The Secret Levels of Networking
January 16th, 2010
When people think of networking, typically they think about people going to chamber mixers and trying to find clients. This fairly narrow definition of networking is, I think, one of the main reasons people get frustrated and give up. This may be your experience too.
Recently something Alexandria Brown (the Ezine Queen) mentioned something in a teleclass that hit me – probably because I was NOT wearing my “expert hat” at the time. She said something like – “If you don’t like your results when networking – change the networking you are doing”
This led to my “discovery” of the secret levels of networking.
Level One: Hanging out where your clients are and looking for new business
This is typically the chamber or another kind of party or mixer.n This gains you visibility and perhaps credibility (if you are a stellar networker). You can connect to people who might know clients for you and you might be able to rustle up a speaking gig if you make the right connection.
Upside – These are typically informal meetings and don’t require a strong commitment on your part. If you have family or a busy unpredictable schedule this can be a great way to get out and meet people.
Downside – Because of its informal structure, these can typically become social only events. You’re more likely to run into the pushy sales guy who hands his card to everyone he meets, people are less likely to have their “business hats” on, and sometimes – just sometimes the raffle takes more time than the time allotted for networking. Fun if you win – not fun if you don’t (and are standing too near the giant amplified speaker- ouch!)
Level Two: Hanging out where clients and people who know your clients are but in a structured environment
This is a business meeting such as the one BNI or LeTip or B2B offers. Here you are expected to try to find business for fellow members, participate in the group and usually in return receive some business.
Upside - If you approach these kinds of meetings with the intention to stay in “for the long haul” – usually at least a year you will become part of the community, establish wonderful relationships with people and become a resource for your clients. I’ve seen businesses get 10 to 90 percent of their annual revenue from such groups depending upon the type of business they have
Downside – It’s a fairly big commitment – typically weekly or at least monthly. It can feel pricey at first because you will be giving much more than you get – trying out other people’s services, paying meeting fees etc. This would not be the kind of group to start with if you need cashflow right now – unless the group has a resource for business loans or a cashflow expert.
Level Three: Hanging out where people who know lots of your clients do
You can actually use the groups in Level Two to accomplish Level Three if you shift your thinking and remember to ASK for strategic alliance partners where you’re networking here. Level three also includes giving talks or workshops to groups of your strategic partners, (and/or offering informational products for sale – for more information about informational products, see the audio recording links below). It would also be why you might join a service organization or participate in an on line group such as yahoo. If you’re going to do the yahoo thing join groups that you are genuinely interested in and participate in the conversations.
Upside – This is much less effort that trying to find clients one at a time and trying to find strategic partners one at a time. This kind of strategy begins to place you in the position of “expert” in your line of work and helps you with your professional image in the community.
Downside – You need to be “on” at all times. Dressing appropriately and behaving appropriately for the situation is key. You’ll destroy your reputation as quickly as you built if if you’re not aware of who you’re “showing up” at these events. Remember – word of mouth marketing is always working – however it may NOT be working in your favor!
Level Four: Hanging out where people who understand the power of a strategic alliance are actively seeking out strategic partners
This is my absolute favorite. This is participating in education and classes with people who do business with the kinds of clients you have and may or not do what you do. For example, I participated in a program that lasted about a year. While I am not longer in the program, I still have relationships with several of the participants. Because we “are on the same page” and understand each others goals very well, it is natural for us to form strategic alliances. Any time you participate in educational situations – whether they are live seminars, teleseminars, workshops or classes you have this opportunity. Remember everything you do is a networking opportunity.
Upside – Everyone is on the “same page” with you and forming alliance with people you’ve been though training with feels effortless. Often times in business seminars, the trainer spends time encouraging strategic alliances, so attendees are actively looking for this kind of opportunity.
Downside – You need to be willing to participate in the training. If you go with the sole intention of networking and making connections, you’ll waste a great opportunity for self growth and it will be obvious why you’re there!
Bottom line – you could apply all four of the “secret levels of networking” to any situation. Just remember when you’re out there doing that, stick to the problems you solve for people and focus on who you’re looking for. You’ll be sure to be a networking ninja in no time!
