Don't mean to re-hash my "reduce the randomness" schtick, but the truth nestled therein was reaffirmed for me yesterday when I was talking with @PinkOliveFamily, whom I met via Twitter (follow me on Twitter here: @Aquentminister).
@PinkOliveFamily is a marketer and a recruiter who has grown her Twitter follower-ship from zero to near 2,500 in something like 4 months. (By sad contrast, I've been on there since last spring and have yet to break 300 followers, though I'm not bitter.
Nitty gritty time. @PinkOliveFamily found that there were people from the marketing and recruiting worlds on Twitter with whom she wanted to build relationships. So, she devised a method. Said method was actually fiendishly simple and devilishly clever:
1. Think about things that you could "twit' (I prefer that to "tweet") which would be useful or of interest to these people - a comment on their most recent blog post, for example.2. Write these ideas down (so you don't forget!).
3. When you see that these people are actively on Twitter, post your thoughts.
4. Repeat.
As I've said again and again, in this life, it's all about your relationships. But relationships don't just happen (usually). You need to cultivate and nurture them and sometimes even pursue them (in a friendly way, natch). The way you do that is by engaging thoughtfully with other people, sharing their interests, and helping when you can.
That's just one thing that I learned from @PinkOliveFamily.
Yes, I really agree that marketing is all about building personal relationships with the client. Essentially, I believe you have to use a little psychology to find out what makes a buyer tick and than exceed those expectations by forcasting future needs that they may have as a result of possibly doing business with you. Thus creating a win-win situation for the customer and the firm.