Define Your WHY / Purpose
Here’s a story about Bruce Lee which sets the stage for this little exercise. A master martial artist asked Bruce to teach him everything Bruce knew about martial arts. Bruce held up two cups, both filled with liquid. “The first cup,” said Bruce, “represents all of your knowledge about martial arts. The second cup represents all of my knowledge about martial arts. If you want to fill your cup with my knowledge, you must first empty your cup of your knowledge.”
If you want to discover your true purpose in life, you must first empty your mind of all the false purposes you’ve been taught (including the idea that you may have no purpose at all).
“The purpose of life is a life of purpose”
People here know they want all the benefits that networking has to offer, but they have no idea why they want it, and that is the problem. Lets use money as the example. Simply knowing that you want money is not enough. Why do you want money is the question you should be asking yourself. Without knowing why you want money, how do you ever expect to get it, and how do you expect to stay motivated and in the business?
This is the main reason why so many people drop like flies upon entry of the networking industry. They become
overwhelmed by the amount of work that they need to put into their business in order for it to prosper, and they
don't even know why they want to build it in the first place.
Your WHY has to be something that is strong enough to push you through the tough times that you are going to have while building your business. Maybe your WHY is because the money will allow you to:
* Give you more time freedom to spend with your family or just doing the things you love to do...
* Get you the home of your dreams that you have longed for your entire life...
* Travel to all the destinations you have been dreaming of visiting...
* Put your children/ siblings through school...
* Donate to many charities...
Or maybe your WHY has nothing to do with money at all. Whatever your WHY is, make it meaningful to you, know one else! There is no need to try to impress anyone with your WHY.
We need a definite major purpose, some reason to get out of bed in the morning; something to challenge us. Brain research has shown that if we keep ourselves intellectually challenged and stimulate the mind we may actually cause brain cells, called neurons, to branch wildly and establish new connections. So stimulate your brain with a purpose and challenge your thinking!
We must have a purpose, because it’s the source of the life energy that makes our lives meaningful. Setting goals is so important because it gives us a purpose to live. That’s why people say you’ve got to have a dream, a vision.
Are you living the life you were meant to live? When you identify the big purpose, your “why” that you want to go after in life, all of a sudden the life energy you need starts coming in to you to fulfill that purpose.
Lastly, if you can have a WHY that can bring you to tears, you are almost guaranteed success. Your WHY is your fuel, or your driving force that is going to keep you on the road.
Here’s what to do:
1. Take out a blank sheet of paper.
2. Write at the top, “What is my true purpose in life?”
3. Write an answer (any answer) that pops into your head. It doesn’t have to be a complete sentence. A short phrase is fine.
4. Repeat step 3 until you write the answer that makes you cry. This is your purpose.
Paint the picture in your mind of your purpose. Feel good about your reason why. Why do you do what you do? Why are you here today? Why do you want to achieve or accomplish your goals? Why did you get out of bed this morning? Why…
Networking Goals
We are going to set individual networking goals today, and then in later weeks, we are going to design a plan to meet those goals.
SMART Goals – Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timed with a deadline.
Review Networking Successes From The Past Year
“Without a goal, you can’t measure your results.”
1. What type of networking events did you attend in the last year? Book signings, Chamber of Commerce, business luncheons, trade shows, BNI meetings? Where are they located?
2. How many did you attend each month?
3. How many new networking relationships did you identify AND develop? Specifically, how did you go about identifying those relationships and what did you do for follow up? Oftentimes, the best networkers develop a list and make sure they contact the people on that list.
4. How many business referrals have you been able to provide to your new networking relationships? A good measure of success is to make sure you are able to identify good referrals for the valued members of your network.
Networking Goals
“That which gets written, gets done.”
1. How much business do you want to get from word-of-mouth referrals, and by when?
• What do you need to do for this to happen?
• Who will bring you this business?
• What kind of business do you expect to get from referrals?
• Will the referrals focus on a specific product or service?
2. How many networking functions will you attend each week?
• How will you find out about these functions?
• What will you accomplish at these functions?
3. How many referrals do you want each week? Each month?
4. What five things will you do differently to network your business?
5. With whom do you want to meet this year? (List anything that comes to mind: businesses, professionals, names of specific people you’d like to meet.)
6. Of which networking groups would you like to become a member this year?
7. How much time will I dedicate to networking each week?
8. What percentage of my marketing budget will I dedicate to word of mouth?
9. How many meals each week will I eat with someone else?
10. How many new people do I want to meet each week?
11. What other methods will I use to generate new business?
Networking Event Goals
“Without a goal, you have nothing at which to aim.”
