Imagine Your Reality

My latest Biznik article acknowledges the need to look to the past to sometimes chart your future. This is true in personal life, and especially true for the life of your business.

The latest radio show can be found here. Tonight I talked with Gene Hamilton and Becky Tengwall of I Take the Lead about Networking and how it works and what I take the Lead is.

In my last newsletter, I talked about leadership. In this newsletter, the focus is on networking, both in person and online networking. Networking is a valuable skill which can help you grow your business and offer referrals to other people. Additionally it helps you find people when you need their services. Networking of any type only works if you do two things with it:

1. Do it consistently. People who only show up occasionally at networking meetings aren’t generally considered invested in the community they are approaching. And networking is about building community as much as it’s about doing business. People do business with the people they know, who will also take care of them.  This is also true, to a lesser extent with online forums. To stay on top and be noticed in online forums, you’ve got to be willing to invest time into those forums.

2. Build Relationships. Make time to get to know the people you network with. This involves more than just learning how someone’s business works. It can sometimes involve learning about a person’s family, hobbies, and other interests. The relationships you build can really improve how you do business because people who know you will care about you and be willing to work with you.

Networking also works when you find people who offer similar services to you, but don’t do quite the same thing and consequently may need to refer people your way. These people act as power referrals to you. They help you grow your business and can usually direct many leads your way because the services offered complement each other.

Networking is an excellent tool for a business person. It also helps you build relationships that can last a life time, while also providing you an opportunity to share what your business does and how it can help people.

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Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for the following:

Improving communication skills

my clients

my networking groups

I consciously Commit to:

providing my clients the best service possible

What are you thankful for? What are you willing to Commit to?

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Upcoming Classes

In early January, I will be offering two upcoming classes:

How to Market and Publish Your Book

How to Build Your Business in 9 easy steps

Details for each class can be found on the workshops page.

Taylor Ellwood
I help writers get published and small businesses attract great clients
Imagine Your Reality