Send a Thank-You Cardstring(21) "Send a Thank-You Card"

October 6, 2008
Business, Connections, Giving, Ivan Misner, Marketing/Sales, Networking, Networking Prep 15

A simple thank-you card may not sound like going the extra mile. To many people, however, it truly is. The old-fashioned, personalized, handwritten thank-you card has been largely replaced by e-mail. When was the last time you received a traditional, handwritten thank-you card? What was your reaction? If you’re typical, you were pleasantly surprised, and you appreciated the sender’s time and effort.

If you don’t think you have time to write a thank-you card, think again. How many times have you found yourself sitting in the car with your kids, waiting for the school bus, riding the train to work, eating lunch alone, waiting forever in the doctor’s office, or sitting in a 10-mile-long traffic jam?

Grab hold of a few of these time fragments and use them to strengthen a networking relationship with a personal touch by writing a thank-you card to someone who has given you a referral, made an in-person introduction, helped with an event or solved a problem for you. Just remember: Never, ever include your business card, because the minute you include your business card, it becomes about you and not about thanking the other person.

Every time you make a personal connection, you are networking. So why not store some blank cards and stamps in your car and in your briefcase? That way, when you do find those few minutes of underutilized time, you’ll have a card ready to write on and drop into the next mailbox you see.

OK, OK, so you just won’t do a handwritten card no matter what I say. Then take a look at SendOutCards.com. They allow you to send out a card that “looks” handwritten but can be done from your computer and sent through the mail. This is a great service for the “handwriting impaired,” like me. I highly recommend the service.

Create Your Networking Futurestring(29) "Create Your Networking Future"

September 15, 2008
Ivan Misner, Marketing/Sales, Networking, Networking Prep, Referrals, Self Development 4

I had a conversation this week with a florist who was bemoaning the commitment he’d made in becoming a member of a local referral marketing group. He complained that he had never considered himself a natural networker and had assumed joining the group would jumpstart his networking efforts. But after five months, he still felt uncomfortable trying to build relationships with people he considered to be virtual strangers. He still felt like he had no real networking experience and that he didn’t have a clue how to develop the necessary networking skills that would make his membership worthwhile. He said it would probably be better for him to stop wasting time and just quit the group.

Here’s what I told him: It’s never too late to start creating your networking future. You can make a new start right here and now, no matter what wrong networking moves you may have previously made.

Start by taking stock of your networking strengths and weaknesses and use that knowledge to make goals and plans for yourself. Implement weekly networking strategies and be clear with yourself about what you need to work on to improve your networking skills. Just as in building a new house, you need a strong, stable foundation on which to construct your “networking home.” First things first: You must set goals, develop a plan and start accomplishing networking steps.

If you feel a lot like the florist when it comes to the current status of your networking efforts, here are seven keys to create your new, successful networking future:

1. Start by setting networking goals. Networking goals are vital. They keep you focused on the steps needed to network your business every day. Careful attention should be paid to this process.

2. Block out time to network. Carve out time in your weekly schedule for networking. To meet your goals, you must dedicate time to networking.

3. Profile your preferred client. Describe your preferred client in very specific and strategic terms. Knowing exactly whom you want to attract to your business as a client or customer–and being able to clearly, concisely and quickly describe that preferred client to everyone from your mother all the way down to the CEO of a Fortune 500 firm–is a vital step for networking success.

4. Recruit your word-of-mouth marketing team. Begin recruiting the individuals who will serve as your ambassadors. They are critical to your success. Why? Because networking, by definition, is a team sport. You win only when others are winning alongside you.

5. Give to others first. There is tremendous power in te law of reciprocity in networking. You will find that there are great benefits to giving to others in your network first, before expecting anything in return.

6. Create a network relationship database. Organize the people you know into a network database. An organized network database saves you time and energy in the long run.

7. Master the top 10 traits of a successful networker. Set a high bar for yourself by aiming to master the top 10 characteristics that define a master networker. This gives you something to aim for and a way of assessing where you stand now, relative to that goal.

What Percentage of Your Business Do You Get From Referrals?string(59) "What Percentage of Your Business Do You Get From Referrals?"

August 18, 2008
BNI, Business, Ivan Misner, Marketing/Sales, Networking, Referrals 5

We recently surveyed more than 3,000 people at BNI.com. We asked the participants what percentage of their business comes from word-of-mouth or referrals.

We found that fewer than 5 percent got no business from referrals, and more than half of the respondents said they got more than 70 percent of their business from word-of-mouth or referrals!

Look at this and another nine surveys on networking at this LINK.

Does this measure up to your experience? I would really like to hear from you as to whether you agree with the majority of the respondents to our survey.

Friends, Family and Referralsstring(29) "Friends, Family and Referrals"

August 14, 2008
Business, Connections, Ivan Misner, Marketing/Sales, Networking, Networking Prep, Referrals

Last Saturday night, my family and I decided to go out to dinner and ended up eating at a brand-new restaurant in the town where we live. We hadn’t actually heard anything about the restaurant and didn’t even know it existed, but it caught our attention as we drove down the street and we decided to try it out.

