Simply Business Coaching

Business Networking - Which Group is Right for You?

Have you noticed the growing number of local networking groups lately?  They’re popping up all over the place, like mushrooms! 

I was chatting with a client the other day who works very closely with small businesses and holds regular networking events for them.  She said she’s noticed a sharp increase in how many people are showing up each month, possibly an indicator of the difficult economic times we’re in.

Networking can happen whenever one person meets with another, and the best networking often takes place at conferences and seminars during the coffee breaks!  More formal business networking tends to be structured, and there are several different flavours to choose from, depending on your preference:

Referral Groups
These groups meet regularly, usually for breakfast.  Membership is paid and restricted ie, it ‘locks out’ competitor businesses so that only one member per profession is represented.  Each meeting follows a set agenda, usually including a 60-second ‘pitch’ and a call for any referred business.  There are variations depending on individual group direction.  Probably the best known groups are BNI (Business Networking International) and BRX  - a UK based operation which is currently enjoying something of a revival. 

Speed Networking
This is a business equivalent of speed dating, where you go along and play business musical chairs!  Some events are free and some charge.  You get an specified period of time,  typically anywhere between 2 and 6 minutes, to meet someone new, exchange business cards, say what you do and then hear what the other person does.  When the time is up, you move on to someone else and start again. It is possible to make 10 or even 20 new contacts at these events.  My personal dislike about these events is that they tend to get so noisy that I have trouble hearing what the other person is saying - and I hate having to shout to make myself heard!  However, every event I’ve been to (either as facilitator or just to take part) has been well attended so they’re obviously popular.

Networking Clubs
Closed, member only groups which meet regularly.  Monthly lunches are popular, as are after working hours evening buffet-style events.  Formats vary and may include a guest speaker or a short training session.  Chambers of Commerce have been holding such networking ‘mixers’ for many years and such a meeting was my first rather scary experience of business networking!  Several women-only groups have been established around the country and there are different membership networking clubs for just about every taste. 

Free Networking Events
Some are completely free, others charge a nominal fee for refreshments (plus a bit for the person organising) and you need only pay for those meetings you actually attend.  Events can be at any time of day and are usually more relaxed affairs than the other groups.  Formats will be decided by the organiser and may include any of the elements already mentioned.  While such free events are often a good introduction to business networking, it’s my experience that most people attending, lovely though they are as individuals, turn up with the sole intention of selling and are rarely interested in buying from anyone. 

With such a diverse choice of networking groups, it can be hard to know which to join and the decision will depend on your own business circumstances.  Often you will be able to go along to an ‘open’ or ‘visitor’ meeting which most groups hold quite frequently as part of a new member drive, and I recommend you ask to do this for any group you’re considering even if such an event isn’t advertised.

You may be interested in this short report:  “Why do Business Owners Need to Network?” - click here for a copy.

Have I missed any groups?  Which do you find work best for your business?  Please share in the comments below.

Stay Away from ‘Heart Sink’ Clients!

Do you look forward to working with every single one of your clients?  I mean really look forward - as in getting excited that you’ll be speaking with them again soon?  If there are any that don’t fit that category, they may be what are known as ‘heart sink’ clients - which describes rather well how you feel when you see their next appointment is imminent in your diary.

When the order book or diary isn’t as full as you’d like it to be, there’s a temptation to forget why you prefer to work with a certain type of client and say ‘yes’ to every enquiry.  You know it’s a mistake almost as soon as you sign them up.

Good clients can be hard to come by, and not only because they’re being more thrifty these days, but they are still out there for you to find and work with.  This is where having a system can help, one that could include the following:

Know Who Your Ideal Client Is
This may be simply clients who most want what you’re offering - but not necessarily!  Who do you most enjoy working with?  Men or women?  What age group?  There are several ways to profile your ideal client using traditional demographic and psychographic measures.  When I suggest doing this exercise to new clients, there’s always a slight hesitation - until I reassure them that it doesn’t mean they can’t work with other types of clients if they want to! 

Make it Clear Who You Work With
Once you have identified your ideal client, you need to make sure they can find you!  Start with a brief statement on the Home page of your website that clearly says what you do and who you do it for, so visitors to that page can quickly know if they’re in the right place.  Continue adding more details to the message on a ‘Who We Work With’ page and use Case Studies your ideal client will be able to identify with.