1. Decide what you must achieve to have made the event worthwhile. e.g. is your objective to distribute your business cards to everyone attending, is it a fact-finding exercise, do you want to specifically talk to two or three people who you could form a specific alliance with or do you want to speak with someone who could introduce you to a particular organization?
2. Be clear on who you want to talk to – if possible, ask for a list of attendees, and decide who on the list you think would be most useful to talk to.
3. Think about what information you want to go away with.
4. Think about what information you want to convey?
5. If the passing of referrals are an integral part of the event, think about what specific introductions you are looking for and be prepared to ask for them.
6. Consider what else you want to happen as a result of your attendance at the event?
7. Finally, have a clear picture of your goal in your head and be positive about achieving it – think about how you will feel if you achieve it. Act as if you have already achieved the goal. The Law of Attraction says that your thoughts and feelings become reality!
Block Out Time to Network
There are four steps to changing a behavior: want it, learn it, try it, and live it.
This requires continued commitment on your part to execute what you learn, not just by trying one new strategy each week, but by integrating your new skills in the way you conduct your business everyday.
Using your calendar, schedule time to network this week.
• Seven hours is a good number to shoot for
• Color-code your calendar to track your networking efforts
Networking Goals Checklist
Goals clarify focus, increase motivation and develop enthusiasm. Setting Goals is a positive and necessary step towards achieving better networking results. Review the list of networking categories below and choose a goal to focus on.
___I increase awareness about my company, product or service by participating in a trade show/conference/product showcase.
___I educate others about my product/service by making a group presentation.
___I improve my personal credibility and build trust by taking a leadership role on the executive or a committee.
___I set specific unit, dollar and/or profit objectives I want or need from my investment in a networking group.
___I develop relationships with specific clients, prospects or suppliers who are members of my group.
___I determine key members of the group who can influence others or leverage my involvement.
___I take responsibility for following up with qualified prospects because I know they will appreciate the value I represent.
___I get more business from group members who are existing customers by identifying new/additional business opportunities.
___I invest in educating members of my group about myself, my products and my company so they will refer me to others.
___I offer qualified referrals to satisfied clients and trusted colleagues as an investment in getting business from them.
___I prepare for every networking event by setting specific objectives before arriving.
___I use a 15-word positioning statement to help me communicate more effectively about my product/service.
Lets Play A Game!
Soccer
1. Everyone should have a clear picture of their WHY
2. Think of 1 specific networking goal that you have (Get Referrals)
3. Take a sticky note and write down 1 way that you plan to achieve that goal
4. Stick each note inside the outlined portion of the wall
- The outlined portion of the wall represents the goal (specific goal). Every different goal is considered a different game, which means a different strategy.
- The sticky notes represent where we are going to aim (target) to hit that goal. The more places you can aim, the better chances you have of hitting your goal.
- Your WHY is the reason to play the game or have a goal to shoot at. Each winning game leads to the ultimate prize… your purpose; which is whatever you make it to be, as long as you first have a very clear picture of what you want.
5. Select someone to be a goalie.
- The goalie represents the obstacles that get in the way of you achieving your goal.
Note: If you don’t have many ways to achieve that goal, then you better have a good strategy to maneuver around the obstacles.
- The ball represents what drives the goal. It is equivalent in size to the level of your frustration toward your shot. It is the confidence you have. The smaller the ball, the over-confidence you have, while the bigger the ball, the more frustration you have. The smaller ball makes it easier to score in the goal, but having over-confidence can make it harder to hit specific goals and harder to kick, causing you to completely miss your shot. On the other hand, having too much frustration or a bigger ball, makes it harder to get around the obstacles that stand in your way. It can lead to you giving up completely. You must balance your frustration and confidence in between a big ball and a little ball. A medium size ball can hit your target, while getting around the obstacles; therefore your confidence needs to be strong, but not overdone.
6. In this game, you are all the kicker! Nothing happens without you taking action! Now kick the ball and see if you hit your target and score a goal!
Give to Others First
In networking, there are three kinds of people: those who wait and watch for things to happen, those who make things happen, and those who wonder what the heck happened.
My goal for this networking group is to educate you on ways to be the person who makes things happen. A great way to start off this group, would be to give to others first. By giving to others first, you take the initial step in building two-way, win-win networking relationships. You’re leading by example, modeling the behavior you hope others will adopt.
