Robert J. Smith, BBA, MBA, MFA, Ph.D., is a business consultant and founder of Robert J. Smith Productions and Smith Profits.
The logline for the 1976 movie, “Network,” is “A television network cynically exploits a deranged former anchor’s ravings and revelations about the news media for its own profit but finds that his message may be difficult to control.”
While Howard Beale (played by Peter Finch) may have been deranged and had no control over his network, you are competent and may carry out proven strategies to control your networking efforts for optimal results. Here’s how:
Gain credibility through LinkedIn.
LinkedIn has nearly a billion members, spread across 200 countries but with the largest contingent living in the United States. However, what most executives don’t know is that the site contains a useful tool that helps members keep score and improve their efforts called “Your Social Selling Index” or SSI.
The tool tracks individual member rankings by industry and by network. As of this writing, my LinkedIn SSI ranks me in the top 1% of my industry and the top 1% of my network. For me, combining SSI improvements with a broader strategy has proven to be most effective. And I’ve seen firsthand how leveraging LinkedIn networking efforts with media appearances and rankings in the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) has worked time and again for other executives and business owners.
Improving your rankings can greatly improve your visibility and credibility, especially when you’re reaching out to new people on LinkedIn. Most professionals see the value in “networking up” to reach key decision-makers who have the ability to quickly act on business offerings, as it’s always more effective and more efficient to prospect companies from the top down than from the bottom up.
Gain credibility through the media.
Although press releases worked wonders in the past, I’ve found a twist on this classic strategy that has proven to be most effective in gaining credibility and top-of-mind consciousness. In my decades of experience, story releases return immediate results.
I’ve lectured across America on the effectiveness of stories and storytelling is the First Commandment in my first Forbes article, “Ten Commandments For Increasing Sales.” A well-written story release can be picked up by major network television affiliates and add credibility and authority to your work (my Fourth Commandment). Story releases may also be linked to clients in newsletters, email signatures and other sales and marketing efforts for predictable success. This is a strategy that my clients use on a daily basis. When I meet with our clients to review their progress (my Tenth Commandment), I am always pleased to hear them tell me about the new clients and new business they gained as a direct result of these efforts.
Gain credibility through IMDb.
Although most executives are aware of IMDb, they mistakenly believe that the Amazon-owned site and its rankings are reserved only for those celebrities we see on TV and in the movies—people like Peter Finch, Faye Dunaway and William Holden, who appeared in “Network” and have been stars for decades. But IMDb is not just for movie stars and their fans. In fact, IMDb is a “fan-tastic” site for business executives to gain credibility, notoriety and even some celebrity status in the minds of their clients and prospects.
I originally set my page up for film appearances and television interviews. Of course, not everyone is asked to be on live TV. However, you can also qualify for an IMDb listing if you’ve appeared on a podcast—this is true whether they are audio/video or audio only.
From a pure business point of view, IMDb can also be a great equalizer when it comes to achieving front-page Google search rankings and even No. 1 Google search rankings. How else would this writer be able to consistently outrank an NFL running back and a rockstar who both have the same names? How else would this writer be able to consistently outrank in excess of 409 million listings of one of the most popular (as opposed to common) names in American history, Robert Smith?
Where do you personally rank when you Google search your own name? This ranking depends on a number of factors such as the uniqueness of your name and how you market your personal, professional and business brands. If your name is unique, you will simply not have to compete as hard for prospects and clients to be able to find you.
That said, if you have a more common name, there are things you can do to improve your ranking. For example, I’ve worked with Andrew Barrett, CEO of a securities firm. He initially didn’t rank on the first page of Google, but adding his middle initial “Q” helps him rank at the top when people search for him as Andrew Q. Barrett.
My rockstar counterpart is the lead singer from The Cure and markets himself simply as Robert Smith. His marketing efforts ignore his middle name of James. In doing so, he always bests both the former Vikings running back—whose middle name is Scott—and myself, with the middle name of John. Here is where it gets interesting.
My IMDb listing includes my middle initial. The reason is that when I compete for local and national television commercial acting roles in Florida, there are four other actors here named Robert Smith. There were times when I would drive across the state for a role I was cast in, only to find one or two of the other actors with my name there as well.
My middle initial immediately became a difference-maker. Once I added it to my IMDb profile (and my business sites), I never again had to contend with my namesake. IMDb carries over 500 million listings, including nearly 13 million name listings that are ranked on a weekly basis. As such, my consistent work (my Sixth Commandment) has allowed me to repeatedly rank in the top 1% on IMDb. That ranking has also allowed me to consistently rank in the top 1% of Google searches and, most often, at the very top.
If a business hyphenate who grew up as a blue-collar worker in metro Detroit and became a white-collar worker in metro Orlando can do it, you certainly can! Simply give these proven strategies a try.
Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?
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