Have a Qualifying Process
This is the bit many consultants and coaches miss out - and yet it saves wasting valuable time on enquiries that are unlikely to result in business, as well as weeding out those potential ‘heart sink’ clients.  Use a short questionnaire on your website for anyone wanting to have an initial free consultation.  Asking the right questions will enable you to see in advance if the enquirer is a potential match with your ideal client profile - or not.

What do you do to stay away from heart sink clients?  I’d love you to share in the comments below!

What First Impression Do You Give At Networking Meetings?

When you network regularly with other small business owners, you tend to see familiar faces at many of the popular local events.  Over time you watch these people relax and enjoy interacting with each other, feeling they’re amongst ‘friends’.  That’s when business relationships can really start to flourish.

But there’s also a hidden downside to feeling relaxed and amongst friends at business networking meetings, and that’s the risk of becoming too casual.  Sure, regular members know you’re a professional business person by now, but have you stopped to think what impression you might inadvertently be giving to new visitors to the group?

Here are a few examples of what I mean:

Personal Appearance - no matter what time of day the meeting, you still need to look like a professional business owner.  Guys can get away with less effort, it’s true (hmph!) - but there’s no excuse for sloppy dressing or a crumpled appearance.
 
Possible First Impression - is their work going to be rumpled and untidy too?

Preparedness - we’ve all seen latecomers sidling into the room after the speaker has started.  Personally I think they’ve missed out on one of most important parts of any event - the networking opportunities as everyone arrives. 

Possible First Impression - are they habitually late to meetings & do they meet project deadlines?

Marketing Materials - early morning meetings or rushing after appointments through slow traffic can mean you forget to check if you have enough flyers or business cards.  Ladies, this is a particular danger if you decide to change handbags at the last minute!

Possible First Impression - what else might they forget? Are they slapdash in their work because they rush everything?

Marketing Message - we always forgive the nervous newbies when it comes to standing up to give the ubiquitous 60-second pitch.  But what about your own message?  Is it clear to everyone who hears it what you do and who you work with?

Possible First Impression - not sure I understand what they do ... is it for me?

(Sidebar: a couple of years ago, I made the mistake of focusing too many of my pitches on workshops, but didn’t realise it until a relative newcomer to the group came up to me at one meeting and said: "I didn’t know you did coaching ...."  Oops!)

What would you add to this list? Am I being too harsh?  Let me know by commenting below:)

Who Goes to Networking Events to Buy?

It’s a tricky one isn’t it?  Have you noticed how most people who go to small business networking groups are there to sell?  But if everyone’s selling .... who’s buying?

Honestly now, who sets off for a networking meeting thinking only “I want to make contact with a good graphic designer and a printer to help with my next mailing”  or “I hope I meet a nice accountant to help sort out my books” or even “I wonder how many business owners I’ll be able to help today”?  

Let’s face it, our thoughts are more likely to be “I hope I find someone interested in buying my [products/services] today.”

Networking events are not the right place for selling - which is why so many small business networkers feel disappointed when events don’t lead to quick business.  I know, I was that misguided business owner once ;)

You see the same thing happening with online networking too.  Tweet after tweet, update upon update - just sales messages or links to sales (or, even worse, opt-in) pages.

Networking isn’t a quick route to new sales but it is a great opportunity to grow your list of valuable contacts.  Here’s my personal 3 Step Formula to successful networking:

Step One : is about meeting people and making those initial connections. 
Step Two : get to know your new contacts, start a few conversations.  Focus on how you might be able to help them and follow up.
Step Three : build on the relationship and meet up outside of networking events.  Take online connections offline by picking up the phone.

Once you forget about trying to sell, networking become much more enjoyable!

What do you think?

Picture credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rh1n0/

Speaking Personally

You’ve probably heard the saying “people buy from people” - which is probably one of the main reasons face to face networking is so popular and effective.  But how can you get ‘up close and personal’ with the marketing you do through blog posts, newsletters and your website?

Write in your voice
I’m very lucky to both enjoy writing AND have a reasonable typing speed - thanks to starting off my working life as a shorthand/typist way back in the dark ages!  But I’ve still had to learn how to write for the web because it’s a very different way of communicating.

