Connecting to Competitors on Social Networks

Q: Should I connect to and accept invitations to connect from my competitors? How can I benefit from having a competitor in my social network?

A: There are some very good reasons why you should connect with your competitors on social networks. By connecting to your competitors on LinkedIn, following them on Twitter, and friending them on Facebook, you will know what’s going on in their business and learn from this knowledge.

You will also have access to people who know a great deal about your niche and your clients and who deal with challenges and opportunities similar to yours. Here’s a prime opportunity for some creative brainstorming, masterminding, and bouncing ideas off of each other!

Besides, having direct access to competition means that when need be you can collaborate with them. I recently acquired a new client simply by being connected and listening to a competitor who was making some strategic changes and couldn’t accomodate one of her clients any longer.

But wouldn’t clients see all these competitors and simply switch over to them? The truth is clients already know that you’ve got plenty of competition. They don’t need to sift through your friends’ list to find a service provider. They can do it much quicker and easier through basic search in Google.

Connecting with business competitors on social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc is an opportunity to learn, exchange ideas, and grow one’s business.

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Related posts:

1. Should You Add Existing Customers to Your Twitter?
2. Social Networks – Are You in the Right Ones?
3. 7 Reasons Social Networks Are a Waste of Time