A great way of adding value to your network

The seminar before a recent NRG-networks Lunch in the City of London was presented by Mark Lee, Chairman of the Tax Advice Network, on 'How to Build Profitable Relationships with Accountants'. He explained what matters to accountants, how they work, and why they reject so many of the approaches they receive from third party service providers.

All of the things he said were great advice for building business relationships in general.

He told a great story about someone from a financial services provider when he had been an accountant in practice. This person had taken all the information they had on file from various sources and had organised it into a 'Lever Arch' file so that they could see where they were at any time. Including any gaps in their knowledge, where things were out of date and opportunities for new services.

Who do you think was referred when the opportunity arose?

Can you think of ways of adding value so you are the first person that comes to mind for an appropriate opportunity?

Good Networking
Dave Clarke
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Nothing compares to the power of trust

In 'Building trust with a new contact' I wrote about the first two steps in building a trusted business relationship in a networking context - make contact and follow up.

The four steps are:
1. Make contact
2. Follow up
3. Form relationships
4. Develop Advocates

Following on from that post my friend Frank Kanu emailed me to offer his article, 'Nothing compares to the power of trust'.

As Frank states in the article,

"There is nothing magical about trust and relationships—as long as one follows some simple rules".

The rules that Frank outlines in the article (available at this link) support the findings of our own research into the importance of developing trust in business relationships as part of networking.

Assuming you are still positive after the follow up stage you are ready for the 'Form Relationship' stage. By now you would probably be prepared to make a ‘qualified referral’ where you connect the person to another with the proviso that you have limited experience of their capability. As you get feedback you build further trust in them & their capability. The tactics you need to employ to form relationships as highlighted by our research into this stage include:

1. Making qualified referrals
1. Introducing to high value suppliers
2. Actively looking for potential clients/customers for them
3. Providing a testimonial
4. Arranging a business meeting to introduce 2 of your contacts to each other
5. Introducing them to a trusted contact at a networking event

As before you are being proactive and giving more trust as the the relationship develops.

If things progress well during this stage you are well on the way to the final stage, 'Develop Advocates'.

Good Networking
Dave Clarke
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Is Facebook good for your business?

I am often asked "Should I be on Facebook?". The people who ask are often the ones who think they can 'get business' from Facebook.

Facebook is a Social Network, not a Business Directory. See Social Networking in Plain English for a great quick video on the subject.

Participants in a network are involved in relationships around some sort of mutual exchange. Social networks like Facebook are great for keeping up to date with your friends, acquaintances and peers.

The subjects discussed in social networks include business so should you spend business time interacting with people on Facebook? That really depends on what you are selling so ask yourself a question;

'Is facebook a good place to find and connect with those people with access & influence in my market?'

If the answer is yes then join and start adding value in groups that are relevant. Start your own group to interact with those people that you already do business with and they like interacting on facebook. I do that and generate well qualified paying guests for our membership groups. They are attracted or invited by people they know, like and trust already.

Participants in a Network like facebook or subsets of it may be part of your target market so the question to ask then is 'Does facebook have good numbers of potential customers?'. If that answer is yes then you may want to investigate facebook advertising.

Good Networking
Dave Clarke
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Baby Boomer Entrepreneurs - Use Twitter Secret Recipe to Develop Leads and Cashflow for Your Business

What skills do you need to develop if you plan on going into semi-retirement as a baby boomer entrepreneur? New business owners tend to suffer from lacking three skills:

• Lack of knowledge about business development
• Lack of knowledge about marketing
• Lack of knowledge about building positive cash flow

Interestingly, if you are planning on becoming a baby boomer entrepreneur, there are some shortcuts to help you with building those skills. One way is to use the highly popular social networking platform, Twitter, as a learning exercise. As you develop a marketing project on Twitter, you develop all the skills you need to design and market a larger business. It doesn't matter if that business will be on the Internet or the more traditional bricks and mortar.

