May, Networking and Marketing. Ursula Botha was our MC for evening who introduced us to our speakers for the evening.
Our first speaker Tiffany Markman was ready to give us insight on the new rules of business writing.
Tiffany’s golden nuggets:
We have no choice but to change the way we write keeping the following 10 new rules of business writing top of mind:
- Audience first
- Objective second
- Plain language above all
- You need summary skills
- Leverage tonal shift
- Planning is everything
- Structure is everything else
- Remember the EYE
- Ask. Ask again. Remind
- Email is its own language
Writing an email: align your writing and formatting to your brands house style, and tone of voice. Look at your call to action and subject line before you press send.
LinkedIn: is a place to showcase your expertise and position yourself as an authority in the industry.
- It’s not about you; your reader is asking ‘what’s in it for them’.
- Go for function, not form.
- Give away your knowledge so they can hire you for your expertise.
The next speaker Olga Geidane shared her expertise in an exclusive masterclass titled Networking to success.
Olga’s networking necessities:
How to network to success: Show up early for events and leave last
- If you come on time, you’re already too late as you can’t ‘informally’ learn about anyone.
- People will remember you if you engage in small talk with them before your ‘formal’ presentation/speech.
- If you want to meet new people go to new places.
Genuine relationships: to connect with other people you need to establish what they’re passionate about.
- It’s not about you, it’s about them.
- Listen first, then find common ground and link one thing that you do to what you just heard.
Achieving your goals: know what your goals are. Are you looking for referrals or recommendations?
- Book as many 1 on 1 conversations as possible – Coffee chats not strategic talks.
- Be clear on what you want out of this connection.
Now that you know all the secrets of marketing and networking, I challenge you to step up.
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Tiffany Markman https://www.linkedin.com/in/tiffany-markman
Olga Geidane https://www.linkedin.com/in/olgageidane
Ursula Botha https://www.linkedin.com/in/ursul-a-botha
Zani Barrish https://www.linkedin.com/in/zanibarrish