The food was exceptional and I was quite impressed with the service and the ambience, yet there were hardly any other patrons besides us in the entire place. As we finished our dinner, the owner of the restaurant walked over to our table, thanked us for coming in, and asked us how we liked everything. I told him that we would definitely come back and asked him how long he’d been in business. When he answered that he’d been in business for three months and that things were coming along slowly but surely, I asked him what he was doing to promote his business. He replied that startup costs hadn’t left him with much money for advertising but that he had a huge extended family and he was banking on the fact that with them on his side, word about the restaurant was sure to spread pretty quickly.

I looked around the restaurant (virtually empty during the dinner hour after three months in business), smiled, and said, “So, how’s that working out for you so far?”

I went on to explain to him that I was somewhat familiar with the whole “networking thing” (I revealed that networking has been my career for more than 20 years) and that people who like, care about and respect you will not necessarily always refer business to you. We chatted for quite some time and I referred him to one of my articles, “Getting Referred By Friends and Family.”

For anyone out there who is currently relying on friends and family for referrals, here are a few things to think about:

  • Oddly enough, the people most familiar with you are often the most casual about giving you referrals.
  • With friends and family, relationships grow out of more personal associations; therefore, it may not even occur to a family member to refer business to you–unless you make a point of asking for it.
  • You need to train friends and family to refer business to you.
  • One of the first things you can do is get them to listen for key words and to recognize circumstances where they can, through you, provide a solution to someone’s need or problem.

What are your experiences with referrals from family or friends?

Networking for the ‘Difficult to Refer’ Businessstring(60) "Networking for the ‘Difficult to Refer’ Business"

August 11, 2008
Business, Connections, Ivan Misner, Marketing/Sales, Networking, Referrals 4

After a recent speaking engagement I did, a woman appoached me and asked my advice on the dilemma of getting qualified referrals for a “difficult to refer” business. She was passing as many referrals as she could to others, but because her business seemed to revolve around such a niche market, the business referrals she was receiving were slim to none, and she was starting to get discouraged.

I referred her to an article I wrote a few years back that addresses this exact predicament; and since I’m sure some of my blog readers are in businesses that are more difficult to refer than others, I thought I’d shed some light on the subject here. For networkers in businesses that don’t easily generate word of mouth, there is hope for your company because there are still ways you can successfully network and build your company’s reputation.

Years ago, I learned that speaking engagements are a great short-term approach to getting new business while you’re working on the long-term process of word of mouth. You see, when you schedule an appointment with someone you think might be interested in what you’re selling, that time you spend with them–usually an hour–is very important. Well, imagine having that same one-hour appointment with 20 to 50 businesspeople in your community, all at the same time! In effect, that’s what you’re doing when you’re asked to make a presentation at various clubs and organizations.

So, how do you go about getting on the calendars of these business and service groups? It isn’t as hard as you might think. With a little creativity, you can put together a presentation that will be informational, educational and even entertaining. Most important, you can get referrals from people to help you get in front of them. Usually program chairs are scrambling to find someone different, engaging and interesting to come in and present to the group. Your job is to help them find you!

To see a sample of the letter I used to send to program chairs when I owned a consulting firm, click here to go to the article. Getting speaking engagements can make your company easy for anyone to refer and it can also get you a lot of clients while you’re busy building your business.

If you have any comments or thoughts on other techniques that are useful for businesses that are “difficult to refer,” I’d love to hear your feedback.

Where Does Your Business Come From?string(35) "Where Does Your Business Come From?"

August 7, 2008
BNI, Business, Entrepreneur, Ivan Misner, Marketing/Sales, Networking, Referrals

Where does your business come from? In a survey of roughly 4,000 people at the BNI.com website, roughly 73 percent of the respondents said that they get most of their business from networking and referral activities. Only 12 percent get most of their business from advertising and less than 10 percent get most of their business from cold calling!

What I find amazing about this is that most colleges still focus on courses on advertising, and most big companies still train their new salespeople how to cold call! Despite that, most entrepreneurs and salespeople (according to this survey) don’t get the majority of their business from these two methods.

Where do you get most of your business from? Comment here on this blog and take the survey (and others) at this LINK.

Get Your Networking Program Off the Groundstring(42) "Get Your Networking Program Off the Ground"

July 24, 2008
BNI, Business, Marketing/Sales, Networking, Networking Prep, Referrals 2

It’s often been said that “starting is the hardest part” of a project. Well, building your business through networking and word-of-mouth marketing for your business is no exception.

Here are four things you can do to get your program off to a strong start:

1. Don’t be a cave dweller: Get out and meet people!
2. Know how to ask for the referral. Learn and develop specific techniques that will help you hone your ability to ask for the referrals you want.
3. Consciously select at least three business or networking groups to join in the next three months (chambers of commerce, community service groups, trade associations, strong contact networks such as BNI, etc.).
4. Develop a creative incentive to encourage people to send referrals your way (If you’re a music store owner, for example, you might send music tickets to people who refer business to you).

The bottom line is: Get out there and make diverse contacts, be specific in your approach, and help others in creative and enthusiastic ways–so they’ll want to refer you business!