If you are not familiar with Twitter, you can get a good overview at the free directory I have prepared for you Baby Boomer Entrepreneurs You Need To Know Twitter.
You will find videos and a directions that will help you understand it quickly.

Like most things that are really effective, Twitter is pretty simple. The challenge is not in how to use Twitter, but in knowing how to craft a strategy to use Twitter to develop your business skills.

Some months ago, I shared with you what internet marketing guru Ed Dale calls the Symphony In Four Parts. If you missed it, just click on the link. It points out the four parts of the symphony:

1. Market Research
2. Traffic Generation (Lead Generation)
3. Conversion (Sales)
4. Product Development and Delivery

A conservative estimate is that 95% of mistakes are made in the MARKET RESEARCH stage. This is because most people don't do the MARKET RESEARCH.

Following this universal pattern can't guarantee a success every time. The beauty is that it will help eliminate the stuff that will not work.

Whether you are doing a traditional business or an Internet business, the MARKET RESEARCH capability of the Internet opens new roads to success in starting a new business or growing an established business.

A low budget business that lets you develop the required skills is an excellent strategy as you transition from employment to business ownership. In addition to building the skills, it can help you fund the business development effort by generating cash flow.

A friend recently introduced me to a fully developed system for using Twitter, a Twitter Secret Recipe, for for building any kind of business. It pulls all the pieces together and gives you the exact recipe to follow. As you use this system to promote your followers on Twitter, you will understand how to do market research, how to develop leads, how to convert lead to build customer lists, how to use the customer list to make sales, and how to deliver your product.

By following this recipe, you will have rapid growth in your skills, an increase in your entrepreneurial mindset, and a great boost in your confidence that you can build a successful business. Please go watch the free Twitter Secret Recipe video.

Shallie Bey

Building trust with a new contact

In a One2One meeting with an NRG-networks member last month the person said to me,

"My business has always come from recommendation (word of mouth). Usually as a result of some work I have done for a client where I have done a good job and built a relationship. My problem is that with a relatively small client base I am not getting enough referrals. I understand that networking is all about building relationships first, but how do I move from meeting someone to starting a business relationship?"

That question is not unusual and the answer is all about how you engage and follow up after making contact. I thought it worth sharing the first steps that some of the successful networkers use intuitively. These were confirmed in the findings of the NRG business networking research I mentioned in 'How to build trust in business relationships'.

In order to start building a relationship you have to have some sort of agreed follow up. When you meet someone you will have an initial impression of whether you like them or not. If you do or feel you may in time then the first thing is to give full attention to them. Ask questions about them and their business to establish common ground. Once you do that you will get an impression of whether you can help this person over time. Do you know people or information that will be useful to them?

Your follow up can take a number of forms;
1. agreeing to chat at the next group meeting
2. keeping in touch with email if you have permission
3. putting them in touch with someone
4. sending some useful information
5. committing to a group the other person is a member of
6. arranging an informal (One2One) meeting to get to know them better

The informal meetings are the key way of establishing trusted relationships. This will not be appropriate as a first step in many cases, especially at one off meetings. Joining a group of like minded individuals in some sort of membership group is a sign of commitment and a signal to the others that you are placing some trust in them. Like many things that you want to receive you must give first.

So to gain trust you give trust first.

Good Networking
Dave Clarke
Get 7 networking secrets for business success

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How to build trust in business relationships

I read a great piece from Benjamin Ellis recently entitled 'On-line Trust, More than Liking'. It's well worth a read if you have time. The issue of building trust is vital in both online and offline networking and some of the advice contained is excellent:

* Be open and transparent.
* Be predictable and consistent.
* Be visibly accountable.

A few years back we conducted some research into the importance of developing trust in business relationships as part of networking. The article 'Have you unlocked the benefits of business networking?' includes a link to the full findings.

Building a trusted business relationship in a networking context is a simple process:
1. Make contact
2. Follow up
3. Form relationships
4. Develop Advocates

Like many simple things that does not mean it is easy!

