Tips To Increase Your Profits - Network with a purpose

Author: Kate Marsden

Most business owners who are setting up are told that the secret to building a business lies in networking. Get out there and network and you will get sales. But there are a number of problems with this:

With so many networking opportunities out there, which do you choose?

Some people are just not good at "working the room" no matter how they try.

You go to a networking event and find it is filled with people who are also looking for work and contacts, not real "buyers".

And you are so snowed under running your business that you don't have time to add networking to your to-do list.

If any of those sound familiar, maybe it's time to rethink your networking approach. Firstly make sure you can answer these questions:

Why? Why are you thinking of networking? The answer needs to be better than "because everyone has told me to". Think about what you are trying to achieve and how you will know if it's working for your business.

Who? Who do you want to meet? If its potential customers, what is a typical customer like for you. Build up as detailed a picture as you can.

What? What is your business message? You can't go networking and not be clear on what your business does in a nutshell. Imagine you turn up and two of your competitors are there – what is your proposition so that you will stand out from them? What are you the expert at or what could your business be famous for, works far better than a list of what you sell.

Where? Where do your prospects and customers hang out? Think carefully about this – the chances are they may not hang out at "networking events" so you need to get more creative about being where they are.

When? How much time are you prepared to put into networking? I often find people fall into 2 camps – they avoid this like the plague, or they do so much they have forgotten that they actually have a real job to do. Decide how much time this is worth and commit to that time only. Networking can be like an optical illusion – you believe you are working because you are networking. But challenge yourself – if you had spent that same day, lunch hour or evening focusing on something else to drive your business forward, would that have been more successful?

Finally, the biggest mistake people make in terms of networking is not thinking broadly enough about it. Networking is about reaching out to contacts and making new ones. Yes, a networking event where you don't know anyone can be useful for that, but so can picking up the phone to old customers, asking family and friends for recommendations, tapping into your LinkedIn list and so on. Don't fall into the trap of assuming that networking well means going to a networking group – that is far too narrow a view.

So, this week challenge your networking and give it a real purpose.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/management-articles/tips-to-increase-your-profits-network-with-a-purpose-6119818.html

About the Author

Want help improving your business results? Click here for a free report – 52 Ways to Boost Your Profits!  Kate Marsden is founder of Ignition Key Ltd and has 20 years business experience working at Director level for a number for well-known organisations.  Kate provides businesses with advisory, support, coaching and mentoring services to enable them to step change their performance and results.  For more information visit http://www.ignitionkey.co.uk/signup.aspx