Dog Lovers' Group Helps Propel Libby Baney's Social Network

Any good salesman will tell you the trick to getting trust is to get the potential client to like you first, David Spark reported in his The Spark Minute blog, "12 Inspiring Stories of Successful Social Networks." Life sciences attorney Libby Baney of B&D Consulting decided to build that trust by joining a dog lovers' group on Facebook, according to the blog. She became involved in the group by posting pictures of her dog and commenting on other users' photos. While she did enjoy participating in the group, she wanted Facebook to help her develop professional opportunities, the blog explained.

Baney mined users' profiles and found many were in the fields of medical technology and pharmaceuticals. Not wanting to infiltrate the dog related group with business pitches, Baney friended these people and then used her Facebook status update to let people know about her work as a life sciences attorney, Spark wrote. The updates seen by these new dog loving friends has resulted in more than 10 different professional conversations. One dog lover in particular turned out to be the CEO of a medical device company. He saw her status update, asked to meet with her, and now her firm is representing his company, the blog reported.

Spark said he delved into more than 80 stories of people who have effectively grown their social network either in great numbers or strategically within their industry. Then, he wrote about 10 successful network growing techniques and the 12 inspiring stories of the people who made them happen.