Chic Networking
Today's Guest Blogger is Elizabeth Gordon, author of The Chic Entrepreneur. Here's Elizabeth...
Many entrepreneurs wince at the thought of attending a networking event. After all, many business owners work long hours and don’t relish the idea of spending significant amounts of their free time in a crowded room full of people, chit chatting with strangers and attempting to sell to dismal prospects. While this notion of networking can be an actuality, Chic Entrepreneurs have learned the secrets of maximizing their time networking by knowing their value, having clear goals, using the buddy system and following up. Use these tips with your own network and become a Chic Entrepreneur.
Know Yourself – Before taking a step out of your door, you first need to know what your business value is and what makes it unique. Why would someone choose you over your competitors? Why would another business want to partner with you and refer their clients to you? Be specific. If you just say that you offer “great customer service” or “lower prices” or “supreme value,” you have said nothing that is memorable or that differentiates you from other businesses. However, offering 24-hour customer service or same-day delivery may be a key feature that sets you apart. You should be able to say who you are and what you do clearly in two to three strong sentences. Practice writing it down and reciting it in the car before you go in to a networking event.
Know Your Wants – Before you contact another business, you need to know what your goals and objectives are. What do you hope that this business can do for or with you? What kind of referral client are you looking for? Know your target market and be specific. Are you interested in men ages 35-55 that own trucks and earn over $40,000 per year? By pinpointing your target, you can cut out meaningless conversations and useless leads. Find other companies that are focused on your tight niche as well and team up with businesses that can give you the specific referral type for which you are looking.
Know What You Can Offer – When you are networking, be sure to pay it forward when you can. By putting other people in touch and helping them satisfy their own needs as either client or provider, you make yourself a valuable person to know and do business with. Connecting others is a way to position yourself as a person of value. When people recognize that you have something to give, they are more likely to think of you in the future.
Know a Partner - When it comes to networking, a tag team approach can maximize the value that you gain. We all know it’s easier to enter a room full of strangers with someone at your side, however as an entrepreneur, this is a task that must be done often in order to make new contacts and meet potential clients. While you must know how to work a room on your own, Chic Entrepreneurs find that making the rounds with a peer allows them to divide and conquer on the networking circuit. With a partner, you can talk each other up. It’s always more impressive when someone else says something about you instead of you talking about yourself. The key is not to get stuck talking to each other, but to fan out and meet potential clients that will benefit you and/or your partner.
Know When to Follow Up – After collecting business cards and meeting new prospects, follow up is extremely important. You should remind the people you met of your business and restate what you can do for them or with them or ask them to meet with you to discuss business synergies. You can also follow up with someone not based on business. You may want to have social meetings over coffee, breakfast or lunch and talk as people, if you felt a kindred connection. I suggest an element of your follow up include the old-fashioned way – snail mail. However, if you’d like to set up a meeting sooner, pick up the phone or shoot them an email, but remember that everyone likes to receive a handwritten note in the mail. It shows that you took the time to remember them and it’s an extra gesture that will speak well of your character.
When you network, you’re looking for ways to meet new clients and to create strategic alliances. This will increase your business’ perceived capabilities and allow you to develop a referral network that will send clients to you and graciously accept clients from you, thus increasing your sphere of influence in your community. If you continue to network and use these tips, you’ll quickly discover that networking is the quickest path to your future success.
Elizabeth Gordon is the author of the bestselling business strategy book for women, The Chic Entrepreneur: Put Your Business in Higher Heels. Receive a free copy of her latest eBook The Seven Secrets to My Success, at her website, www.chicentrepreneur.com when you sign up for her free Chic Tips ezine.
Networking One on One After An Event
Today's Guest Blogger is Chi Chi Okezie she is my go to person when it comes to networking one on one, especially with people of different cultures. Here's Chi Chi...
The networking event is over and like many business professionals, you have a ton of business cards and great leads from your networking function. Is your job done? What is the next step to building relationships? What can you do to get the most of your networking endeavors? How can you follow up and make a significant and productive impact? Listed below are key tips that any entrepreneur or business professional can use to develop great relationships and properly connect with their business counterparts for networking success.
