[Opinion] How do you network to increase your client base?

[AmithS]

Hello Everyone,

I would love to know from you how do you network to increase your business client base?

Do you,
1. Network informally at social events?
2. Are you part of a networking organisation?
3. Do you use forums like this to network?
4. other forms of networking?

If you could also give an indication of how successful\unsuccessful the networking types you use are.

Reason I am asking is that I recently joined a networking organisation and I am starting to doubt the usefulness - this could be due to a few reasons, ie. networking organisations don't work, this particular one does not work, the people are not a correct fit!

Would love to hear how you network

[tec0]

The most profitable networking is done at night at the local "high end clubs/bars" most of the time the biggest deals I was involved in was done there. So one can classify it is as a social event but informal. Success rate is very high. "Note it also comes down to who knows you and to whom they will introduce you too"

Social networking via the net/forums are good for getting the word out and participation shows intend and base character, you also enjoy exposure. Success rate is dependent on you to make it work. I give it a high success rate.

Formal Social events for marketing "is low success and a waste of time" everyone there looks to network towards a possible client and the client base is limited. Depending on the venue client base and participation I give this type of networking a moderate to low success rate.

It also helps to identify market players in those events and who may benefit in dealing with you. Know that the competition is high so bring your best cards to the table.

That said, the most powerful networking is service and commitment towards your customers. Your customers deal with other businesses and they will always keep your name high if you provide quality service and remain affordable.

Note this is only my opinion, what works for me may not work for someone else so it is a bit of a gamble…

[Mark Atkinson]

Fortunately enough, our business is finally starting to realise the potential of proper "inbound marketing". Word of mouth is now starting to take over and we are bringing in more business than we can handle without any additional advertising spend (money or time).

I would say networking events/organisations are probably more a waste of time than a decent networking tool. Remember that everybody at a networking event is there to promote his/her own business.

I find that the best networking comes from informal/social occasions. The sort of interaction where two people actually have a genuine interest in the lives of the other person. They are much more receptive to information when it is presented informally, coupled with genuine interest for that person's professional life.

As for forum marketing - it's definitely and effective tool I must stress, though, that forum marketing/networking - well, most forms of networking actually - is a long term process. You will not reap any rewards simply by registering on a forum, stuffing a few links into your signature and spamming the "Ads" section. I've found that it is only after months of active, thoughtful participation that you start to bring in leads through forum marketing. Credibility on a forum is a mini-goldmine.

As tec0 pointed out - keeping the customers that you do already have more than happy is probably the best form of networking you can ever do. We try to go over and above - exceeding expectations set by price and industry standards - and more often than not, this really pays off for us.

The important thing that many people don't seem to get is that networking is a two-way street. Far too many people put themselves and their businesses on a pedestal and expect people to want to hear all about them. Posting a link/ad somewhere is not networking. Registering on a forum and filling your meet & greet post with advertising copy, following which you are never seen again, is not networking.

Show a little interest in the other person. More often than not he/she will reciprocate. That is networking. If you do somebody a good turn and they don't reciprocate, they are one of the aforementioned "far too many people". Move on feeling good about yourself and pitying the guy who's just missed an opportunity.

One avenue I have found to be rather effective is LinkedIn. I connect with a bunch of people that are in similar networks/industries or who I think may benefit from our services some day. Then, regularly (I try to achieve once a day - it's usually more like once a week) I pick a connection at random who I haven't found out more about and I go through their profile, take a look at everything and learn as much as I can about that person. I then type up a really thought provoking message centred around them and their businesses. I ask lots of questions - and often it's because I'm genuinely interested what that person does. Not a single word about me or Red Giant Design is said in the first message. Now let me tell you that this is probably one of the most effective ways of making life-long connections with people. I've had a number of super interesting discussions with connections on LinkedIn. I've learned so much and broadened my horizons in ways I never imagined. At the same time, while always concentrating on the other person, I've brought in enormous value in terms of new leads and partner projects. It's win-win for everybody!

[Just Gone]

Quote [show a little interest in the other person. More often than not he/she will reciprocate. That is networking.]

You're right ............ so how is your day Mark ?

[AmithS]

Mark,

The feeling I seem to be getting from the networking group I have joined is that all they are interested in is pushing their own business service or product and not in forming any beneficial business relationships, which is the core reason why we meet. i.e. most of them seem to have selfish motives

So on that point, in my humble opinion you are 100% correct!

