How to Make Your Time More Effective

How to use Promotional Products to get Referrals

Networking Groups

From time to time I get asked about what type of networking group someone should join?  At any given moment there is probably a networking group going on within a 2 mile radius of you.  So with so many opportunities what should someone look for within a networking group?

One of the main points I look at personally is if the participants of the group are in my “target market”.  This can be a challenge to find if your business deals directly with other business as customers as most networking groups are designed as business to consumers instead of business to business.  Another key element is can I bring quality leads and referrals to the other members of this group.

The second aspect is location.  You want to make sure that if you are going to commit to a weekly appointment that it is in a location that works for you.  You do not want to commit to an hour drive in, and hour at the meeting, and an hour back week in and week out.

Would you feel comfortable giving referrals and receiving referrals from the other members of the group?  You want to make sure that you are with a group that you feel comfortable referring business to.  Very rarely will someone get a lead the first time that you meet with a group.  Leaders want to make sure that you will take care of any referral that they send to you – so set up a time to meet with one to two people a week to get to know their business better.  By building these connections you will know where to send you referrals too, and people will discover what makes a good lead to send to you.

The Entrepreneur Spirit I Take The lead part 2 3-9-11

Giving Back

Recently I was asked to be interviewed by a group of college students that were in the process of doing their final project for a business class.  Their final project consisted of writing a “Sales Training Manuel”.

We spent about an hour and a half discussing what was in their project.  The note taker took several pages of notes as we all had a very open dialog.  Everyone that came out was very grateful of the experience.  The ironic thing was is that I feel that I probably got at least the same amount of excitement, if not more then the college students did. 

Think for a moment what it was like when you first opened your business, or when you first started your career?  The energy, the excitement, the anticipation for the day – was these factors mediocre or were you jumping out of bed and could not wait for the day to start?  It is very important that we keep this entrepreneur spirit alive in us – just as it was the first day we started.

What is a great way to keep this spark alive?  Surround yourself with it.  Is their a local college that you could hire a student, or get an intern from.  Is their a local mastermind group that you can attend?  Do you have someone in your life that you can bounce ideas off of and brainstorm with? 

Surround yourself with excited business and sales professionals and you will be amazed at the results that will happen in your organization!

The Entrepreneur Spirt Part 1 I Take the Lead B2C 3-9-11