Networking Resolution #2: I will not sell my product or services while I am networking.
This is a very difficult resolution to follow and a more difficult concept to explain. For most business people, the reason we network is to grow our businesses which probably means selling more. And yet, for other business people, the reason they don't like networking is because they hate selling. Imagine how much easier it would be to network with an agenda of building relationships that will strengthen you and your contacts, instead of networking with the agenda of selling. If you meet someone and write them off because they didn't buy, you've lost any chance at a referral from any of their contacts.
Certainly you can use networking as a prospecting and sales strategy. Here's how you do it. Craft an introduction that includes your features and benefits. Ask questions right away to establish whether or not someone is a prospect. If they are, collect their card and set a time to follow up. Now, move on. During a two-hour open networking event, you could meet up to 20 people if you spend less than 5 or 6 minutes with each one of them. If your standard close rate is 10%, two of those people will become customers.
These sales will be transactions. Not the start of a long-term relationship. You may get repeat buyers and perhaps even referrals, especially if your product or service is outstanding. You can become successful doing this. But you will find this to eventually be self-limiting unless you are willing to continually join new groups, explore new markets, and move on once you've pitched everyone in the group.
Make networking more fun and pleasurable by thinking of it as marketing. Marketing is cool! Selling is for pushy people. Marketing is fun! Selling means getting turned down. Marketing is about developing the brand and creating an image! Selling means pitching everyone in sight.
See how much better you feel about networking if you can think of it that way? And, if you must sell, focus on the most important product of all: yourself! Sell people on your character, your helpfulness, and your reliability. When the time comes that they need your product or service, you won't be selling them at all. You'll be helping them solve a problem.
Rules of thumb to live by if you're going to keep this resolution. If your 30 second introduction includes a pitch for your product or an invitation to meet up to discuss your services ... you're selling. If you give them 5 of your business cards so they can refer their friends to you ... you're selling! If you put them on your mailing list without asking first ... you're selling!
Networking tips and the best way to network ... by Networking on Purpose! Professional business networking strategies from Beth Bridges, speaker, and author.
If You Must Make Resolutions, Part 1
I don't make New Year's Resolutions. First, the vast majority of them are broken by Valentine's Day and I avoid setting myself up for failure. Second, and more importantly, I make decisions to change my habits when I need to, not when the calendar changes.
But if you must make resolutions, let me offer a few to help you be a more effective networker.
Networking Resolution #1: I will be more consistent.
People who find their networking is progressing in fits and starts are inconsistent in their activity level. It doesn't take a lot of showing up for people to think that you are always there and that you have always been there. If you can make 3/4 of your association's events, you will become a familiar face to the organizers and they will point you out as an example and a resource for new people.
If you are going to join an organization, wait until you are certain you can make several events in a row. The only thing worse than having people not know who you are is having them know you as "that person who showed up only once."
Frontloading your attendance will also accelerate the process of becoming familiar and perceived as always being there. I've been a regular in one of my groups for so long now that people say they saw me at an event when I wasn't there!
But if you must make resolutions, let me offer a few to help you be a more effective networker.
Networking Resolution #1: I will be more consistent.
People who find their networking is progressing in fits and starts are inconsistent in their activity level. It doesn't take a lot of showing up for people to think that you are always there and that you have always been there. If you can make 3/4 of your association's events, you will become a familiar face to the organizers and they will point you out as an example and a resource for new people.
If you are going to join an organization, wait until you are certain you can make several events in a row. The only thing worse than having people not know who you are is having them know you as "that person who showed up only once."
Frontloading your attendance will also accelerate the process of becoming familiar and perceived as always being there. I've been a regular in one of my groups for so long now that people say they saw me at an event when I wasn't there!
A Wider View of the City
It's easy to forget that Fresno lies right at the feet of the Sierra Nevada foothills because you can only see the mountains a few days a year. With the rain that we're getting, the air is crystal clear. The mountains are immediate and present, all along the eastern side of Clovis which is snugged up between Fresno and the foothills.
It's a very different view of the city, to have these mountains almost looming over the city. And even though nothing else is changed, it alters the city atmosphere for me. It feels like an earlier era when Fresno was a frontier town. And it gives the area a more "sporty" sensation - as if hiking, camping, and skiing are just around the corner. They are already, but when the city is blanked with smog, it's easy to forget.
Are there great parts of your life that get covered over? Could your days feel different if you just got a little wider view? If you could just get a fresh perspective, would you see a better future?
