Keep in mind that not everyone processes information in the same way. Some people prefer to hear their information, while others want to see something to understand it. Still, others prefer a touchy/feely approach in order to “get a handle on it.” When utilizing face-to-face marketing, you can tell what your customer prefers by the way he/she interacts with you and the language he/she uses. Online, you might get some of that through language when you discuss things back and forth on a forum, but you won't really see that from an anonymous visitor to your site. That's why it's important to offer your visitors something tangible that speaks to them in their language. This is done by offering audio, visual, and kinesthetic information on the site that can appeal to each of the three groups.

Videos, for instance, appeal to people who process information visually. There are as many YouTube addicts as there are people who just love to download music. Still, some people need to feel a book in their hands to feel comfortable. As you seek to make connections, be aware of the environment and the audience. It will attract people who prefer one style of communication to another. Your job is to match that and to offer some of that style on your sales pages so that when they come back, they’ll have an instant rapport with you. Not only does it strengthen the connection, but it also creates a wider exposure for you to have your content in various formats, from video to audio and even to physical format books.

As you start to gain an Internet presence on all of these high-traffic sites and stream some of those connections back to your own site, you will find that it gets harder and harder to manage all of those connections. You might find it takes more and more of your time to comment and to promote your links. You don't want to spend so much time socializing on the Internet that you don't have enough time to plan new product rollouts and to close big deals. The answer to that is to learn how to automate your connections while maintaining a personal touch when necessary.

In the next section, we'll discuss some of the tools to use to not only create greater exposure and many more new connections, but also to simplify and make your interactions more efficient. The idea is to exploit your interactions so that what you relay in one interaction serves not just one customer, but many customers. As more people find value in your interactions, whether you personally talked to them or not, they will return more and more to your site. If you encourage them to bring their friends with them, via generating referral or affiliate programs that create income opportunities for them too, you not only widen your connections, but you empower them to build your business for you as well.

Tools To Manage Your Connections

In your personal life, you know that if you miss someone's birthday, he’s/she’s likely to feel slighted. Yet, people fail to try to make their online connections feel special and important just because they are virtual friends. Sometimes, it can be a simple matter of feeling overwhelmed. It's okay to manage talking to 20 or 30 people online, but what happens when your connections reach into the hundreds and thousands? The power of the Internet makes it so easy to connect that these numbers that would be impossible in a face-to-face situation are a real possibility for many Internet marketers. If you want to continue generating the same success with your connections when you had just a few, it's going to take some fancy footwork and great tools to keep your audience feeling special and important when there are so many others vying for your attention. 

Plan Your Interactions

At this point, not only are people expecting to hear from you, but you can lose a large share of your audience if you suddenly go silent. This makes it very hard on you when you want to take time to develop some other area of your business and your audience of friends or followers is clamoring for attention. That's why you need to be sure to feed them regularly by planning your interactions.

Let's give an example. Let's say that you joined Twitter and cultivated thousands of followers. Obviously, you can't pay attention to them all one-on-one and you can't be online 24 hours a day in person. You can, however, manage these interactions and even schedule them so that they don't interfere with other activities that you are completing to generate income. Take a look at the many third-party applications, like TweetLater.com and TweetDeck.com, that will allow you to view the stream, respond to questions, and even schedule your interactions for days when you simply want to be offline, but will continue your presence online virtually. The applications are free to use and will make your life a whole lot easier.

Not only will your audience be thrilled, but you will also be able to plan your tweets to roll out a promotion every step of the way, without having to be at your computer terminal to do it. It's a real-time way of being present, even when you could be snoozing on a beach getting a tan at the time your product promotion happens online.

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