Here is my educational minutes I prepared for BNI this week. Enjoy
Networking and being memorable
Networking is an essential skill for most business people, but especially for entrepreneurs. The strong association between the entrepreneur as a person and his or her business demands that entrepreneurs get out into the world and create and maintain business relationships.
Networking and meeting new people is still one of the best ways to market your services. If done properly you will wind up with a drawer full of OTHER peoples business cards also meaning yours are out there in each of those peoples draw or rolodex. Consistently following up with people you deem as potential clients, referrers or friends is important, repeated contacts with people is what keeps them aware of you, drop the hard sell and be social and ask them what events are they planning on going to in the future etc, throw out cards of people you are not going to contact or put them in a different area than your gold pile, culling the flock is important. It makes it less daunting when you have time to follow up with your new friends
Have you ever found someones business card and had no clue who they were. Don’t be that guy be memorable here are 5 tips to being memorable at your next event
1. Be distinctive, bright colors, a hand painted tie, an unusual but tasteful piece of jewelry. Be impeccably groomed like so many of you already are. Anything that may set you apart don’t just blend in
2. Be present don’t just be in attendance. Engage people, take the first step if needed. Listen to what they have to say and respond promptly, maintain eye contact. Being on your game instills confidence in you and your products
3. Ask thought provoking questions, prepare them beforehand if necessary some great questions are How did you get started in your business? What do you like about what you do? This brings a thoughtfulness and again builds you up
4.reinforce key words your name, company name, industry and product and location be unobtrusive but keep dropping these little business missiles. Every time someone new pops in introduce yourself fully
5. Contribute to the conversation, don’t hog the conversation but be involved and go with the flow. One really intelligent point is better than a half hour of pointless info
All these points are key in building your brand…
An entrepeneur who is articulate, engaging, thoughtful will get an emotional response that will follow you and your company. It is all about experience and trust.
Networking and being memorable
Networking is an essential skill for most business people, but especially for entrepreneurs. The strong association between the entrepreneur as a person and his or her business demands that entrepreneurs get out into the world and create and maintain business relationships.
Networking and meeting new people is still one of the best ways to market your services. If done properly you will wind up with a drawer full of OTHER peoples business cards also meaning yours are out there in each of those peoples draw or rolodex. Consistently following up with people you deem as potential clients, referrers or friends is important, repeated contacts with people is what keeps them aware of you, drop the hard sell and be social and ask them what events are they planning on going to in the future etc, throw out cards of people you are not going to contact or put them in a different area than your gold pile, culling the flock is important. It makes it less daunting when you have time to follow up with your new friends
Have you ever found someones business card and had no clue who they were. Don’t be that guy be memorable here are 5 tips to being memorable at your next event
1. Be distinctive, bright colors, a hand painted tie, an unusual but tasteful piece of jewelry. Be impeccably groomed like so many of you already are. Anything that may set you apart don’t just blend in
2. Be present don’t just be in attendance. Engage people, take the first step if needed. Listen to what they have to say and respond promptly, maintain eye contact. Being on your game instills confidence in you and your products
3. Ask thought provoking questions, prepare them beforehand if necessary some great questions are How did you get started in your business? What do you like about what you do? This brings a thoughtfulness and again builds you up
4.reinforce key words your name, company name, industry and product and location be unobtrusive but keep dropping these little business missiles. Every time someone new pops in introduce yourself fully
5. Contribute to the conversation, don’t hog the conversation but be involved and go with the flow. One really intelligent point is better than a half hour of pointless info
All these points are key in building your brand…
An entrepeneur who is articulate, engaging, thoughtful will get an emotional response that will follow you and your company. It is all about experience and trust.
