Networking

Feed Your Business Relationships

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Last month I talked about benefits and shared values in collaboration, as well as marketing and other types of creative collaboration. Any kind of collaborative relationship requires maintenance, but so do other, less formal relationships and relationships in the making.

Developing a solid relationship with colleagues, clients, and prospects cultivates long-term and widespread business networks that are highly beneficial for all parties concerned. We all know that selfish networking — the kind where someone thrusts their card in your face and blurts out their elevator pitch without breathing — is a dead end street. There is no relationship…and there’s a good chance there never will be.

The other, more effective approach is to feed and grow potential business relationships and consider them an investment. You can’t be best friends with everyone, but you can identify those with whom you have a synergy, focus your energy, and stay in touch.

The Don’t
Every once in a while I get the latest, updated resume from a woman I met many years ago and who is now self-employed as a virtual assistant. I have not spoken to “Joyce” in years and between emails with her resume attached, I never hear from her. I don’t actually know what services Joyce offers these days because I never open the resume. She invariably asks me to pass along her resume to anyone who might be interested, which I also never do. Why would I? We have no relationship. (After some thought, my best guess is that the biennial email is her version of “marketing” — and I’m guessing she gets what she paid for.)

The Do
In contrast, many years ago I interviewed with a man I wanted to work for, but the firm had a bad reputation so I chose another job. I told “James” the truth, and thought that was the end of it. A few months later James called to tell me my info had been correct, he had chosen not to remain with the firm, and thanked me for my honesty. We stayed in touch for a number of years, keeping tabs on what each other was up to, and connecting each other with our respective networks as appropriate.

Many years after our first meeting, largely on the strength of our relationship, James became a long term and highly lucrative client — something he had not previously been in a position to offer. James remains someone whom I respect, and whom I would again connect with my network if the opportunity arose. It didn’t take a lot of effort overall, but the payoff was enormous.

Moral of the story: Any relationship can whither and die from neglect. All it takes to grow one, is to feed it occasionally.

Tips & Tricks of the Trade: Networking Wisely

Now that we’re officially into September, the “back to school, back to work” frenzy has begun. You can expect to see 101 networking event invitations crossing your desk in coming weeks — including some from me and my colleagues. Ready, set, go!

But wait. Networking events have value on a variety of levels, from connecting with other business owners, fostering collaborative business relationships, acquiring business skills and, even picking up clients. Much like anything else in business, however, it’s easy to be busy, busy, busy and still not see any real results. Here’s how to make the most of your networking marketing.

Decide why you’re going – Though most people go to events hoping to meet their next client, it rarely happens that quickly. While it’s important to include that intent, there are many other immediate and long-term reasons to go. In addition to exposing people to my business, I want events to have a take-away value in knowledge, skills, or inspiration that make me a better, more effective business person.
Be selective – You’ll get better results, and stave off exhaustion, by deciding which events will benefit your business most and prioritizing those. If you came away inspired, re-energized, full of ideas…these are all intangible benefits that actually make you better at networking. It just comes easier in that kind of environment.
Have a plan – Nothing guarantees a mediocre result as effectively as putting in a mediocre effort. Your quick, clean networking process doesn’t have to be complex. In fact, it makes the whole process easier and guarantees you get a return on your investment.
Do some follow up – After the fact, capture your learning. Maybe it’s an idea that came to you during a conversation. Maybe it’s a connection you made that you need to follow up with a phone call. Maybe it’s an inspiring epiphany you want to revisit during your next strategy session. Make notes of the event and what you got out of it, and look for ways to capture even more value next time.

As an entrepreneur it’s easy to become isolated and discouraged. Getting out and talking to people within a structure that supports your business development as well, is a win, win, win situation.

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By liz gaige, September 2, 2009 · Filed under Marketing Tips, Networking, Newsletter

Rock Your Next Networking Event

Let’s be real. Sitting and planning what you’re going to do to promote your business isn’t nearly as fun and interesting as jumping in and creating the postcard, writing the blog post or updating your FaceBook status with something witty.

It’s super easy to do a bunch of marketing and promotions, it’s harder to do them consistently and to make them pay off.

Here’s a trick: create a monthly calendar of what you want to accomplish. You can populate it with all manner of marketing activities, schedule time for it, and break it down into bite size pieces on a weekly or daily basis.

For example, if networking is one of the ways you raise your profile in the business community, at the beginning of the month choose how many networking events you’ll do in the month, do a bit of research on which ones are the best fit, plug the dates in, and register promptly to take advantage of any “early bird” rates. While you’re at it, add a few notes in your appointment details about why the event has value, what your goal is for being there, and what you’ll need to bring. Done.

When the event comes up on your calendar, do a quick check of your notes before you head out the door and you’re set to go. You’ll remember why you thought it was a good idea in the first place, you’ll have a goal when you walk in the door so the event will be more productive, and you’ll remember to grab a stack of the business cards you ran out of last time.

See, automation isn’t strictly about technology. It’s about systems in many forms. And systems work best when you’ve taken a moment to plan ahead.

PS: If you really want to turbo charge your networking automation, do a debrief after each and check in with how you feel the event went. Sometimes the value is good educational information, sometimes its clients, always it should be good contacts for future reference, and occasionally you’ll turn up someone you really connect with to become part of your supportive colleague network.

Originally posted on

Do Business at the Beach

I met a woman this week who discovered, much to her surprise, that her weekly networking group provides fewer leads for her coaching and personal development business than do her social connections, including people she encounters through parenting activities.

Summer is a great time to try a softer sales approach and do some one-on-one market research. It’s also a great time to explore how your social and extra curricular activities can intersect with your business.

“Whoa, Nellie!” you say, “No one wants to talk business at the soft ball pitch or at the beach.”

“Whoa, Nellie!” I say, “If that’s true, why is so much business done on the golf course?”

First, it’s not immediately about selling. It’s about relationship development. Get to know the people around you and find some common ground.

Second, it’s not immediately about selling. It’s about educating (a.k.a. marketing) people about what you do.

It doesn’t have to be an elevator pitch – in fact, it’s much better if it’s not. Instead, since you now know a little bit about your friend, tell her a story about a successful project that illustrates what you do and how you do it. Or share a success story of how your client made progress because of your work together.

Do what women do naturally, and do it with a purpose:

Be curious, ask questions.
Share information that might benefit.

I’ve had many experiences over the years where a lightly planted seed resulted in a client down the road. Give it a try, you never know what might turn up.