The Power of Authoringstring(22) "The Power of Authoring"

July 17, 2008
Author, Book, Business, Ivan Misner, Marketing/Sales, Networking 4

Building credibility and recognition are two important pieces of the networking process that definitely help grow your network and your business. Becoming an author is a technique that has worked well to develop personal and professional credibility for many people I know. Authoring is an extremely powerful advertising and branding tool, because with each article and/or book you write, you are building brand recognition for you and your business.

As an example of how powerful it is to be labeled an author, just look at the way the media reacts to it. Let’s say you approach the media and ask them to interview you about your business. Nine times out of 10, they’ll tell you to take out an ad; but, over and over again, I’ve seen them interview anyone with a book!

 

If you’ve written articles or a book or you have something in the works and you don’t know how to get it in the public eye, I highly recommend a website called PromoteABook.com to help you with this process. There is some great content there for authors and budding authors.

‘Million Dollar Challenge’ for Entrepreneursstring(56) "‘Million Dollar Challenge’ for Entrepreneurs"

July 11, 2008
Business, Collaboration, Connections, Entrepreneur, Ivan Misner, Marketing/Sales

If you have a great business or a great idea that you want to take to the next level, you don’t want to miss the opportunity to apply for yourBusinessChannel’s Million Dollar Challenge contest. The contest is the result of yourBusinessChannel’s upcoming, online TV series “The Million Dollar Team,” which features entrepreneurial advice and instruction from a team of business experts–which would cost more than a million dollars if they were hired in the real world.

Ahead of the show’s launch, its producers are calling for businesses to fill 25 “hot seats” to get direct input into their businesses from the Million Dollar Team.

I’ve been asked to sit on the team of experts alongside experienced and talented businesspeople such as Kevin Roberts (global CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi), Penny Power (Founder of Ecademy.com), Tom Smith (acclaimed social media expert from Universal McCann), David Meerman Scott (viral marketing guru whose online campaigns have sold more than $1 billion in products and services worldwide) and many others. These people are world-class experts in their field and, between all of us, we have helped thousands of businesses to prosper.

The Million Dollar Challenge is open to businesses of any size and stage, anywhere in the world. The key requirement is that they be businesses with real substance or promise that need an injection of leading-edge advice to grow to the next level, fast. I think this is a chance-of-a-lifetime opportunity. If you have a business with real potential, applying to receive free, extra-close attention from a “million dollar” team of world-class experts is a no-brainer.

Take a look here to find out more about the contest and to apply.

I have found yourBusinessChannel to be a tremendous resource for entrepreneurs and businesspeople everywhere. You can keep your eye out for more of the site’s great shows by clicking here.

Get Published Without the Hasslestring(32) "Get Published Without the Hassle"

July 9, 2008
Author, Book, Business, Ivan Misner, Marketing/Sales, Self Development 1

I’ve always said that writing books and articles is a great way to help establish visibility and credibility in your networking efforts. Fortunately, it’s just gotten easier to “distribute” what you’ve written.

I recently had an opportunity to spend the day “telling stories” with an old friend, Mark Victor Hansen (co-author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series). It had been a long time since we had spoken, and we did a little reminiscing about our past experiences.

We also talked about our recent projects. Mark spoke about his goal to help people share their books and articles with the world. As a result of that effort, he helped create YouPublish.com, a website that enables anyone to publish his or her books or articles online. (Mark’s wearing a YouPublish.com hat in the photo, in case you wondered why he’s pointing to his head.) The great thing about the site is that you can produce and release new works quickly, distribute your library of unpublished works, expand your readership base and get introduced to international markets.

The website allows you either to distribute your material for free or to charge for the content if you wish. It’s up to you. YouPublish handles all the administration, which makes for a user-friendly and hassle-free site. I’m really impressed with YouPublish, and I think it provides a much-needed, extremely useful service. Since talking to Mark about the site, I’ve personally uploaded a number of my books and articles for distribution via this digital format at YouPublish.com/Networking.

Take a look. There’s no upfront cost, and the site offers a great service. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Afraid of Public Speaking?string(26) "Afraid of Public Speaking?"

July 7, 2008
Introducing Yourself, Ivan Misner, Marketing/Sales, Networking, Networking Prep, Self Development 8

Public speaking is one of the best ways to build your network by making yourself visible to large groups of people. Unfortunately, to some degree, many people are afraid of public speaking. I’ve stood in front of groups of people and given speeches and presentations all over the world, and I’ll be the first to admit that standing in front of an audience and talking while all eyes are on you can sometimes be intimidating. That’s no reason to miss out on the amazing opportunity to grow your network through public speaking.

Here are five suggestions for people who are nervous doing presentations at their networking groups or otherwise:

1. Prepare an outline of what you want to say and practice it.

2. Be specific and only talk about the things you know best.

3. Use handouts, visuals or PowerPoint slides to help carry you through the talk.

4. You’re the expert–think of ways to show it that aren’t threatening to you.

5. Be creative and think of ways you’re comfortable with to communicate your information.

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