Are You Neglecting Your Network?

 

As a business owner you know a lot of people, and you continue

to meet new people.  This is your network.  But what are you

doing with it?  How often do you connect with people in your

network?  Do you have a plan to stay in touch consistently and

develop your relationships?

 

If you’ve been neglecting your network it’s time to make some

changes.  It’s never too late to begin where you are and start

connecting with the people you know.

 

Networking is about giving first.  It’s about building

relationships over time with people.  If you don’t invest in

nurturing and growing your relationships with people in your

network, then your network will become nothing more than a list

of names in a database. 

 

When you stay in touch and develop relationships with people,

your business will be top of mind when people need your

products or services.  This also increases the number of

referrals people will give to your business. 

 

To nurture a relationship, you must give it attention and

energy. There are loads of ways to connect with people (many of

which are very inexpensive).  You can:

 

* Pick up the phone

 

* Send an e-mail

 

* Send a note the old fashioned way (otherwise known as

snail-mail using the post)

 

* Meet in person for coffee, lunch or a drink

 

Finding a reason to connect isn’t hard to do.  You don’t have

to wait for something big to happen; little things can mean a

lot too.  Here are just a few ideas:

 

- No specific reason, just to see what’s new and catch up

 

- Birthdays or anniversaries

 

- Sharing an article, book, website, or other resource

 

How often you touch base depends on the kind of relationship

you have with each person.  For some people connecting twice a

year is perfect and for others every three months is

appropriate.  You might have monthly contact with people you

know quite well and for very close relationships perhaps even

more frequently.

 

Think about different types of people you know and how often

you’d like to be in touch with:

 

> New acquaintances

 

> Current clients

 

> Inactive clients

 

> Former colleagues

 

> Suppliers for your business

 

The key to successfully nurturing your network is to create a

structured plan.  Random acts of kindness and connection never

hurt, but to really build a relationship it’s better to have

consistent contact. 

 

To make it easy to stay in touch, you need to use a system to

keep track of who you want to contact and when.  If you rely on

your memory you won’t get very far.

 

You can create a system by setting reminders in your own

contact database.  Or if you use Outlook, you can use the

‘Tasks’ feature where you can make notes with reminder dates.

 

The type of system you use isn’t important.  What is important

is having a system and taking action.  Find something that

works for you and get started today. 

 

By using a system, nurturing your network will become a regular

habit and it won’t seem like such a big task. 

 

Spending the time and energy getting to know your network is an

investment with an enormous return.  Not only is it fun, it

will help you expand your business.   

 

Are you starting to see the value of reaching out to the people

you know and building a relationship over time?  Make the

decision to create a plan to nurture your network and build

connections that will thrive over time.

 

© Stephanie Ward, 2008

 

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR NEWSLETTER OR WEB SITE?

You can, as long as you include this information with it:

Life & Business Coach Stephanie Ward helps business owners

set their profits on fire!  Grab your FREE copy of the special report

'7 Steps to Attract More Clients in Less Time’ plus monthly business

building tips, at: http://www.fireflycoaching.com.