Networking For Women – A strategy to enrich your life and your business
What is networking, anyway?
Correction of misconceptions:
There are a lot of misconceptions about networking, which is why so many people do it wrong or don’t try at all. Networking isn’t about handing out or receiving the most business cards, and it’s not something that only happens at “networking” events. You don’t have to start networking to develop a network; you already have one: friends, family, business partners, acquaintances. The goal of networking is to increase the network you already have so that it is more powerful for you and each person in it.
Many people also confuse networking with selling. When you approach someone to make a sale, the transaction is the goal. When you approach a new contact in your network, the goal is to learn more about that person and how you can help them, whether it’s through information, feedback, or a referral to someone else in your network. A sale should be the furthest thing from your mind unless your contact specifically asks you for information. Networking is like dating, in a sense. Confusing selling with networking is like asking your contact to marry you on your first meeting.
Now that we’ve cleared up some misconceptions, let’s talk networking. Networking is an everyday lifestyle of reaching out and connecting with others to form lasting relationships. It’s that easy. And as women, this comes naturally to us, even though we don’t always take the extra step of going ahead and staying in touch.
Give to show value:
You may be wondering, “why should I focus on helping other people? I have a business to run!” It seems counterintuitive to focus on everyone else to ensure your own success, but I’ll tell you why this is so important.
First, your goal is not just to help other people; is to add strong and valuable people to your network. When you help like-minded people with their business and personal goals, they’ll be happy to help you do the same.
Second, as you add value and connections for other people, you will be seen as someone to get to know. Do you want to be part of a network of 10 people or 500 people? The more connected you are, the more people will want to meet you. You will find people who look for you as much as you look for others. The more you attract, the more attractive you become to others, and I’m not talking about your appearance!
Third, your goal is not to convert everyone in your network into customers. Bigger thing. Your goal is to connect with all the people in the network of your network! If each person on average knows at least 200 people and you have a network of 500 people, you have the potential to reach 100,000 people with the power of a personal recommendation. There is no marketing strategy on the planet that can give you that kind of access to your target market for the money and effort.
relationship vs Transaction:
As we discussed earlier, networking and selling are not the same. There are many sales strategies that employ networking skills, and they are generally more successful than cold calling sales. But networking in its purest form is relationship building. When you meet a new contact and are interested in adding them to your network, your goal is to get to know them.
- What are your strengths?
- What are your needs?
- Can you help her achieve her goals in any way?
- Are you interested in a reciprocal relationship?
Once you decide to add the contact to your database, the important work begins. Like any relationship, you get out of it what you put into it. Adding that person to your mailing list after your first meeting and forgetting about them is not networking. It is actually one of the fastest ways to lose a new contact. When you find a quality contact, you should make a quality effort to meet them. It is not necessary for all of your contacts to become your friends, although that will happen sometimes, but you should take the same care and attention that you would with a new friend when establishing the relationship.
Exercise: Draw a map of your current network and the connections you have made through others. Stand in a circle in the middle of the page and start drawing your connections. Your network is bigger than you think! Do you see any potential references? Any relationship you’d like to deepen? Do you have contacts with a network you would like to join?