Point of Contact
After receiving business cards and contact information from your colleagues, follow up within three days. Three days is the exact time needed to stay fresh on your contact's mind. It also allows you to have some time to properly prepare an email, phone call or letter/correspondence to your business counterpart. If you decide to contact your business counterpart over three days of your meeting, you run the risk of losing that potential contact. Your business colleague will be less likely to remember you or the conversation or connection that you shared. They may also have misplaced or lost your contact info, if they did not already contact you. And they may be busy with work, family, career or school and will not have enough time to contact you. Do not allow much time to lapse when following up after meeting your contacts.
Set up A Meeting
After you have contacted your business counterpart, make it a point to schedule a follow up meeting. This is a great opportunity to build on your pre-mature relationship and find effective ways of conducting business. The meeting should be within two weeks of meeting your business counterpart. Make sure that if you are initiating the meeting, it is beneficial for both parties. You can suggest to meet your counterpart in their office or your office if it is convenient. Or, you can meet at a restaurant for breakfast or lunch. You can also choose a coffee shop, bookstore or cafe that is suitable for the both of you. Since you are initiating the meeting, it is only polite that you cover the tab. If your counterpart insists on paying their portion, that is perfectly fine.
Prepare for the Meeting
Now, that you have set up a meeting or one on one with your business counterpart, it is imperative that you prepare for the meeting or event. You should ask your counterpart to send information about themselves and their company so that you can familiarize yourself with their business, company, services or brand. Another good idea is to visit their website and learn about their business culture, organizational management, history/background and clientele/customers. This can give you great insight on how you can work together or assist your business counterpart. Also, identify key issues or solutions that can benefit your colleague. Brainstorm and create questions on how you can grow or assist them in their business.
A Day Before the Meeting
Once you have set up a meeting, done your research and are prepared for the meeting or event, make sure to confirm the meeting a day in advance. If there are any changes in time or venue let your counterpart know ahead of time as a form of respect. Also encourage your counterpart to bring brochures, pamphlets or additional material about their company, organization or services. Following up the day before and showing initiative, will increase your credibility and professionalism with your business counterpart.
Chi Chi Okezie is owner/producer/author of SIMPLEnetworking, LLC. Listen to radio interviews, read/purchase the book or get more tips, Visit http://www.snseminars.com.
Can LinkedIn Work for You?
Here is a great guest post about LinkedIn from Sean Nelson, author of my favorite LinkedIn book "From Clueless to Connected in 6 Days". Here's Sean...
If I had a penny for every time someone told me “I’m on LinkedIn but I don’t really know how to use it to use it”, I would be a rich man. There are literally millions of people with many more millions of connections yet few people have actually been able to use it to generate an economic gain.
So for the record, being a member of LinkedIn can make you money! That’s an easy statement to make. I can even point to client’s that I have that are the result of being on LinkedIn. What’s not so easy is to document a clear way that anyone or everyone can use LinkedIn to make money.
You have to first understand that LinkedIn is nothing more than a tool, much like a chamber of commerce is simply a tool to help you network. For some people membership in a chamber is economically beneficial. For other it’s a waste of time and money.
It’s how you use the tool that determines the winners and losers.
About a year ago I decided to get serious about trying to make LinkedIn work for me. I’ve studied it, blogged about it, and even written a book about it. I’m still trying to figure it out. I’m not sure that I can put the final piece of the puzzle in place for you, but I can help you get started.
Over a series of posts I will try to lay out a foundation for using LinkedIn to generate business. This is simply a platform in which you will need to adapt to your business and your self to find success. LinkedIn is personal in that what works for one person may not work for another.
I don’t have all of the answers (if I did it would cost you $100 to read this), but we can at least start with what are some potential uses of LinkedIn:
Enhance and Expand your current networking
You can use it to establish credibility.
It can connect your online brand and offline brand
You can catalog your testimonials
It gives your audience (prospects, clients, and peers) a place to interact with you.
Research potential partners or clients
Connect into sales or partnership opportunities
Find a new job or new employee
Be found
Share knowledge and expertise
Introduce connections
Recommend worthy individuals
I’m sure there are many other ways to use LinkedIn and you can add them by comment or email them to me and I will add them to the list. In future posts we’ll dig a little deeper. Until next time, connect away!
Sean Nelson
My LinkedIn Blog: www.linked101.com/linked101blog
My Real Job: www.iXLbenefits.com
(770) 662-2221
sean@iXLbenefits.com
