Home > Articles > Work & Career > The Power Of Networking
The Power Of Networking
Last week I talked about knowing your niche and how defining your market can build your business exponentially. I hope that this has sown some seeds for you to bring to the Know Your Niche workshop in September so we can grow them into viable opportunities. This week looks at the other part of that workshop - the power of networking.
Networking is the single most powerful way to build your business because it allows you to leverage yourself and have other people become your virtual sales team.
Recommendations
I don’t think there is anything more satisfying than having people request your services because someone they know and trust has recommended you. What could be better than building your reputation based on other peoples experiences of your work?
This is simply the best advertising of all. And, the icing on the cake is that where advertising costs you an arm and a leg, referrals are free – they cost you nothing at all in terms of finance.
However there is a skill in building a network and in creating referrals and that’s a concept I want to explain to you.
Here’s a question for you. Do you know what leverage really means? You may have heard the word bandied around by the likes of Anthony Robbins, financial gurus and motivational speakers, but do you really know what it means?
Grow Your Business
Leverage is the phenomenal tool that all business owners must understand in order to grow their businesses. At the moment some of you out there are exchanging your time for money. When you don’t work, there is no money.
If you go on holiday, not only do you lose your potential earnings it all also costs you the money to pay for the holiday, so you are hit with a double whammy. If you are exchanging your time for money, you are not yet a business owner, you are simply self-employed.
You pay yourself instead of earning a salary from a company but you don’t yet own a business. A business is an entity that earns you money even when you are not there.
This means other people are doing your marketing, making your appointments or working for you. You may also have products or merchandise that is sold around the world using the internet whilst you sleep.
Leverage
That’s having a business. Having a business means you have leverage and leverage means that other people or other systems are in place that make sure you are earning money whether you put in the hours or you don’t.
Networking is one of systems you must operate efficiently in order to create leverage on the most basic level. That is at the level of creating more customers.
To get your head around Networking is to change a whole mindset that many of us have been taught in "business." In order to network effectively you need to let other people know what you do and many people who are "self-employed" are afraid to do this in case someone takes their ideas and becomes a competitor.
You just can’t network with that attitude. To become a great net worker you must first become a great giver. Let me give you an example. BNI (Business Networking International) is entirely based on networking and referrals. Their mission statement is Givers Gain.
The More You Give, The More You Gain
This means that the more you give, the more you gain and for any of us who believe in the laws of the universe, you will know this to be true. To build your network you must become very curious and interested in what other people do.
Once you understand what they do and trust they are able to come up with the goods, you can probably think of someone who would find their services useful.
Likewise, letting them know what you do and why they can trust you to do that (perhaps even offering them a sample of whatever it is you have to offer) allows them to pass potential clients to you.
The more you give your network, the more they will give you. The bigger your network, the more "sales people" you have out in the world talking about you and what you have to offer.
Because people always prefer to hear about you from the friends and family they trust, rather than just from you, your client base begins to grow in direct relation to the size of your network. Now you have some solid leverage.
Taking it one step further, just imagine what happens when you a part of a business, which encompasses a group of people who offer complimentary services. A group where everyone does something different under a specific umbrella. How much leverage would that be?
Build YOUR Network
Building this network is the first step in creating your powerful team. At the Know your Niche workshop, I will show you exactly how to do this and create the leverage you’ll need to be successful.
If networking is about "givers gain" then referral building is about "ask and you shall receive." There is a skill in making sure that everyone of your clients becomes a referral for you. Once again something that you must master and something that is part of our agenda when we are building businesses that last.
So if you are serious about building a sustainable business, one that is more about co-operation than it is about competition, do join me on 2nd September, for will the most powerful business building workshop of the year and probably one the most important business decision you will make for your on going success.
You can read about Francine's "Know Your Niche" workshop online here.