Want to use this article in your newsletter or on your website? You can! Just be sure to include the entire article and include this complete “blurb” with it:
Networking Expert, Karen Frank publishes Networking News, a semi-monthly newsletter devoted to helping you avoid marketing disasters and networking faux pas. Get the home study course “The Seven Deadly Sins of Networking
and How to Avoid them” Free when you sign up for Networking News at www.7deadlysinsofnetworking.com
Social Networking Tips – It Ain’t Any Different!
July 2nd, 2009
I’ve recently discovered the world of social networking. It’s been a very interesting experiment and here’s what I’ve noticed: People on Twitter behave just like people at a networking event! At both you’ll see:
1. The Testers They check it out, follow a few friends, get 25 followers, get bored and quit. “This doesn’t work, it’s a waste of time.”
This is like the people who go to networking events once or twice and get bored and quit:
Tip no. 1 – Social networking is ALSO about relationships -even though you’re just typing words, there are people on the other end of your screen – real live actual people – who knew? Form relationships and be patient.
2. The Blatant Self Promoters have discovered a new way to mass promote their stuff.
Every day I get direct messages that “try” to seem friendly, but mostly just promote their stuff. It goes something like “Hey, thanks for the follow. Check out my website.” And it’s always some kind of a lead generator thing.
“Unfollow!! Unfollow!”
This is like the people who go to networking events and pass out business cards and talk about themselves.
Tip no. 2: You’re not going to find business and people will run away from you if you spend all your time talking about yourself – just like a live event, social networking is about listening and helping.
3. Connectors. These are people who are giving value – good solid information or helping others make connections.
Tip no. 3 – The most successful networkers grow their business by helping other people. These people (I call them connectors) are usually the ones with the best reputations AND, the most resources. Just like at a live event, these people have “golden rolodexes” – and are the people you want to know.
Final thoughts - Twitter (and most social networking) is still very new. You’ll see rants about all kinds of things, like “I hate follow Friday.” Most of it is just noise. I recommend using common sense. Offer value, help people, don’t run with scissors and play nice with others.
What Is a Small Business?
June 3rd, 2009
I’m taking a break from tech talk for a day to try and handle a rather sticky problem – what, exactly, is a small business?
On its face, this seems a ridiculous question, but it seems there are multiple definitions floating around. Wikipedia defines it as “a business that is independently owned and operated, with a small number of employees and relatively low volume of sales.” All fine and well, but what happens when sales volume increases but employee numbers stay the same? The SEC widens the field financially by stating that any company with less than $50 million in annual revenue can be considered a “small entity”. And doing a “Define: small business” on Google returns all kinds of wide-ranging results.
Why does it matter? TechKnowMe targets small business owners as customers, and I know a number of you do as well. When you try to define exactly who your target customers are, however, “small business” turns out to be a rather nebulous market segment. I usually define it as a company with 1-50 employees, completely ignoring the revenue question as I’m convinced that a well-run company can just as easily make $100 million a year as a 500-person corporation.
Using Demos and Education to Boost Online Sales
June 2nd, 2009
I really want a BlendTec blender. They sell for about $400, which is far more than I’ve ever paid for any kitchen appliance (including my beloved Kitchenaid standup mixer). But, after seeing it blend an iPhone, I know this is a device I need.
Not that I make iPhone smoothies on a regular basis, but if it can do that to a popular electronics device, it should easily handle my frozen pineapple and mango chunks. And therein lies the brilliance of “Will It Blend” – now that I’ve seen what the BlendTec can handle, I’m confident it’s the blender for me.
The fact that I’m excited about a blender – one of the more boring items on the market – should clearly demonstrate the importance of a solid marketing strategy. You may have the most boring product in the world, but if you can find a way to make it exciting, you’ll increase sales. You don’t even need to do anything as impressive as blending an iPhone – you just need to show your customers what your product can do.
SEO is Dead: Ringing the Death Knell
May 28th, 2009
Search Engine Optimization is dead. The folks charging thousands of dollars a month to place your site in the top ten search results are vultures desperate to prey on your lack of knowledge and empty your pocketbook to fill their own.
If you run a website, you’re already getting the emails promising pie in the sky traffic by associating your site with certain keywords. The truth is, it works – it’s not that difficult to drive thousands of visitors to your website, even without using so-called “gray” tactics that threaten to blacklist your site with the major search engines. But what kind of traffic are you getting? And how many of those visitors are becoming customers?
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