Networking Not Working or is it Your Business Strategy?

Do you return from networking events and wonder why you spent the time, the effort and often the money (if there was a fee to attend) when you are not obtaining clients, new business or quality contacts?  Are you feeling like your networking is not working?

Flickr - marcopako

Let us assume that you are attending the right events to network with your ideal client niche or the people who will be able to connect you with your ideal client.

Do you have a favorite place you enjoy going to? This may be a local bar, a favorite restaurant, even your local Starbucks? When you go there now are you recognized? For example, your name is used when people say hello or the bartender has your exact beverage for you as you enter the room, or at the counter at Starbucks your exactly and specifically Starbucks Language beverage is recited with the question added at the end “correct, the usual?”

Here is my question for you – do you recall the very first time you were there? The first time, no one knew your name, no one knew you drank a Blue Sapphire Gin and tonic with a lime, no one at Starbucks knew you wanted a double latte, skim milk, low foam.

The point here is this, networking is the same way.

• You must have a consistent presence.
• You must create the relationships.
• You must follow up and engage.

Some of these items may sound familiar to you.  Hopefully you will now create the habits that work for networking like a pro.  Here are a few more tips for you so you may grow into the networker you want to become.

Determine the categories of people you are meeting. Make this a game for yourself. You might say to yourself, there are people I definitely know are my ideal clients, there are people I definitely know who are not my ideal clients and then there is everyone else.

Begin to track after your networking events who you meet and which category you placed them into. How many of the ideal clients you met are you actively meeting and engaging to create a relationship?  Caution – this is not placing the person on your newsletter list or auto-generated email list; it is actively meeting in person or speaking on the phone.

From your category of people you are certain they are not your ideal client, how many of them know your ideal client profile and what you do?  What if their brother or sister, co-worker or best friends are your ideal clients?  How will they know?  How will you know?  Do you have a strategy to connect with these people you know are not your ideal clients to let them know more about you?

Whatever the categories are you create, track who is where and track what you are doing to further the relationship. You may find more clients are coming from the referral from the group of ‘not my ideal clients’.  How will you know if you are not creating the categories and tracking?

Are you ready to take your networking skills to the next level?

Are you ready to treat your business like a business and yourself like a CEO who means business?  Book your meeting now with Mitch Tublin, business strategy expert and successful serial entrepreneur.

Did you know this month if you were a subscriber to the weekly ezine, you would see articles like this one every single week!  Each month is a new topic and free templates to use are given away once a month to subscribers.

Check out the last one here:
www.thementorguy.com/ezine/March22-2011.html