Applying the 7 habits to your business networking

How many people will be there at your networking event?

Who is in your inner network?

Who do you want to talk to?
In a One2One this week a mutual acquaintance was mentioned by my friend. She said this about him "I really like and trust him, but I have no idea how to help him in business because he is really vague about who he wants to talk to".Later I was able to relay this message and ask the person who would be a good prospect. After a few minutes I understood clearly the frustration felt by my friend. He committed to work on the problem and come up with something to help his network to help him.It is really important to get people to know and like you, but it's equally important to be clear about who and what you are looking for.Good Networking!

Your past can connect you with your future
At a networking meeting lunch last week someone said to the person sitting next to me "what did you do before this new business of yours?" He talked about his previous Corporate role and said "but that won't be relevant to anyone here". He could not have been more wrong!One person had worked for another division of the same corporate and another was engaged in a project with them currently. It's a big mistake to think that the people you used to work with are not relevant or not interested in what you are doing now. As you build new relationships that will be very important in the future don't forget the people you have worked with in the past. You have already inv

Does Your Selling have the Partnership approach?
Many business owners and professionals are strangers to the world of selling and can run into problems with a misunderstanding of the approach required. Richard White's The Accidental Salesman® is often a very apt description. Successful selling is not about being pushy and looking to 'close' everyone you meet. The best networkers are very clear about what they do and for who - their target market. They are friendly, helpful and constantly looking for opportunities to connect their network with people, knowledge & opportunities. They also understand that people will buy from them when they are good and ready and adopt the same approach o

Which conversation would you join?
If you walked into a networking event & the subject of everyone's conversation was in a speech bubble above their head which one would you join? During a recent seminar from Ecademy founder Penny Power about what online social networking means for you and your business Penny got the attendees to split into groups. After a few minutes she invited everyone to share the subject of the conversations. In spite of being at a business event the majority of the conversations were not business related. They were about the things that people were interested or passionate about.Most of the time we will not have a useful 'speech b

Everyone has something to say
Ecademy have been running a series of blogs about members to inspire others and show the power of social networking. In the 11th Community Story Steven Healey shares his story and provides great a couple of great insights into networking in general:"To me networking is about listening... everyone has something to say.To me networking is about doing... unless you take action nothing happens."