[nkawit]

Mark,

The feeling I seem to be getting from the networking group I have joined is that all they are interested in is pushing their own business service or product and not in forming any beneficial business relationships, which is the core reason why we meet. i.e. most of them seem to have selfish motives

So on that point, in my humble opinion you are 100% correct!

This is a very very unfortunate situation in our country, UK & USA are easy, people talk, people are nice and discuss things. HERE ... haha.

We offered a large company a opensource software product we design which is used by some of the largest ISP's in the wold, we offered them a custom designed solution, with ALL the features they want, at NO COST. NO CONTRACT. NO OBLIGATION. Just to replace a wangled together piece of junk which is extremely hard to deal with, configure or extend. They basically told us to EFF OFF in a very arrogant way.

That is one of the points that contributed to me giving up on networking or trying to help people in this country.

I must however give Telkom and others credit, their core engineers are very nice, more than willing to discuss almost anything and anything if you sign an NDA. They are a total pleasure to deal with. But small->large businesses , forget it, I've given up. Arrogant bastards that think they know everything.

[AmithS]

Surprisingly enough the networking organisation I joined is 1 of the largest in the world very successful in the USA, Canada, etc... 100 000's of members worldwide.

But sadly does not work in South Africa and that I put down to maturity! We just are not mature enough to help each other out. Whats in it for me is always at the back of everyone's mind!

Sad but true.

I know the above is abit of a generalisation, there are lots of helpful people I know at the same time!

[nkawit]

Totally agree with you there.

[Nickolai Naydenov]

It looks like you talking about BNI, if it is them then I can say that I went once to a BNI meeting, I wanted to see what it was about, it's nothing as they advertise. First of all all the members are mostly one man show which need business, they believe that will get leads from the other members who don't seem very interested in your business but they rather pay attention for key words that will help them promote their business. After the meeting 3 people requested to see me and I thought well that's great they are interested in what I do, but I was completely wrong, they actually wasted my time and wanted to promote their business to me so thatnIncould sell them. i gave all of them leads, some of them closed business and they didn't even say thank you, so why would I want to deal with such people? While I was at the meeting I also discovered that few of the members have not done any business from BNI for the past year and in fact the BNI meetings were more of an outing than anything else.

Bottom line is you need people that care about you and exciting good clients to recommend you to other people but obviously you have to ask them to do that for you, that's why your services should be always 100%

good luck

[wynn]

East London is a small market! (usually there is only space for one new original start up business not two and definitely not three)

Here if you start a successfull original type of business and it starts to make money. it is days before two or three other operators are in the same business cutting prices to get market share and generally stuffing up the market.

Now things are so bad that people who see your idea starting to be successfull and have the idea of cloning your business actually visit your premises and ask questions about where to get stock, how much and where the best deals are? you have to forcefully tell them to effoff your premises.

[adrianh]

@wynn - see it as a perfect oppertunity to feed them really bad information...make sure they buy real crap and put temselves out of the market quickly.

[rfnel]

One avenue I have found to be rather effective is LinkedIn. I connect with a bunch of people that are in similar networks/industries or who I think may benefit from our services some day. Then, regularly (I try to achieve once a day - it's usually more like once a week) I pick a connection at random who I haven't found out more about and I go through their profile, take a look at everything and learn as much as I can about that person. I then type up a really thought provoking message centred around them and their businesses. I ask lots of questions - and often it's because I'm genuinely interested what that person does. Not a single word about me or Red Giant Design is said in the first message. Now let me tell you that this is probably one of the most effective ways of making life-long connections with people. I've had a number of super interesting discussions with connections on LinkedIn. I've learned so much and broadened my horizons in ways I never imagined. At the same time, while always concentrating on the other person, I've brought in enormous value in terms of new leads and partner projects. It's win-win for everybody!

Excellent advice Mark! I have a sneaking suspicion that you're a fan of a certain Mr. Carnegie.

I've had my LinkedIn account for ages, but I've never really used it for anything - I never saw the awesome value of it until now. Thanks for that!

[Mark Atkinson]

I have a sneaking suspicion that you're a fan of a certain Mr. Carnegie.

I've had my LinkedIn account for ages, but I've never really used it for anything - I never saw the awesome value of it until now. Thanks for that!

Actually I have How to Win Friends and Influence People lined up and ready to read - I just don't have any time! Haven't read any Carnegie books... Yet.