I don’t have a noticeable regional accent when I speak, but if you do, don’t be afraid to let it come across in your writing too.  There’s no need to be all formal and ‘posh’ - just be yourself and write in your real voice.

Share a little piece of you
My email newsletters always include a personal note - a little snippet of what’s going on in my world.  It’s only a few words as I always thought people didn’t want to read about me.  But a couple of years ago, I mentioned that I’d received a holistic therapy gift voucher and couldn’t decide whether to have an aromatherapy massage or go for the hot stones.  I had so many emails suggesting all kinds of lovely treatments to try! 

Take care not to go overboard with the personal stuff, but let your readers get to know the person behind the blog post, the newsletter and the website.

Speak to only one person
What do you think when you get an email that starts “Hi everyone” or “Dear all”?  You know the message is being sent to other people too and that the sender hasn’t made the effort to personalise each email and probably isn’t using a ‘proper’  email service provider either.

Watch the words you use in the body of your post or article too.  Avoid writing phrases such as “as you all know” or “will everyone who is interested. ....” - they’re the type of things you’d say if you were talking to a group of people at a meeting aren’t they?  You can make your message more personal by writing as if you were speaking with just one person.

How do you inject your personality into blog posts and newsletters?  I’d love to know :)

Picture Power

An email last week from a client asking where he could find images to use in his newsletter got me thinking about how important it is to provide that extra visual interest element for readers.  Just one photo can lift your article and make it more attractive.  I know if I’m faced with screenfuls of solid text I find it difficult to stay focused and read every word - it has to be a really interesting subject to keep my attention right to the end.

But somehow, with a photo or screenshot image to break up the text, the same length article doesn’t seem as daunting.

My favourite source of images has to be iStockPhoto.  For a very reasonable cost, you can choose from an extensive library, safe in the knowledge that copyright issues are taken care of (although I’d still advise you to read the T&C). 

As you browse through your chosen category, you can easily see how popular each image is and how many downloads of it have already been made.  This is useful if you want to make sure you select something more unusual for your website, blog post or newsletter. 

Another useful feature of IStockPhoto are the ‘lightboxes’ where you can store images you come across to review later before deciding if you want to buy them.  I like to set up separate lightboxes for different client projects.

After you set up an account, you can buy a series of credits and ‘pay as you go’.  Images are charged by number of credits which vary according to the size of image you buy.  I quickly learned that the smallest size image is fine for most uses, especially online!

If you’re looking for completely free images, take a look at Flickr.com.  Chris Brogan’s blog post gives excellent guidance on how to use these images correctly (and how you might want to share photos of your own!)

Another resource I came across recently is a collection of 30 websites where you can download free stock photos which looks very interesting, although I haven’t had a chance to check them out yet.  Let me know what you think if you get there before me!

Do you have any image resources to share? I'd love to know, so please type them in the comments below.  If you found this post helpful, a retweet would be appreciated :)

Oh no, not another Opt-In Box!

Opting in to receive free reports and newsletters is an accepted part of doing business on the internet.  I think it’s a fair exchange -  contact details for good information. 

And double opt-in procedures are reassuringly professional - for the most part.

However, I’d like to share a less satisfactory opt-in box experience - perhaps something similar has happened to you?

I recently took part in an online survey.  The email asking for my input came from someone I’ve met in person, was been very polite and promised to share the results with all contributors.  As I was mildly interested in the subject, I answered the questions.

A month or so later, I got the email announcing the survey results were available with a link to get my copy, which I clicked on as I was genuinely interested to find out more ....

.... except when I arrived at the page, it was to be confronted with an opt-in box.  Huh?

This is the email I wanted to send:

“Dear xxxx

You already know I’m interested in the subject matter because I completed the survey.  You already have my email address because you’re writing to me. 

So why do you want to me to give you my email address again?

I really don’t want to end up on another one of your lists and possibly get twice the number of emails from you.

Please don’t make me double opt in just to get something you said you’d give me in exchange for my time completing your survey.  That isn’t playing the game.

Regards
Disillusioned”

No I didn’t send the email (because I know the person & like to think it was unintentional).  Yes I did opt in to get the report (curiosity got the better of me!) - but I’ll be opting out again the moment an autoresponder email arrives.  And I won’t be completing any more surveys for that person.