Begin by understanding the phenomenal value of your network. It’s a gold mine. It’s a treasure chest of talents, skills, and knowledge. It holds the power to help people you care about in more ways than either you or they can imagine.
You are the gatekeeper to the resources locked inside your network.
Construct a letter similar to the sample provided, and then send it to your clients and throughout your network. Be sure not to include names and phone numbers of the people whose businesses you’ve referenced on your list.
Dear __________,
I really believe in the process of referrals, and so part of the service I provide is to be sure to refer my clients and associates to other qualified businesspeople in the community.
Attached is a list of areas in which I know very credible, ethical, and outstanding professionals. If you’re looking for a professional in a specific area that I’ve listed, please feel free to contact me. I will be glad to put you in touch with these people I know who provide these services.
Sincerely,
(Your Name)
(Your Phone Number)
Commercial Banker Credit Repair
Real Estate Broker Chiropractor
Commercial Cleaning Skin Care & Cosmetics
Attorney (Business & Estate Planning) Life & Disability Insurance
Commercial P&C Insurance Attorney (Criminal)
Software & Web Development Marketing (Full Service)
Plumber Reverse Mortgage Consultant
Electrician Massage Therapist
Mortgage Representative Carpentry / Home Remodeling
Personal P&C Insurance Financial Advisor
Residential Cleaning
Profile Your Preferred Client
Profiling your preferred client means taking a hard look at what makes that organization or individual a perfect fit for you.
• Why are you a perfect match?
• What does your preferred client need that you supply?
• What problems does this client have that you can solve better than any of your competitors?
Business-to-Consumer Clients
• Gender
• Family Structure
• Marital Status
• Household Income
• Location
• Education
• Children/No Children
• Home Owner or Renter
• Other
Business-to-Business Clients
• Location
• Number of Employees
• Years in Business
• Specialty or Type of Business
• Size of Company (Revenue)
• Number of Departments
• Industry
• Public or Private
• Other
Recruit Your Word-of-Mouth Marketing Team
Identify 3 influential people within your network to serve on your WOM team.
1. Real Estate Agent
2. Mortgage Broker / Loan Originator
3. Real Estate Investors
How many of you believe… ?
Your Networth is often determined by your Network.
- Think of your 5 closest friends. Take how much they make on an annual basis and add it all together, then divide by 5. Your income is most likely within 10-15k of that number.
“If you want to soar with the eagles, you can’t hang with the turkeys.”
- Get rid of all your friends! No… I’m kidding, add to them. Find people who are
moving in the direction you want to head and learn from them. Be a leader in your business and continue to follow those who have more skills, knowledge, resources, and expertise.
- Attract the center of influence; the movers and shakers. They have the ability to make things happen. They can make decisions and have influence in their market place.
- Get involved! Network where ever you go. Join a bowling league, little leagues, sports,
business enterprising, pool, darts, networking groups, etc. Get involved with the intention to serve first, or give first, and the law of reciprocity plays a very important role because, “you get what you give,” not the other way around.
- Join some online networking groups such as: Facebook and Linkedin.
If MySpace was a country, it would be the eighth largest!
Six degrees of separation (also referred to as the "Human Web") refers to the idea that, if a person is one step away from each person they know and two steps away from each person who is known by one of the people they know, then everyone is at most six steps away from any other person on Earth.
It’s all the power of word of mouth!
- Plant the seeds. If you keep planting seeds, you will see a larger harvest. When the
harvest comes, it continues to flow.
Recommended viewing:
Watch “The Secret” video or read the book.
The secret talks about…
- This is the secret to everything – joy, health, money, relationships, love, happiness… everything you have ever wanted.
- You can have, do, or be anything you want.
Quote of the day:
“If you do what you’ve done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.” -- Anthony Robbins
“If you only do what you know you can do, you never do very much.” – Tom Krause
3 advantages of rapport and networking
1. Making new connections
Networking helps you build your business and the relationships that support it
• Timeless business tool
Networking is a business tool you can use for referrals, leads, new hires, business advice, ideas, and connections
• Referrals, leads, new hires, business advice, ideas, and vital connections
• Long-term partnerships
• Expansive inner circle
Networking is a way to create new relationships and create an ever-growing inner circle
2. Helping people learn about your business
Is the world sold on your business?
• Explain your business as you make connections:
o Elevator speech
o Exchange phone numbers
o Suggest a meeting
o Look for mutual benefits
3. Identify new needs/markets
Its not just who you know, it is about what you know about them
Knowing what your associates need personally and professionally creates a strategic advantage for your business
• Who else do your connections know?