I was much the same in terms of my LinkedIn profile. I never saw the value in it initially and thought SA's user base was too low. Over time I figured I must be missing something because professionals overseas are raving about it. That, coupled with a realisation that there are actually plenty Saffers on LinkedIn, prompted me to make a conscious effort to figure out how to best use LinkedIn.

I must say, though, that I've recently tried LinkedIn advertising (PPC) and that hasn't worked for me at all. Not nearly as effective as Adwords/Facebook.

[Dave A]

My time in the "networking for business" trenches was from 1997 to about 2003 or 2004 - almost pre-internet. In fact I've never intentionally "networked for business" on the internet that I can think of.

That said, the business has been built almost entirely on networking. We spend exceptionally little on traditional advertising, and apart from Yellow Pages (which is just a little advert) our only traditional advertising spend is on "support advertising". These support adverts generally are for someone in our support network that's running a feature in a paper somewhere and need some advertising support to get their advertorial published.

So while I don't consider myself a networking expert, I can probably claim the way we do it does work. Fairly well.

There are a few fundamental principles informing our strategy.

• A quality relationship needs to reward both parties.
• An individual can only maintain a limited number of quality relationships.
• People help people they know and like.
• Don't chase linear when you can multiply.
• To multiply, building quality is more valuable than chasing quantity.

The foundation is being likable and handing out business cards, lots and lots of business cards. This is the prospecting stage and is a linear activity.
But while most people are looking for leads when networking (linear goals), we're looking for potential evangelists (multiplication goal). Preferably placed to not produce a referral, but a steady stream of referrals.

So what does this mean practically?

It means you've got to kiss a lot of frogs to get an occasional prince.

Then you look after that prince and keep on kissing more frogs. (Happily in the networking game this isn't just OK, but actually healthy as you can take any suitable leads you find along the way and feed them to your princes).

Be nice to all the frogs you meet. Sometimes a frog won't ever turn into a prince, but they lead you to one.

Don't keep kissing the same frog and wait for them to turn into a prince. Keep moving. You can go back every now and then, but make sure you're still kissing lots of new frogs. (Believe everybody, wait for nobody).

Many frogs don't turn into a prince, or even lead you to one.

Princes can come from the most unlikely frogs.

More frogs turn into princes when you expect princes.

---

ps. I couldn't help but admire Mark's post (post 3 in this thread) - I think you nailed it. And reassuringly, perhaps my old-time thoughts are still relevant in this internet age.

[Mark Atkinson]

So what does this mean practically?

It means you've got to kiss a lot of frogs to get an occasional prince.

Then you look after that prince and keep on kissing more frogs. (Happily in the networking game this isn't just OK, but actually healthy as you can take any suitable leads you find along the way and feed them to your princes).

Be nice to all the frogs you meet. Sometimes a frog won't ever turn into a prince, but they lead you to one.

Don't keep kissing the same frog and wait for them to turn into a prince. Keep moving. You can go back every now and then, but make sure you're still kissing lots of new frogs. (Believe everybody, wait for nobody).

Many frogs don't turn into a prince, or even lead you to one.

Princes can come from the most unlikely frogs.

More frogs turn into princes when you expect princes.

I love the analogy, Dave. Spot on!

The part that resonates most for me is that princes can come from the most unlikely frogs. I find that it's human nature to judge people right off the bat. Reading Malcolm Gladwell's Blink really opened my eyes up to this. The one story I took to heart from the book is the story about the head honcho at Nissan (I can't recall the name). He is one of the most successful car salesmen of all time, and he's done it all by using great networking skills. He says that he tries to avoid the effects of all first impressions and judgments. Often, he says, the guy walking in to the salesroom waving a cheque book and shouting "I'm going to buy a car today!" is never going to actually buy a car.
Then, a scrappy looking guy/lady, or even a teenager will walk in and, despite what one might think initially, they may be the ones who will make a purchase.

You can't really know just buy looking at a person whether they're a "prince". Snap judgments labeling a person as a "frog" right off the bat might be really detrimental to your networking efforts.

Through communication you can make subsequent judgments about a person which will hopefully be more accurate.

And reassuringly, perhaps my old-time thoughts are still relevant in this internet age.

I think the general principles of human interaction and communication will always remain the same. I feel that successful networking, whether online or offline, is mainly derived from common courtesy and good manners.