(Update:  Just got another email from same person......asking me to take part in another survey...)

Do you feel you’re being asked to opt-in too many times?  Let me know what you think in the comments below :)

How To Be Remembered After Networking Events

Networking is an important part of small business marketing, both online and offline.  With so many businesses vying for attention it can seem almost impossible to ensure you are remembered long after the event.  That’s because everyone is doing pretty much the same thing - so you need to be different.

Don’t go there to sell!
This is HUGE because just about everyone else is there to sell.  When you talk to new contacts, even if you know you have a product or service that would be ideal for them, resist the temptation to go into a sales pitch there and then.  Instead, practice being nonchalant and offer to send them an article which may be of interest, or details of something that might help.

Connect People
Act as an ‘introducer’.  Often small businesses with complimentary offerings can refer work to each other or carry out joint promotions without stepping on each other’s toes, eg. a decorator & a gardener, a VA & a book-keeper, a florist & an event organiser. 

Offer to help - be genuine
Because people are usually so busy trying to get their message across, they often don’t think to ask about the other person’s needs.  Being genuinely interested in how you can help them will certainly set you apart from the crowd.

Follow Up After the event
This is the part most networkers forget to do or get totally wrong.  After an event they either add the business cards they’ve collected to an ever-growing pile, or they use the contact details to send out spam email promotions & mailers.  Following up with a ‘nice to meet you’ email or better still, a handwritten note in the post, is both polite and respectful.

Doing just one of the above will make you different from most of your fellow networkers; doing all of them will make sure you are remembered, long after the event.

Blogging and Article Marketing – What Shall I Write About?

This is a question I’m often asked when I suggest to business owners that they should start publishing an email newsletter, a blog, and write articles as part of their online marketing strategy.  The reason it’s so important is you need to take every opportunity to show off your expertise to existing and potential clients. 

While you can easily do this in person by going to local networking events and taking a stand at exhibitions, there’s a limit to how many people you can physically get to meet.

To take advantage of the reach of the internet and demonstrate how great you are to people you haven’t met yet, writing articles, posting audio and video recordings are the next best thing to being with them in person. 

What we all tend to forget is just how much we know about what we do – that others don’t know, but would be interested in learning, especially if you tell them what’s in it for them!

Research shows that the top 4 major motivators which influence buying decisions are:

• How to make money
• How to save money
• How to save time
• How to avoid effort

So you need to write articles which include a relevant motivator and are based around your products or services.  Give your reader some of your top tips; highlight mistakes they need to avoid; discuss the latest developments in your field; describe a few how-tos and even a list of reasons why they should (fill in the blank).  Writing articles will showcase what you do and the type of problems you solve as well as build relationships, even with people you haven’t met yet.

I hope you now have some ideas to get started, please let me know how you get on!

Take It or Leave It

Are you a good host?  Do you welcome invited guests to your home, take their coat, ask them to be seated, and offer them a drink?  Or do you open the door, walk away and let them fend for themselves? 

The reason I ask is because I find so many website owners invite visitors and then abandon them.  In other words visitors don’t know what to do next.  And a lot of blogs don’t seem to actively encourage readers to subscribe to the RSS feed, it’s as if they can’t be bothered.

Make your visitors welcome
Explaining a little of what you do and for who will reassure visitors that they’re in the right place.  A brief guide to what’s on the different pages will encourage them to explore.  Telling them what to do next makes things easy.   I’ve seen some thoughtful sites with a ‘Start Here’ tab – a good idea as people may not arrive on your home page on their first visit.

Thank your visitors
Offering a free gift in exchange for contact details is a well-established marketing tactic.  Providing real value in that gift will ensure your visitors take away good memories of their time on your site – and encourage them to read future messages from you.

With so many millions of websites and blogs to choose from, it can be like being at a very crowded party.  It’s easy to get confused and feel overwhelmed without a guide or signs as to what’s available and where to find it.  Most people are too short of time to try to work it all out for themselves, so they click away, leave the site, and probably never return.

(I’m sure you’re an excellent host by the way :))

How do you make your website visitors welcome?  Please share in the comments – and if you enjoyed reading this post, a retweet would be appreciated.