Building Relationships over time is central to Networking

This week, we have a 'guest blogger' - Dave Clarke, CEO of NRG Business Networks. Dave writes...

I spoke to someone earlier this week whom I had met previously at his first networking event. I asked him how it had been and he said he didn't think it was for him as nothing had come of it. I meet many people who seem to think that a single appearance or one-off appearances in different groups is enough. The phone will ring continually, your inbox will be full of orders and you can sit back and relax. Yeah, right!

The normal rules of building relationships apply. Think of it like making friends. It takes time. Often being in the same place without even talking for the first few occasions. Good networking groups will shorten the time that it takes to get to know the other members, but it takes commitment to the group & not just one or two visits. The purpose of your first couple of visits should be to assess whether the group is right for you and your business and whether you are right for the group.

Once you find groups that are right for your business, commit your time to attend regularly and build those relationships.

- Make contact with other members
- Find things in common
- Get to know people and follow up
- As they get comfortable with you they will be ready to meet 121
- When you meet 121 find out how you can help
- Educate people about youself, your business and your needs
- Do things to help
- Make introductions
- Build your reputation & personal brand
- Go out of your way to advocate others

Then guess what? Good stuff happens to you too.

Dave Clarke is CEO of NRG Business Networks. Tel: 08454 080639
www.nrg-networks.com
http://business-networking.blogspot.com

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All the best with your networking and marketing!

Regards

Nigel
www.nigeltemple.com
Tel: 01628 773128

Founder of The Marketing Compass
the small business marketing mastermind group

It's all about who you know...

Your business network is an invaluable resource. New customers can come from your network, either directly or indirectly. In addition, your network can provide friendship, feedback, information and knowledge. It's well worth actively building and maintaining your web of contacts.

The chances are that the people you network with are NOT currently in the market for your products / services. However, it is likely that they know people who would be interested in talking to you. (On average, we know some 250 people. Each of these people, in turn, knows another 250 people...)

I recommend that you attend networking events on a regular basis. On the subject of events, I am running a free-to-attend Masterclass on the evening of Tuesday April 1st. This is the launch of my marketing mastermind group, The Marketing Compass. Click here to read all about this event.

Here are some of the networking groups I belong to:

www.refer-on.com

www.nrg-networks.com

www.ecademy.com

www.plaxo.com

www.linkedin.com

I wish you all the best with your marketing!

Regards,


Nigel
www.nigeltemple.com

Are you a networker?

Everybody seems to be a networker now, don’t they? The challenge is that networking is incredibly effective for some people and a complete waste of time for others.

The first objective of networking is to build business relationships. In other words, don’t go in for the hard sell. The best networkers are world class listeners. People open up to them as they gently ask open questions.

These networking professionals systematically follow up the contacts they have made. They are generous with help, feedback and offers of new contacts.

There are numerous groups which you could join. These include Refer-On, Ecademy, NRG Business Networks, BRX, LinkedIn, Plaxo and BNI.

I would be interested to hear which networks you have found to be the most effective.

Click here to read an article on networking.

I wish you all the best with your marketing!

Nigel
www.nigeltemple.com