Effortless Networking

“The Persistence of Memory”, Salvador Dali

Is this you? “[My biggest challege is] finding the time to network while still keeping my current clients happy.”

Do you struggle to find the time to network, while still keeping your business running? (I always get an image of Dali’s melting clocks when I hear about not having time!)

Well, the good news is that networking is not an “event”.

Most of us network everyday as a natural part of life.

For instance, if you need to find an accountant or a financial advisor, you would probably turn to someone you know for a referral or advice on how to select one.

The same approach can be used in the professional context.

Let’s say you‘re interested in public speaking opportunities so you can increase the visibility of your business. Your networking objective is to find out how to get selected as a speaker at conferences.

So when a client tells you how well her recent presentation at XYZ conference went, you immediately seize the opportunity. You ask her about the conference, how she was selected as a speaker, her experience as a presenter — and you’re off and running!

You’ll notice that this way of networking doesn’t take up any “extra” time.

There are also some other advantages to this approach:

• It’s timely – you reach out for help when you need it.
• It’s focused – you know what you want and that’s what you ask for.
• It’s natural – since this is probably what you do in your personal life everyday, using a similar approach for professional reasons is not a big leap.

So try it — I think you’ll be delighted with the results!

Note, however, that this approach assumes you’re clear about your networking objective — which of course can and does vary based on what’s going on in your business.

FYI, specifics on how to clarify your networking objectives on an ongoing basis, and integrate business networking into your normal day is covered in module 1 of the Effortless Networking home-study program.