After a talk I gave in Birmingham last week, one of the attendees, Angie Hart of Supreme Systems emailed me. Angie was struggling with her networking:
“I find it hard sometimes trying to make IT memorable so I find myself repeating the same old patter – Angela Hart, Client Services Manager, reliable IT partner, Microsoft Gold Partner, Local, Trustworthy – the usual….
“How can you make IT memorable? Should I forget about the IT and try to make “me” memorable thereby creating the memorable link?”
My response to Angie was to take her own advice and focus on building relationships with people she meets rather than worry about the business. Angie had approached me to chat after my presentation and I remembered her when I received her email. I did so because she has a very engaging personality, is enthusiastic and very likeable, an asset she should be confident in and make more of.
When people first meet you they are not genuinely interested in your business, they want to meet people they like. As you build the relationships people will want to understand better how they can help you. That is the point to start focusing on your message about your business, because they will be more receptive. You can also tailor your message to their understanding, their network and ability to help. I’ve talked before about selling ‘through’ people when you network, rather than to them. Building relationships because you like each other enables you to do just that.
Mark’s Daily Thought – Ideas from Mark Fritz to help you Get Ahead, Stay Ahead and Be Successful
We all have our self interest, and this guides our focus. However, the successful people realise that they can never be successful on their own, and that helping others is always helping themselves as well. It’s about moving from "ME" to "WE", and aligning our self interest with the interests of others.
Watch and learn as Terry Gault international speaker and trainer discusses what public speaking fear is all about in the 2nd of a 5 part series on Presentation Skills.
I have talked elsewhere about The Networking Myth, the idea that networking groups bring you referrals, support, sales or any other return that you are looking for from your networking. In fact, rather than delivering the end result, networking groups feed your network, introducing you to new people with whom to develop the relationships on which you can build your success.
Understanding the role of networking groups makes it much easier to pick the right groups for you. Think of networking groups as a way of meeting people who can help you achieve your goals. Now you should ask yourself:
- What am I trying to achieve?
- How can other people help me?
- Who is best placed to help me?
- What do they need to know and do?
Once you have the answers to those questions, you can evaluate the networking groups in your area, events you have been invited to attend and look at the online networks you are invited to join.
Are the members and other attendees well placed to help you achieve your goals? Do they have the experience, expertise or connections you are looking for? Does the format support you in educating them and asking for help? What will you have to bring to the group to reach your objective?
Viewed this way, networking becomes much simpler to understand. It is a means to an end, not the end itself.
Mark’s Daily Thought – Ideas from Mark Fritz to help you Get Ahead, Stay Ahead and Be Successful
Everyone experiences adversity in their lives. Some come through it even stronger, while others let it impact them in a negative way for months & years after. People who handle adversity well look beyond the adversity to what they will do next. This helps them move through that adversity faster than others.
Mark’s Daily Thought – Ideas from Mark Fritz to help you Get Ahead, Stay Ahead and Be Successful
Leadership is really about influence, and the greatest influence we can have with others is to help them grow (to be better). Successful teams are a team of leaders, who are pulling each other up, versus dragging each other down.
Mark’s Daily Thought – Ideas from Mark Fritz to help you Get Ahead, Stay Ahead and Be Successful
Our decisions in life are made both logically and emotionally. However, to implement our decisions, the majority of our power comes from our heart (our emotion) than from our head (our logic). Emotion is really the force of life, with our emotional reasons always more powerful than our logical reasons.
Mark’s Daily Thought – Ideas from Mark Fritz to help you Get Ahead, Stay Ahead and Be Successful
What we consider important, our focus, is really a filter by which we see and understand our world. Some of this is done consciously, but the majority is done sub-consciously. We can change our sub-conscious focus by reconfirming consciously the important each day.
(Reuters) - Storage company Big Yellow Group Plc reported an 8 percent rise in profit despite the introduction of new taxes, as demand grew for self-storage in London and southeast England. […]
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The U.S. dollar inched up against major currencies but stayed well off highs on Tuesday as investors cautiously traded expectations of whether Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will or will not hint at a sooner than expected reduction in bond-buying stimulus. […]
LONDON (Reuters) - British luxury group Burberry said full-year pretax profit rose a better-than-expected 14 percent on strong retail growth in Asian markets, where it is increasing numbers of Burberry branded stores. […]
NIAMEY (Reuters) - Nigeria has asked neighbouring Niger for support in a week-old offensive against Islamist insurgent bases in its semi-desert frontier region, underlining moves towards West African cooperation against jihadis seen as a cross-border threat. […]
