* * *
THE SHY PERSON’S GUIDE TO FACE-TO-FACE NETWORKING
by
William Freeman
SMASHWORDS EDITION
*****
Published by William Freeman at Smashwords
The Shy Person’s Guide to Face To Face Networking
Copyright 2011 William Freeman
* * *
Smashwords Edition Licence Notes
This ebook is licenced for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you wish to share it with. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or if it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.
* * *
CHAPTER 1 – NETWORKING VERSUS SELLING
CHAPTER 2 – YOUR NETWORKING GOALS
CHAPTER 3 – BUILDING YOUR NETWORKING MESSAGE
CHAPTER 4 – THE SIX-STEP PROCESS FOR FACE TO FACE NETWORKING
CHAPTER 5 – YOUR OPPORTUNITIES TO NETWORK
CHAPTER 6 – BUILDING YOUR NETWORKING CALENDAR
* * *
CHAPTER 1 – NETWORKING VERSUS SELLING
If you are nervous about selling, then this book is for you. If the idea of ‘cold-calling’ fills you with horror, then this book is for you. If you are a shy or introverted person and wonder if you can cope with networking, then this book is for you.
During my various careers over the last four decades (ouch!), I have always been a reluctant salesman and I never like cold calling; in fact I absolutely hated it. I still do but, thanks to networking, I don’t have to do it anymore.
My discomfort with the idea of ‘selling’ was partly due to my upbringing. My father was very suspicious of door-to-door salesmen (“they are just after your money”) and he tended to view all sales people in the same light. I was also a shy young man (I still am – ‘shy’ that is, not young) and I felt uncomfortable about ‘cold calling’ and contacting people I had never met in order to try and sell them something. I didn’t want to bother them; I felt I was intruding and trying to make them buy something they could live without.
Deep down, I am still the same person. Over the many years and decades that have passed, I’ve grown in confidence but I still don’t see myself as a conventional sales type of person.
However, despite all those misgivings, I’ve had a pretty good career in selling – ten years or so selling with IBM and then with my own companies and freelance services.
‘Networking’ (be it face-to-face or indirectly) is not about ‘hard selling’. Of course it is still sales related – most business activities involve a degree of selling. But I now think of networking as ‘relationship based’ selling, ‘take your time’ selling, ‘slow burn’ selling and other descriptions of that ilk.
Opportunities for ‘face to face networking’ come when you meet people at an event – and there are many events and networking clubs designed with that purpose in mind. So what is this ‘networking’ all about and how can we benefit from it?
Here are a few definitions I have unearthed:
‘Offering help and advice without expecting anything in return’
‘Making contacts for future possibilities’
‘Establishing a dialogue around shared business problems’
‘Building contacts one at a time and not necessarily expecting anything as a result’
All of these seem pretty reasonable definitions of ‘networking’, but none of them really explain why you should do it or the benefits you can get. Looking at these statements you could conclude that networking is ‘slow burn’ (it normally is) and more oriented to giving than taking (which it is).
Here’s another description and this time, there’s an implied benefit:
‘Networking is about spreading your business story, your ‘message’ - and doing so in such a way that the recipient can pass it on.’
I can see some implied benefits in that statement but it is a bit one sided, a bit ‘me’ oriented.
Here’s my attempt at defining what networking is all about:
‘Networking is the process of building contacts and relationships by sharing information without expecting anything immediate in return. It should involve both parties trying to understand each others respective business messages so that both parties are able to refer these messages to others’.
The best way to approach ‘active networking’ is with the view of sharing information and offering advice and help whenever you can. The important thing to understand is that active networking is a necessary habit which will take time to produce sales benefits.
* * *
CHAPTER 2 – YOUR NETWORKING GOALS
The power of networking comes from not just your contacts (we’ll call them ‘level 1’) but from the contacts that your contacts have - i.e. level 2 contacts (and beyond). The word ‘contacts’ appears an awful lot in that sentence, so let me explain.
Let us assume that you have 10 contacts and that each of these also has 10 contacts. That would mean you are in a network of at least 100 people.
If each person has 50 contacts, the mathematics change to giving you 50 level 1 contacts and 2500 level 2 (i.e. indirect) contacts (and 12,500 level 3 contacts). You can see the potential multiplier value of networking your message to level 1 and, via those people, getting your value message to level 2 (and beyond) - and eventually gaining access to some of them.
‘Active networking’ is about starting a process to build these contacts and being disciplined in getting your value story to them.
Active networking is something you should do all the time - especially in the good times, so it can pay off in the less good times.
I have always been a compulsive networker; almost all of my sources of business revenue over the last five years or so, have come from effective networking. My main goal of networking is to build my contact list (one person at a time); each of whom knows what I do and is able to pass on my contact details to other people.
But firstly, I regard every networking event as a wonderful source of ‘free’ consultancy and advice. If you think about it, where else can talk informally to an accountant, a solicitor, a PR expert, a web designer, for example, and get some free advice? That alone justifies the time and money involved in joining networking events.
“What do you think about....?” “I’ve got this situation, what do you suggest...?”, “Who do you think I should talk to about...?” are good questions that will start a conversation and gain you helpful opinions and advice.