What is the funniest networking experience you’ve ever had?
Share your answer in the comments below!
What is a fortnight? It’s 14 days or 2 weeks.
What is “Question of the Fortnight?” Every other week I’ll ask a question here on the blog. Through out the two weeks I’ll update the blog post with some of your answers. These will be from the comments below, from people I see networking and any other way I happen to receive your answer to the question.
This is the third installment of the 8 easy-to-make networking mistakes that can be avoided series. This week’s mistake is: I didn’t know what I didn’t know, so much so that I didn’t have a clue what to ask my coach for help with.
My coach had built a successful business, in large part to her networking and follow-up.
And she had faced many of the same problems and frustrations as I was facing.
However, all her knowledge and experience couldn’t help me when I didn’t know what to ask.
I listed “I didn’t know what I didn’t know” as a mistake, but actually it’s not a mistake as much as it is part of the learning process.
It’s something to be expected and even celebrated (if you wait until you’re sure you have no blind spots, aka perfection, you’ll never start).
If I had realized how many mistakes I was making, I probably would have gone and hid under the covers.
The only mistake here is NOT taking the opportunity to learn from your mistakes when you realize you made them. Don’t worry about them or beat yourself up, just learn from them and move on.
And I’m thankful that I did have a coach who was able to help me be as prepared as I was. I’d have many more “mistakes” to share without her support and guidance (regardless of the questions I didn’t know to ask).
So, there are two lessons here:
Share some of the things you didn’t know you didn’t know about business or networking in the comments below!
What is your favorite thing about networking?
Share your answer in the comments below!
What is a fortnight? It’s 14 days or 2 weeks.
What is “Question of the Fortnight?” Every other week I’ll ask a question here on the blog. Through out the two weeks I’ll update the blog post with some of your answers. These will be from the comments below, from people I see networking and any other way I happen to receive your answer to the question.
This is the second installment of the 8 easy-to-make networking mistakes that can be avoided series.
I’m going over two mistakes this week:
One part of this is I wanted to make sure I was including as many people as I could in my description of my ideal client.
This is a common problem. One of the best examples of this is someone who sells makeup saying that their ideal client is someone with skin.
So, my husband is your ideal client? And so is my 20 year old nephew? And my mom, oh AND my 8 year old cousin?
Well, that’s confusing. And if I approached any of them saying, “hey I just met someone that works with people just like you, people with skin!” They probably wouldn’t be interested.
Be specific about who you help.
Instead of saying that your ideal client is someone with skin, you might say, “I work with women who want to look 10 years younger” or “I help prevent and reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.”
It’s much more specific and now I know that my husband is NOT your ideal client (he really doesn’t care about either of those things).
Be clear and consistent.
Remember how I wrote that I got a referral for my old company? My old job was the only thing I was really comfortable talking about, when I talked about them I was clear and consistent, even when the wording changed. After all, I had worked there for almost 10 years!
I knew exactly what they did and how they helped people. I spoke with a confidence and authority I didn’t have when I talked about my own business.
Yes, some of that confidence comes with time, but you can help it along with some preparation.
How do you become clear and consistent?
Make a list of the results your clients get, both the tangible results (more clients, clearer skin, etc) and the intangible (confidence).
And practice how you talk about what you do. Work with your business coach on this. They’ll have a different perspective than friends and family (who mean well, but might not understand networking as an entrepreneur).
What has most helped you or would most help you be clear and consistent? Share in the comments below.
Last week I shared 8 easy-to-make networking mistakes that can be avoided and this week I dive into the first one:
I assumed I didn’t need to network because I believed that all of my clients would find me online.
Why spend all that time and effort to find and attend networking events when my ideal clients would find me online?
While it doesn’t immediately seem like it, there are two parts to this question.
The first part is that I genuinely believed that my ideal clients would find me online and I was deaf to any suggestion otherwise.
And my coach at the time handled my naivety quite well, she suggested that I attend networking events anyway. I trusted my coach, so I went.
I’d like to point out that this is something I did right – not only did I have a coach I trusted, but I listened to her even when I thought I was right.
While I made many mistakes, I would not be where I am now had I not started then.
The second part is more obvious. I felt it was a better use of my time to do more productive things. Sometimes the inside of my brain sounds like this:
There are THINGS! that need to be DONE! and done NOW!
Here’s a truth about being an entrepreneur: There are always things to do. Usually, it’s a matter of assigning priorities. Which I was doing, but looking back it was more about staying comfortable than anything else.
What it all boils down to is something that I didn’t realize at the time: meeting people in-person is very important and networking is a great way to do that.
Why is networking so important?
Have you heard of the know, like and trust factor? It means that people will buy from those they know, like and trust.
The easiest way to build know, like and trust is to meet people face to face.
Think about it. How well do you feel you know, like or trust someone after spending five minutes on their website? How about after talking with them face to face?
When you meet someone in-person, you get a feel for if you click or would work well together. While online, it’s much more difficult to tell in a short period of time.
I followed my current coach online for years before I bought anything from her. But the second time I saw her in person (at her 3-day event), I invested in her yearlong program.
What I did right:
With everything I did wrong, I did do something else right (in addition to having a coach).
And that was I kept going to networking events.
What you can learn from my experience:
Doing something “wrong”, “incorrectly”, or “imperfectly” is great! It means you’re out there doing something and you’ll learn much more from trying than from not doing anything at all.Why is going to networking events important to you? Share in the comments below.
