So it’s a Sunday evening and you’re flipping between channels trying to give equal attention to Keeping Up With The Kardashians and The Only Way Is Essex, both are compulsive viewing – so what do you do?
If you’re an entrepreneur you switch off the TV and think about networking. Why? Because both shows are reruns and you’ve seen them a thousand times before to the point that you are seriously considering applying to the production company as a script writer!
Now that you have quality time we can focus on networking. So yesterday we looked at how you divvy up your list of contacts into ‘Awesome People’, ‘Fabulous People’, ‘Great People’ and ‘Would-be-Awesome People’ if you got the chance to get to know them. Today we are going to help you decide how best to spend your time with each of these groups.
Top of the list is the group we call ‘Awesome’ after all they are the ones who can buy your services and you want to work with.
It’s imperative that you get a face-to-face meeting time with the people in this group. It’s not about selling but it is about moving the relationship forward and leaving them in no doubt about your confidence and ability.
The next group are the ‘Fabulous’ set; these are the people who will sell on your behalf.
This group of people is equally as important as the ‘Awesome’ group. You could look at them as your unpaid sales team – how great is that! And like all good sales people they need product/service knowledge to be able to talk well about you.
You may need to enlist different methods for different people. For some a monthly newsletter will suffice, while for others a weekly blog might be needed.
Having face-to-face time with this group is equally important but unless one of them is your mother – I suggest you try and see them on average 2-3 times a year.
The third group are the ‘Great’ people you meet along the way but you’re not sure if they fit into one of the above groups.
Connect with these people via social media.
Provide them with insights that you feel might be of interest e.g. recommend a great book, share with them the latest article you wrote, or direct them to an interesting blog post or website to help further their knowledge.
Recommend conferences or business clubs you are attending so you can have a quick chat with them to further your relationship.
Finally, the last group ‘Awesome people if you could get to know them’. It will be no surprise to anyone who knows me well that top of my list is Oprah Winfrey – she truly is awesome. As you can imagine this group takes a little bit lot longer to get access to. But some practical things to do:
Never give up hope that one day these people will come into your circle of influence!
Sign-up to their blog, newsletter, twitter – know what they are saying.
Join the conversation – contribute your thoughts, views and ideas.
If they have written a book given them an endorsement.
Attend conferences they are speaking at and ask questions at the Q&A session
Write to them and ask for help.
While the above recommendations have you thinking about existing connections it’s time to start planning for tomorrow.
Have a great day everyone.
Carole
