Entrepreneurship and Leadership Tips: Etiquette for Dealing with Social Media and Business Development

Welcome back to another episode of our entrepreneurship and leadership tips series. In this episode, Earl Foote, CEO and Founder of Nexus IT, talks about proper etiquette for dealing with social media and business development. He reviews various mistakes he’s seen people make on a regular basis and what to do instead.


Here are some of the recommendations to keep in mind:

  1. Don’t Be Transactional: Whether you’re talking with someone over the phone, in person or via social media, always avoid being transactional. Instead, create authentic connections and be transformational with your interactions. People see through transactional discussions and nobody wants to do business with someone who isn’t genuine.
  2. Don’t Be Boring: Small talk should be avoided as much as possible. If you find yourself at an event or an opportunity to speak face-to-face, talk about them and their life. Many people ask “what do you do?” first, but that’s cliché and outdated. Talk about their interests, hobbies, and overall, give them the chance to talk about themselves.
  3. Try to Add Value: If you have some sort of partner or vendor that’s referring business to you, do the same for them. Always try to add value for the people in your network. If you’re not referring business back to the people who are taking care of you, you’re going to lose their loyalty (and in turn, their leads!)
  4. Support the People Who Support You: If you have people who are supporting you on social media – liking, commenting, and sharing your posts – do the same for them. They’re bringing attention to you and what you do, make sure you return the favor. Otherwise, they will likely stop giving you their support once they notice the lack of reciprocation.
  5. Avoid Jumping Into Your Sales Pitch: Don’t be too quick to jump into your sales pitch. Always try to build a relationship before you try to pitch them on your products and/or services. People want to build authentic relationships before they feel they’re being sold to. Otherwise, the sales pitch falls short because there’s no connection to back it up.

Questions? Get in touch with us. In the meantime, stay tuned for the next episode!