It's a very different view of the city, to have these mountains almost looming over the city. And even though nothing else is changed, it alters the city atmosphere for me. It feels like an earlier era when Fresno was a frontier town. And it gives the area a more "sporty" sensation - as if hiking, camping, and skiing are just around the corner. They are already, but when the city is blanked with smog, it's easy to forget.
Are there great parts of your life that get covered over? Could your days feel different if you just got a little wider view? If you could just get a fresh perspective, would you see a better future?
Becoming an Expert
You can become an expert in one tiny narrow subject, or you can learn how you became an expert in one topic and apply that ability to learn onto other subjects. For example, so many of these social networking experts were probably excellent face to face networkers who transferred their skill set to the online world. My husband repairs homes for a living. He probably wasn't an expert in everything to begin with, but took an ability to understand how things work in general and applied it to a wide range of topics.
Are you an expert in something? If you aren't, your job, your effectiveness, and your personal brand are in danger. Want to become an expert? Pick up a book, search the net, and listen to other experts every single day. Apply yourself just a little bit at a time, over a long period of time. Have a passion for it and you'll be surprised at how soon others recognize your expertise.
Are you an expert in something? If you aren't, your job, your effectiveness, and your personal brand are in danger. Want to become an expert? Pick up a book, search the net, and listen to other experts every single day. Apply yourself just a little bit at a time, over a long period of time. Have a passion for it and you'll be surprised at how soon others recognize your expertise.
Finding your Expertise...
You don't have to be the world's greatest authority on something to be someone else's "expert." If you're just a few steps ahead of them and you can clearly communicate your knowledge, you become that person's expert. To stay their expert, keep learning and keep sharing.
Or you can be the expert who takes a huge river of information and narrows it down to a manageable stream. You can also be an expert who brings multiple sources of information to people's attention. Maybe you are deeply knowledgeable about one topic. Or, you're a jack of all trades. Or you don't know anything, but you know people who do and can call on them when you need information.
There are many forms of expertise, and if you know something about a topic, chances are you are someone's expert as long as you are willing and able to share your knowledge in a way that they can understand.
Or you can be the expert who takes a huge river of information and narrows it down to a manageable stream. You can also be an expert who brings multiple sources of information to people's attention. Maybe you are deeply knowledgeable about one topic. Or, you're a jack of all trades. Or you don't know anything, but you know people who do and can call on them when you need information.
There are many forms of expertise, and if you know something about a topic, chances are you are someone's expert as long as you are willing and able to share your knowledge in a way that they can understand.
Final Likeable Trait: Realness
The final trait of a truly likeable person, without which the rest are ineffectual, is realness. This means being genuine, true, and authentic. In other words, show some humanity! No one is completely cheerful or relentlessly upbeat all the time. If you're always chirpy, people are going to think you're fake (or on medication which they will ask you to share).
But how do you show your humanity without becoming a complainer or whiner or jerk? A sense of humor goes a long way toward being real. The best kind of humor? Self-deprecating. Making fun of your own shortcomings is a sure way of showing people that not only are you not perfect, but you're willing to point it out. Someone who can laugh at their mistakes is very approachable.
I personally used to be perfect, but I've deliberately cultivated a few foibles in order to be more believable.
See what I mean? That's self-deprecating humor.
I also strongly express my feelings but mainly about inanimate objects. I have a very famous and vocal "hate affair" going on with the color copier at the Clovis Chamber office. This highlights my realness and no one's feelings get hurt (I don't say a word when the copy repair guy is there).
Realness is the key trait that takes you from "nice" to likeable. People who are nasty or hateful sometimes justify it by saying "hey, I'm just being real." Yeah, they're real, but without any friendliness, relevance, or empathy, I'm not going to like them.
But how do you show your humanity without becoming a complainer or whiner or jerk? A sense of humor goes a long way toward being real. The best kind of humor? Self-deprecating. Making fun of your own shortcomings is a sure way of showing people that not only are you not perfect, but you're willing to point it out. Someone who can laugh at their mistakes is very approachable.
I personally used to be perfect, but I've deliberately cultivated a few foibles in order to be more believable.
See what I mean? That's self-deprecating humor.
I also strongly express my feelings but mainly about inanimate objects. I have a very famous and vocal "hate affair" going on with the color copier at the Clovis Chamber office. This highlights my realness and no one's feelings get hurt (I don't say a word when the copy repair guy is there).
Realness is the key trait that takes you from "nice" to likeable. People who are nasty or hateful sometimes justify it by saying "hey, I'm just being real." Yeah, they're real, but without any friendliness, relevance, or empathy, I'm not going to like them.
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