The Value of Doing Due Diligence Online
Posted by the Networking Goddess in Networking Tips, Networking Tools, Online Networking
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The Value of Doing Due Diligence Online
It’s here and it’s staying- The Internet is now a true business
source and resource. Commerce goes on every second, both nationally and internationally. The Internet, however, has it’s own “climate”. That climate is different than the offline business climate.
The Internet is by far the most unforgiving business environment I have ever worked in, when it comes to making what are considered “mistakes” because of lack of due diligence. I bet for you, too. You get half a chance to make a good first impression. And there is actually a reason why that is so.
Humans make decisions about other people based on body language, voice inflection and eye contact. Those are the tools we use to get to know, like, and trust folks offline. Without them online, we become very much like blind and deaf folks do- using other methods to determine who we will trust.
One of the most common methods is to “READ” the words a person uses.. not just read them, like you read a book, but “read” them to determine their actual meaning.. the hidden meaning and the obvious one. It’s often through writing “styles” that people begin to pick and choose those they are comfortable with and those they are not.
Also, if is very easy to prevent mistakes in netiquette and online protocol. There are SO many resources available online-from very helpful people that will answer questions, to limitless information available via websites and email, that there is no real reason for a true business professional to take on a new online business endeavour without doing some “due diligence”.
If there is a concern over appearing not experienced enough by
asking public questions, the resources online that you can seek out yourself totally eliminate the need to make big mistakes online-big mistakes like doing bulk, unsolicited emailings or subscribing people to ezines without their requests. Because of this, these types of mistakes become a matter of CHOICE versus just a mistake.
A person chooses not to get the answers to question they have or choose not to learn acceptable procedure versus just making a mistake. That IS the working environment online. And as long as it is so easy to get information, so easy to speak to “experts”, so easy to find mentors- the Internet will remain a very unforgiving place. Doing your “due diligence” is one of the prices you pay for being able to do so many other business procedures faster, and cheaper than offline. It’s a small price to pay to save your credibility, if you ask me.
Nancy,
Your Networking Goddess
