Archive for Business Networking
Are you a networker? Do you go out to specific events at least three or four times a month with the specific goal of meeting new people and connecting with them?
You may have read a recent article “Know Who Your Ideal Clients Are For Success in Business”… The discussion of who is your ideal client and how do you define the right customers for the success of your business is an important topic. One of the specific reasons this definition will have such an impact on the ultimate success of your business is it will begin to drive everything else you do. This definition will help to determine your marketing strategy all the way to how and where you network.
The next time you are speaking with your dentist, or your accountant, or your chiropractor ask where they go to events. Typically the events they attend are industry specific events. There will be other dentists, or accountants or chiropractors there in attendance. The only remote chance of seeing a referral from these groups is if someone they know is relocating exactly to your community and their office remembers who you are and where your business is located. In general, industry specific events will help you to discuss best practices within your area of specialty, learn new methods or technologies and potentially create a network of specialists who you might call if you are in a unique situation.
If you then ask your dentist, accountant or chiropractor where they generally obtain the majority of their new clients. Odds are good they would say referrals from current and former clients. This is where this gets interesting as none of them are actively networking to meet new clients.
These three examples are of professionals in private practice who have generally isolated themselves. Who will they turn to for example, with a business related question which is not an aspect of their specialty?
A networking strategy is important for anyone at any level of business. It is of significant importance to the solo- preneur or small business owner who must make each of these functions count. Look through your calendar and determine the exact types of networking events you should be attending.
Consider creating a strategy around your networking and intentionally form relationships which are mutually beneficial. Some of these relationships will be specific to your area of specialization. These conversations will keep you in the loop. Other relationships should be formed to add value to each other. You hope these will result in new connections and clients.
When you are in need of an answer to a business question, or you require an experienced professional to offer a second set of eyes and ears on a project you should consider the Thirty For Thirty offered by Mitch Tublin.
Imagine for a moment you are getting ready to go the beach. You are walking along a path carrying a beach towel, a chair, some snacks and cool beverages. You smell the salty air as you are getting closer. Once you arrive at the beach there is a long line, and you cannot figure out what is going on.
You walk by everyone in the line to see what is going on and there you are at the front of the line and you see; well you see what you cannot believe. The beach is just one grain of sand!
Now of course this is a dramatic exaggeration. The beach and the sand are one experience. The sand is made up of hundreds and thousands, no millions of grains of sand. There is so much sand we never even consider the one grain of sand. The beach supports our beach blankets, chairs, and sunbathers, and permits the ocean waves to come crashing in. No one grain of sand would be able to do this by itself.
In building your network, your tribe, as Seth Godin writes about in his book titled “Tribes”, is a group of people made up of individuals who all know who you are, what you stand for and what you do.
It is for you to determine how to best create your network, your tribe for you – social media, face to face networking, public speaking, writing books, other methods, or all of these or combinations of any of them with others.
The key is to care for the one person, for each person. They are not a single grain of sand. If it is your intent to build your network, your tribe, to be a large enough group who all really feel they know you, each person must be able to reach out and touch you or your virtual self enough to be tuned in this way. You must feed each and every person often enough with quality material. One single person will not make your network.
Every single person with every other single person together will make your network.
By paying attention to every single person with the knowledge you have of how important each and every person is, this awareness combined with your constant feeding of your network will permit you to create your business on your terms when the time is right.
If you are ready to create your network, your tribe, RIGHT NOW – contact expert Executive Coach, Mitch Tublin, RIGHT NOW at www.thementorguy.com and get started today.
My business strategy is to network in places you would never think I would appear and it is highly likely no one there ever met me before.
Not long ago I attended an intimate event in West Palm Beach, Florida, where Les Brown was speaking to our group.
Les said, “The most feared activity, even feared more than death, is public speaking.”
I wonder how high on the list networking would be?
Even more specifically, I wonder how high on the list networking would be when you know you are going into an environment where you know absolutely no one and you think you have absolutely nothing in common with anyone there?
Well my friends, I challenge you to do just that!
Try out this strategy. Don’t over think it. Just try it out and let us all know how you make out.
Okay, so you are not totally left out in the cold here are a few networking tips for you:
TIP #1 - Warm up your smile and be ready to smile all the time.
What does this mean? Many of us are so busy tapping on our laptop, blackberry or iPhone we have that face on. You know the face, the I’m tapping on my laptop, blackberry or iPhone, so don’t mess with me face.
You are not smiling. Make it a point to smile a lot everyday before your networking event. You should not have to think about smiling, you should just be smiling.
TIP # 2 - Be really interested in the other person and their story.
You have three to five minutes to engage. Yes, a time limit. If there are ten people you are going to meet this will allow you to meet these ten people in one hour. This allows time for you to move between people. So you do the math. You have only a few minutes to both engage with each other. It is the time you have to network around the room so you will need to keep moving.
Ask questions and repeat key points back to the person you just met. Use their name back to them in the conversation.
TIP # 3 - Have your story ready, clear and succinct.
Your name, your company, what do you do? Who are your customers/clients? What are the results? All of this in less than 1 minute. It must not be rushed, it must be clear and you need to make eye contact and smile.
TIP # 4 - Exchange cards or contact information.
If you are connecting well, ask if you may contact them about meeting soon one on one or speaking on the phone to connect further. Leave your introductory meeting with an agreed upon action step. A definite do not do is do not take the contact information email off of the card and add it to your newsletter list and auto-generated email list. No one wants this done to them. It is so 2005. So don’t do it.
TIP # 5 - Follow up.
A short direct email or phone call about how great it was to meet you. Reaffirm your call to action item. Agree upon your date and time to meet up. Ask about connecting on LinkedIn or Facebook or Twitter as appropriate for the situation.
It is my hope you are now more open to going to a networking event where you may not know a single person.
If you are interested in really getting your networking skills to the level they need to be for your business to grow and be more successful, contact Mitch Tublin, premier business strategist, consultant and coach, and set up your strategic business breakthrough session today.
