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Growth Personal Development

Not Catching The Right Fish? – Networking Tips

It’s easy for business owners and professionals to get discouraged if they’re in a focused small market with people who may not have an immediate need for their services or who may not have the money to do business with them.

The discouragement gets worse when they figure out that the people in their focused small market don’t have connections that could be referred to do business with them either.

I’ve seen this happen in networking groups, Chambers of Commerce, social/service organizations, and even whole communities. No amount of bait or dynamite will help you catch fish in a dead pool of hopelessness. 

 

So, I must ask. Are you fishing in hope-filled waters? Do the people with whom you are meeting have the ability to either do business with you or to refer business to you? Do they need, want or can they afford to pay you for what you offer?

 

Fish like a salmon-eating bear

Position yourself so that they will come to you. Here are some quick tips that may help you right away.

 

1. Know which fish you want to catch.

Create for yourself a clear understanding of your most profitable client. What type of client/customer brings you the most profit for the least amount of time, effort, and energy?

For many of us, it’s easy to chase the next transaction, even if we only break even on the money, time, effort, and energy that it took to get them to do business with us.

 

2. Learn how to find the ideal fish that you want to catch.

Gather information about how to find them. Where do they work? Who are their clients/customers? Where are they “swimming” (networking)? How would you go about learning more information about them?

Instead of using social media, networking groups, social/service organizations, and events to try to sell them something, watch and listen.

Ask good questions. They’ll tell you what they want, when they want it and how they’d like to receive it.

 

3. Find bigger fish in bigger streams. 

Both fish and plants grow proportionately to their surroundings. Therefore, genetically large fish may have their growth limited by the size of their stream.

Are you fishing in streams where your most ideal fish are swimming?

 

4. Learn how to make them jump into your paws.

All you need is a strategic process that will make them jump right into your paws.

Once you learn what they want or need, when they need it and how they’d like for you to offer it to them, you just simply connect them to who you know that can provide what they want. The more that you repeat this process, the more that people will hear that you are the person that can help them.

Before long, they start bringing their families and friends to you. Then, you’re simply helping them with what you can help them with or finding one of your connections that can help them.

 

PS. If you feel frustrated that you may be fishing in the wrong stream for the size of fish that you’re looking for, I’m happy to guide you. Or if you know that you’re in the right spot and they’re just jumping right past you into the paws of your competitor, let’s talk. If I can’t find you the right answer, I know people that can.

 

 

Categories
Growth Personal Development

Not Catching The Right Fish? – Networking Tips

It’s easy for business owners and professionals to get discouraged if they’re in a focused small market with people who may not have an immediate need for their services or who may not have the money to do business with them.

The discouragement gets worse when they figure out that the people in their focused small market don’t have connections that could be referred to do business with them either.

I’ve seen this happen in networking groups, Chambers of Commerce, social/service organizations, and even whole communities. No amount of bait or dynamite will help you catch fish in a dead pool of hopelessness. 

 

So, I must ask. Are you fishing in hope-filled waters? Do the people with whom you are meeting have the ability to either do business with you or to refer business to you? Do they need, want or can they afford to pay you for what you offer?

 

Fish like a salmon-eating bear

Position yourself so that they will come to you. Here are some quick tips that may help you right away.

 

1. Know which fish you want to catch.

Create for yourself a clear understanding of your most profitable client. What type of client/customer brings you the most profit for the least amount of time, effort, and energy?

For many of us, it’s easy to chase the next transaction, even if we only break even on the money, time, effort, and energy that it took to get them to do business with us.

 

2. Learn how to find the ideal fish that you want to catch.

Gather information about how to find them. Where do they work? Who are their clients/customers? Where are they “swimming” (networking)? How would you go about learning more information about them?

Instead of using social media, networking groups, social/service organizations, and events to try to sell them something, watch and listen.

Ask good questions. They’ll tell you what they want, when they want it and how they’d like to receive it.

 

3. Find bigger fish in bigger streams. 

Both fish and plants grow proportionately to their surroundings. Therefore, genetically large fish may have their growth limited by the size of their stream.

Are you fishing in streams where your most ideal fish are swimming?

 

4. Learn how to make them jump into your paws.

All you need is a strategic process that will make them jump right into your paws.

Once you learn what they want or need, when they need it and how they’d like for you to offer it to them, you just simply connect them to who you know that can provide what they want. The more that you repeat this process, the more that people will hear that you are the person that can help them.

Before long, they start bringing their families and friends to you. Then, you’re simply helping them with what you can help them with or finding one of your connections that can help them.

 

PS. If you feel frustrated that you may be fishing in the wrong stream for the size of fish that you’re looking for, I’m happy to guide you. Or if you know that you’re in the right spot and they’re just jumping right past you into the paws of your competitor, let’s talk. If I can’t find you the right answer, I know people that can.

 

 

Categories
Best Practices Growth Personal Development

Blogging and Relationship Marketing

Blogging and relationship marketing go together. Blogging shows your expertise – you’re connecting with clients, but you are not selling them anything. You are a resource and provide them with good information on your web site that can help them.

The focus of a blog is not selling. It’s more educating, communicating, persuading, and story telling. You’re making an investment in a relationship with your target audience, rather than bombarding them. Your clients are inundated with marketing messages from commercials, emails, billboards, and social media.

Blogging and Relationship Marketing go Hand in Hand

Use your blog to educate, entertain, and teach them something new. By doing that you start to build that “Know, Like and Trust” factor. It’s about them.

People listen to two different radio stations, especially on the Internet and face-to-face. Many like to broadcast on the radio station WIIAM. What WIIAM stands for is “What Is Interesting About Me”. When people are searching out content on the Internet or social media, people are listening to WIIFM: “What’s In It For Me”.

As we know in radio, AM is a lower frequency and doesn’t have the quality as FM, which is better for music and sounds better. People are much more interested in “How Can You Help Me” as opposed to “Who You Are” and “What You Do”. That’s one of the biggest mistakes that people make is that they’re constantly trying to sell and promote themselves. Instead, provide great information on a blog that helps the other person.

There is a common misperception among many business owners, which is it’s effective to say, “Let me tell you all about the services that I offer”. Blogging and relationship marketing supply information to the prospect that will entice the client to find out find out more. This is one of the primary purposes of a blog.

A real relationship takes time. It takes caring and giving equal benefits to both sides. Building a relationship in relationship marketing is about thinking about “What’s In It for Them” that I can provide that’s different.

  • “How can I be a resource?”
  • “How can I be a support mechanism?”
  • “How can I give them something that everybody else in the marketplace is not doing other than trying to come in, get work and take their money?”

Blogging and relationship marketing put some of the pieces of the puzzle together.

Pat Iyer has been blogging since 2009. She’s written thousands of blog posts. Connect with her and read her writing tips blogs on www.Patiyer.com.