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Connecting. Be connected. Networking. Marketing. What does it all mean and how much should I be doing in order to grow my business?
If that is the question you are asking, then you are simply asking the wrong question. It’s not how much, it’s how, its why, it’s because you want to. Keith Ferrazzi the author of Never Eat Alone said “Relationships are like muscles – the more you work them, the stronger you become.”
In the days of trading and the “good old boy network,” it was truly about the relationships that had been built on trust over time, proven through and through. It all started with the need and the will to survive, but networking has evolved into much more. And those who do it well are deemed more successful, both by others and themselves.
As humans, we have a great need to be accepted and to connect. Whether you are an introvert or extrovert, you want to be connected to the right group of people personally and professionally. Those connections allow us to grow and succeed, with success being measured by our own measurements and not those imposed by society.
There are many steps to being connected, as well as many definitions, but here are a few to get your mind and your business started:
Tip 1: Build you friends, contacts, and colleagues into a supportive network of people who will help propel your business. By pure definition, people help one another to achieve their goals. The last time I looked “we” doesn’t do anything “alone,” but rather together. You may work alone, but at some point you do need others.
Tip 2: Look at your competition as an opportunity for collaboration. No matter how much we try, we can’t do all things and be all things all the time. So leverage your strengths and those of others in order to better grow each others’ businesses and become laser focused on what each of you do best. The sooner you stop looking at your colleagues as competitors and start seeing them as collaborators and potential partners, the quicker you will be on your way to achieving your definition of success.
Tip 3: Have you connected today? Here’s what I mean:
- Connect with people and businesses to form genuine relationships
- Network online to let others get to know you, your brand, your cause, and your purpose by providing information. You can do this through Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
- Network in person with face-to-face conversations. Make sure to talk more about others than yourself. You can do this by attending lunches, speaking events, chamber and association events, as well as workshops, seminars, tradeshows, and conferences.
- Connect with people at work, colleague to colleague, influencer to peer, or influencer to direct report.
- Be a multiplier and an energizer by really connecting with and understand those around you, ask how you can help someone else, raise the standard for those around you, motivate others, and give referrals on a daily basis to help others connect to the right resources.
- Connect people to the right jobs, the right projects, the right teams, and the right organizations. Ask yourself:
- What tools do I use to assess natural drives?
- How do I connect the natural drives to the right job, right projects, right teams, and right company cultures?
- How do I understand my own natural strengths, and how do I figure out how to communicate and train others?
- How do I remain a leader instead of managing?
- How do I know when to be hands-off and allow others to blossom?
- Connect ideas to people by:
- Having a great idea and connecting it to those who can help and are interested in helping make it happen
- Revenue sharing
- Resource connections, both human capital and financial capital
- Crowd funding
- Connect yourself to your whole being by tapping into your own potential. Are you
- Staying on your toes?
- Focusing in on your passions and your own motivation?
- Always learning?
- Connect on projectsbig and small by connecting with someone who can manage your project.
So now I ask you – HAVE YOU CONNECTED TODAY?
Would you like to hear more?
Contact Premier Rapport so you can learn how the proper relationships can help you define your success, your team, and your business.
