A Great Business Relationship Starts With A Great Question
We’ve all been to the cocktail party or the networking event where we get bombarded by the person who wants to talk about themselves the entire time. Worse is the person who asks you the sort of questions that they use for screening potential customers. To them you are just another notch in the belt so to speak. You know as well as I do that this is not the way to start a business relationship. Great relationships start with great questions. This is true in life and in business. When you meet someone for the first time the goal is to learn as much about them as you possibly
A Powerful Resource To Get You Out Of Your Holding Pattern In Business
Despite all the information you consume and all the work you do in your business, it’s still really easy to get stuck. The most challenging thing about being stuck is that oftentimes it isn’t obvious that we are stuck. If you feel like you might be in a rut then here are some things you can do to get out. If you aren’t sure if you are in a rut try these things anyway. Before I get into the resources let me tell you about some recent inspiration that I received that help get me out of my rut. I spent some time in Houston, TX recently working on my
Try These 2 Things To Make Better Connections
When it come to networking and making connections, either you love doing it or you hate it. Whether you like it or not, you still end up in positions where you have the opportunity to meet new people who can positively influence your business. When these situation arise, you need to make sure you make the best use of your time. With that being said, I will give you my top 2 things to try when you’re networking to make better connections. My top 2 techniques from making great connections are listening and asking great questions. If you are like many, you are going to be bombarded with get togethers
How Well Are You Cultivating Your Existing Relationships?
Utilizing the power of people when we are building are business is, as I mention previously, an underutilized tool for your business. A resource that is often overlooked in helping you build your business is your friends and family. How well do you cultivate your existing personal relationships? I don’t make the friends and family point in a MLM sort of way where you list them out and then try and get them in your down line. I am talking about have meaningful conversations with people that you care about so that you are aware of what it is they do professional and what types of projects they have been
New Entrepreneurs: Shorten Your Learning Curve with This Simple Strategy
Building a business from scratch is no doubt challenging. One way new entrepreneurs can increase their chances of success is through making great connections. Specifically, making great connections with the people that already work in their industry to help you shorten your learning curve. I am currently reading The Knack by Norm Brodsky and Bo Burlingham. This is a book about how to build a business with street smarts and managing change. One story towards the beginning of the book that really has stuck out to me so far is a story about a woman who wanted to start her own day care center in New York. The woman had
Follow Up Process for Conversations
Having a game plan or a process in mind for how you will deal with certain conversations that you have is a good way to ensure that you will make the most of that conversation for the long term. This is a suggestion only for meaningful conversations in the business or career realm. I don’t think you have to have a process in place for every conversation that you have although I am not saying that you can’t. The first thing to make sure that you do is to leave the conversation that you are having with a specific course of action for follow up. Letting someone know that you
Be memorable or forget it
The keys to being a top notch networker are fairly simple and straightforward. It comes down to putting together a game plan and then sticking to it. Of course your already existing charm, wit and charisma will also come in handy. I have seen and done what works and doesn’t work when networking. I will share a couple of the keys to an easy conversation with someone you don’t know: Mind your body language. Make eye contact. Keep your body language open. Don’t approach 2 people having a conversation. Anyone who has made this mistake knows how awkward it can be. Stick to the person who is alone or groups
I hate networking events
I have heard the above phrase plenty of times. The truth of the matter is that we often say this after we attend an event that is a complete waste of time. The real question is why did we hate the event. Did we do our due diligence before the event to make sure that it was the right event to attend? Did we come to the event prepared? Both of these questions are important to answer. More often than not, we go to an event where we are not prepared and are hesitant to approach people as a result. We often don’t know what we are trying to accomplish
Network with Purpose
How often do we go to an event for business networking and have absolutely no plan for what we want to accomplish? Or, how often do we go to an event without any knowledge of why we are going or who’s going to be there? If we network smarter and prepared, our businesses will be much better off this year than it was last year. So what’s the plan? Step 1. Take an inventory on who you already know. Next to each person list what he or she does. Circle the ones that will be beneficial to get better acquainted with this year. In a separate column, write down who
Forget what you know, start looking at who you know
People are worried about the economy right now. Resources that were available 2 years ago aren’t so readily available now. This is the time to start getting creative and clear on the reources that you have at your disposal that don’t cost anything more than your time. The people in your life are one such asset. I was a victim of ignoring all of the resource and opportunity that I came in contact with on a day-to-day basis. I finally woke up about 2 years ago and asked friends and family a simple question, “What are you up to?” You may not be thinking that this is ground breaking and
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