Start Networking Now!
"If you're trying to be successful, networking is the difference between mediocre and big."
- Jeffrey Gitomer
Most business owners and executives realize by now that they are getting a lot of new business via social media. Many new customers now come directly from your website. I love to see companies using Twitter and Instagram. There are also some great blogs out there authored by small business owners.
But to be fantastically successful, it takes more than social media. In any business community, personal networking is still an extremely important part of career-building for individuals and reputation-building for small businesses. Young people working in the business world, if you are just beginning your career - begin networking now. If you have many years of experience and really haven't been expected to bring in business up to now - begin networking now. If you are an owner who really isn’t expected to do much selling - begin networking now.
We are fans of Jeffrey Gitomer and all his writings about sales and other things. He says, "Networking is life skills and social skills combined with sales skills. It is business leisure conducted before and after work - as opposed to business frantic, which is conducted from 9 to 5 (the exception being lunch).”
Here's Gitomer's principles of why you do networking:
- to get known by those who count
- to get more prospects
- to make more contacts
- to make more sales
- to build relationships
- to make a career advancement (or just get a job)
- to build your reputation (and be seen and known as consistent).
What do you need to be a successful networker?
- A GREAT 30-second commercial that engages and asks questions that qualify the prospect, and gets to the next step in the sales cycle if there’s an interest.
- Your willingness to dedicate the time it takes to do it and be excellent at it.
- A plan of where and when. To maximize your networking effectiveness, you must follow one simple rule: Go where your customers and prospects go, or are likely to be.
One of Gitomer's recent posts gives you the 21.5 BEST places to network. Be sure to read it and begin networking!
Blog prepared by: Rita Keller, Solutions for CPA Firm Leaders