Business experts and speakers, here’s a truism: Relationship marketing has never been more important to growing demand for your business/expertise and never more tricky!

Perhaps you’ve heard the school kids’ joke:

Question – What do you call a boomerang that doesn’t come back?

Answer – A stick

I know, groan!

But this lame gag serves as a useful metaphor for the challenges addressed in today’s expert interview – which tackles steps you can take to achieve more impact from your business communications in an era of unrelenting and rising noise.

If you share content – from the podium and/or online via blogs, podcasts, videos or other means – to promote your ideas, expertise or business…

…But your communications aren’t shared anywhere near as often as you’d like (or feel your content deserves) by those who hear you, how disheartening is that?

After all, if you’re a business leader/expert putting your expertise ‘out there’ to attract  more visibility, leads and sales for your business…You’re likely banking on the ‘sticks’ you throw out coming back to you – bearing fruit – on a regular basis.

And here’s a wrinkle for content producers. There has been a marked decrease in the number of sticks that come back from content shared in recent times.

Why the Rules Are Changing When it Comes to Winning Attention

See if this sounds familiar.

Time was – even 4 years ago – the mere act of speaking up at events combined with creating content and sharing it online was enough to cause a slew of people you’d like to influence to beat a path to you door. Happy days, right?

Unfortunately, that was then.

Since then the amount of stuff on the Internet has more than tripled and continues to grow at meteoric speed. And the upshot is you have to work a deal smarter to win attention these days.

But how?

What does it take to achieve better audience connection/engagement  – as you seek to combine face-to-face communication with your online presence for greater effect?

That’s the topic addressed in today’s interview when I chat with digital marketer, social media consultant, speaker and Partner of Select Performers Internet Solutions, Ian Anderson Gray.

Lean in to hear us delve into an array of ideas that’ll help you to foster better, deeper and more meaningful relationships with your target audiences.

Why Speakers Need to Think Personal Conversation to Drive Better Results

Lean in as we discuss:

• How social media conversation is moving from public to private groups and it matters!
• How to decide where to spend time online to hone better relationships
• The lure of time chunking in a world of non-stop distractions
• How to choose wisely and sparingly when it comes to tools you’ll use
• Why a little strategic thinking can save you from a ton of time wasting
• The secrets to creating video (and other) content that keeps on giving
• Ian’s favourite tools for productivity, content and online relationships
• Why a ‘slow cooking’ approach to social media will win you more friends
• The problem with short termism and passing ships in the night
• One thing you can do that’ll help you stand out and earn more trust
• And more

And Speaking of Winning More Attention…

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Photo credit: Garry Knight