Networking

What types of companies do you want to align yourself with?

What is the best company to align with? It is a company that does not quite compete with your core business. By this we mean that the company has offerings that dovetail into what you have to offer. If you were selling tire rims, then you would likely want to form an alliance with a company that sells tires. The relationship would work for both companies. Even though you are in the same industry, you both have a different focus. By forming an alliance, you both win. So how do you find such companies? First, you will need to determine what your core business is, and second, what other business would be beneficial for you to offer without taking away from your core. Once you discover the type of business you want to align with, you must do research to see if they already have such alliances with your competition.

Also some companies are not interested in alliances and want to have an open field for other components that dovetail into their business. You must make sure that when you find a good potential alliance, you approach them with well-researched facts. You must be able to show how it will benefit them as well as you. Alliances are like partnerships, both parties need to have everything in writing, including expectations. There also needs to be trust on both sides before the agreement is entered into. Do not pick any company and go from there, do your research first.

When you think about it, many alliances are formed, but few ever work well without doing research. It is likely you will call this type of relationship a Channel Partner, or dealer. Even though these names seem familiar, each has its own unique expectations. When looking for an alliance with another company, you should make sure you look in the right places.

Bette Daoust, Ph.D. has been networking with others since leaving high school years ago. Realizing that no one really cared about what she did in life unless she had someone to tell and excite. She decided to find the best ways to get people’s attention, be creative in how she presented herself and products, getting people to know who she was, and being visible all the time. Her friends and colleagues have often dubbed her the “Networking Queen”. Blueprint for Networking Success: 150 ways to promote yourself is the first in this series. Blueprint for Branding Yourself: Another 150 ways to promote yourself is planned for release in 2005. For more information visit http://www.BlueprintBooks.com

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A few days ago I returned from my annual National Speaker’s Association (NSA) conference in Atlanta. The educational sessions were OK, the hotel was so-so, and the town was lacking in exciting things to do, but my experience was stellar. How is that possible?

Though I am often accused of being an extrovert, I consider myself quite introverted, as I truly dislike social events and networking gatherings where I am forced to meet new people and mingle with individuals whom I don’t know. You know the feeling - that insecure child inside of you automatically assumes that you won’t like anyone new and that they probably won’t like you, either. It’s simply safer to stick with people with whom you already have a relationship.

Of course, the adult inside knows that to grow as a person (and as a business), you must meet new people, network effectively, and experience new challenges. So, what do you do?

As an introverted defense mechanism, I learned that becoming involved with committees, task forces, and boards, I could meet a lot of people without the painfulness of cold networking. Joining committees provides the unique opportunity to hide behind the tasks of the group to meet others until you feel more comfortable and less socially awkward. It allows you to get to know someone well, while working together on a joint effort. What a concept!

My NSA convention was a huge personal and professional success because I am actively involved with one of the charitable events surrounding the organization. My involvement with this group gives me the avenue to meet people whom I would have never even met under normal convention circumstances.

Some of my closest friends, mentors, buddies, and clients have come into my life as a result of being an involved member of an organization. Though, of course, being involved often means giving up a significant portion of time working towards the greater good of the organization, but it provides a unique opportunity to meet people who can make a difference in your life.

So, if you are like me, and don’t enjoy business card exchanges, networking events, baby showers, or standard social gatherings, then by-pass them all and join a committee or get on a board. It will be your quickest and most effective path to meeting people with whom you can connect personally and professionally.

It will impact your business and your life all while working on a worthwhile project. How fantastic is that?

Kirstin Carey is the author of “Starving Artist No More: Hearty Business Strategies for Creative Folks.” Kirstin knows how much most creative people hate sales, contracts, and discussing money and she consults creative people on the business side of creativity so they make more money, get better clients, and still love what they do. She put together a resource full of proven strategies and insider secrets guaranteed to help creative types get the business help they need so they don’t have to starve anymore! Go to http://www.MyCreativeBiz.com

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Why would you want to write information on paper
when you have a business card in hand?

Putting it on paper can mean a number of things. It can simply mean putting notes on the back of someone’s business card, or it can mean to take extensive notes in a notebook. Which ever method you choose, be certain that the notes can identify who it was that you were conversing with. Nothing is more embarrassing than talking to a person sometime in the future and finding out you are talking about something they know nothing about.

If you remember some of the Leslie Nielsen movies, he starts talking with a business executive about a project he is starting. He mistakenly identifies this person as the one that hired him. As you can imagine, by the end of the skit, Leslie Nielsen is trying to hide and disappear until he can find the correct individual. Name recognition in this case was the difficulty. Here is another example: a buyer from a company walks in and says he wants to order the usual and then walks out. If you do not know who he is or cannot remember his name, that order may never be filled - total embarrassment for the sale person. The same can happen to you if you do not take the time to write it down on paper. Meticulous notes are not necessary, but if you want to remember, you must put in some key factors that will jog your memory in the future. Practice going back to the person at the same event and repeat their name and go back to one of the points they made.

Also, a lot can be told from the prospects‘ business cards: are they original, colorful, on good stock, informative, tasteful? Now that you have all the information you want from the other person, you should make sure that they know about you. You have given your pitch, asked your questions, collected their card, made notes and are ready to take the next step. You need to have something that will catch their attention and make them remember you. Most often that something is your business card.

Bette Daoust, Ph.D. has been networking with others since leaving high school years ago. Realizing that no one really cared about what she did in life unless she had someone to tell and excite. She decided to find the best ways to get people’s attention, be creative in how she presented herself and products, getting people to know who she was, and being visible all the time. Her friends and colleagues have often dubbed her the “Networking Queen”. Blueprint for Networking Success: 150 ways to promote yourself is the first in this series. Blueprint for Branding Yourself: Another 150 ways to promote yourself is planned for release in 2005. For more information visit http://BlueprintBooks.com/

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