I will highlight some of the ways you can build trust at each stage of the process over the next few posts.

Good Networking
Dave Clarke
Get 7 networking secrets for business success

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Social Media in Plain English

Another great video by Lee LeFever of Commoncraft.com explaining 'Social Media in Plain English'.



Good Networking
Dave Clarke
Get 7 networking secrets for business success

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Asking better questions

I have just read 'At your fingertips, A guide to successful online business networking' by William Buist. It is full of really practical stuff on the effective use of online networks.

The section on asking better questions brought to mind a discussion at a recent NRG-networks seminar on effective 121 meetings. The consensus in the discussion was that questions were really important in demonstrating that you are listening attentively. They help you build trust as you show a genuine interest in the other person and their goals. As the other person shares more in their answers you can really find out how to help and who to introduce them to.

In the book William suggests asking "What is your expertise?" rather than the standard "What do you do?". A better question will make the other person think more about the answer and will lead to a better conversation.

Good Networking
Dave Clarke
Get 7 networking secrets for business success

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What should you blog about?

At a recent seminar after the monthly NRG-networks lunch at Marble Arch in London Internet Psychologist, Graham Jones, was talking about 2 simple ways to double your website traffic. One of the questions he posed was what was common to the websites we all visit regularly? The answer being content, content and more content.

In my recent article 'top 10 tips for building business with the effective use of offline & online networks' tip 7 is that your blog is the cornerstone of your online presence & you build your reputation by sharing your expertise. The important thing is that you are sharing content that is relevant to your intended audience.

I was talking about this last week with the owner of a printing company and he asked me what he should blog about. I asked him about the problems that his customers are looking to solve when they use his services. All of the examples he gave me were about how his business customers were looking to improve the ways they communicated their marketing messages. As a marketer he had a clear understanding of their issues and many practical examples of where he had helped. My reply to him was that those were the things to blog about. The stories, hints, tips, & insights from his clients' issues and problems are great content to add value to others with similar issues.

If he regularly generates that content and communicates that through his network he will build an audience of interested readers. Many of them will know people with the issues and problems that need an expert like him.

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
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Baby Boomer Entrepreneurs, What Is The Right Size For Your Business?

If your goal for being an entrepreneur is to enjoy the life style you want without having to fully retire, how big should your business be? What are some of the things you should think about?

Seth Godin recently commented that he had been doing a lot of thinking about issues of scale and units of measure. He concluded: “Many businesses that are in trouble are in trouble for a simple reason: they’re the wrong size”.

If you are the typical Baby Boomer Entrepreneur, looking for a business as an alternative to full retirement, what size fits your life goals? What are the units of measure you should consider? Here are a few to start:

• How much of your time should your business consume?
• How much of your financial resources should be invested in the business?
• How much personal cash flow should your business produce for you?
• When do you need that cash flow?
• How big a geographic scope should you serve?
• How many employees do you need to deliver on the promises you are going to make to your marketplace?
• Are you delivering a full scale system solution to your customer’s problem or a piece of the entire system?
• If you are successful, can you scale the business up and still enjoy the quality of life that is your goal?
  

The folks at Small Business Labs continued the discussion by commenting in their blog and sharing some of their research.

They observed that most industries are moving towards a barbell shaped industrial structure with a few global giants on one end and lots of small businesses on the other. Mid sized firms are being acquired by the larger firms or squeezed out.

Their second major observation was that variable cost business models allow small firms to be competitive with large firms in an increasing number of market spaces. New technologies have reduced the cost of starting and operating a business.

So, baby boomer entrepreneur, what is the answer for you? What combination of size and agility will allow you to compete in your market while still allowing you to live your desired lifestyle?

Shallie Bey

Back track URL to Seth’s post:

http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d83451b31569e2011279821f8d28a4

Back track URL to SmallBusiness Labs:

http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d8345675df69e201156f52f46c970b