• What do they want from your business?
• New needs/markets?
• Product/Service Idea?
Rapport defined:
• Invisible bond
• Real connection with another
• Understanding and respect between people
Experts have found that rapport can be measured scientifically by measuring the pacing between two peoples speech. If one person speaks slowly, while the other speaks quickly, chances are they are not going to build rapport with one another.
Learn to effectively pace your clients; You can instantly increase your skill at building rapport by simply being attentive of the other person.
• Pace your speech to another’s speech and tone
o Shows that you understand their emotion
o Helps forge a bond
o Breaks down resistance
www.entrepreneur.com
Networking defined:
Structured plan to get to know people who will do business with you or introduce you to those who will.
Elevator Speech Key Points to Cover
1. Target customers
2. The market alternative
3. How you are better
4. Your problem solving capacity
5. Your competition
6. Your key solutions
www.about.com
search: networking
Networking Books:
• Make your connections count: Networking know-how for Business and Career Success by Anne Barber and Lynne Waymon
• Guerilla Networking: A Proven Battle Plan to Attract the Very People You Want to Meet by Jay Conrad Levinson and Monroe Mann
• Endless Referrals: Network Your Everyday Contacts Into Sales by Bob Burg
Propel Prospects Into Partners
No matter what your business is… you are in sales!
• Sales and relationships are directly related
• You are selling when you don’t even THINK you are selling
When Selling Your Product
You are not only selling a product, you are selling yourself as a member of a relationship
Create Partnerships
Not with just your business co-owner
• They help you realize your dream
• You help them create their dream
• Partners can be your
o Clients
o Colleagues
o Consultants
o Vendors
o Other Associates
Use the same principles as the 4 steps of a cold call!
o Attain you goal of relationship building
o Turn prospects into business partners
1. Opening/Qualifying
o Making initial contact to determine interest
o Always be on the lookout for a chance to discuss your business
o Know your elevator speech
o Open conversations and qualify prospects
2. Interviewing
o Process of learning how your prospect has used competing products in the past
To successfully interview your prospects, you need to discover how YOUR product or service will benefit THEM
You must FOCUS on your client’s version of the BENEFITS, that is the ONLY thing that really matters
Your business relationships should be profitable, rewarding, and satisfying to both partners
As you get to know a person, you will begin to develop a better idea of how you might profit from them, and they from you
3. Presentation
o Presenting your product or service to a prospect
o Use a careful, well-planned strategy
When you have a clear idea of how you can benefit your prospect, you are ready to make your presentation, or “pitch”
Sales is nothing more than the power of influence
The ideal time to present any proposal, is shortly after you’ve done something valuable for that person
4. Close
o Ask for the sale (or relationship)
Trade leads and referrals
o Continually look for new ways to help each other build your client base and credibility
Find a connector for your business
o Connectors are very social
o Put you in touch with their network
Work those 6 degrees of separation!
Connectors and Leads
o Use LinkedIn.com
o Their site has 23 million users who are on average about 41 years old and earn $110,000 a year.
o Chain of connections available online
o Mention your referral’s name when following up on a lead
The person, or lead, is more likely to be receptive to what you have to say when you mention the friend you have in common
Continually Cultivate Your Connections
1. Build strategic alliances
• Partnership created to achieve a joint goal
o Participate in supply orders with other businesses to receive bulk order discounts
o Team up on promotional campaigns
o Share distribution channels, technology, and R&D efforts
“Companies that use alliances earn up to 18% more revenues from these partnerships” - Small Business Notes
2. Solicit Feedback
• Ask your customer… how can I help?... what can I improve?
o Listen to the answers
Develop new strategies
Improve a specific aspect of your business
Communicate how you used feedback to improve
Reconnect with clients who have lost touch
3. Learn about your associates
• Everyone is different
o Learn about and from others’ differences
o Discuss the personal lives of people in your network
o Share the same about yourself
o Use what you learn to advance relationships
Ask questions, make a connection, go in that direction
4. Remember special occasions
• Honor special and significant occasions
o Send a card or make a phone call
o Record dates and information on a digital organizer
o Use a service like Send Out Cards
5. Classify and prune your relationships
• Evaluate each element of your business
o Review contact list around the holidays
• Distinguish which are KEY contacts:
o Valuable accounts and critical vendors
o High lifetime value
Apply the tips to building relationships most frequently to your key accounts
• Some relationships are more productive than others
o Which are more work than they are worth?
o Which have a low lifetime value?
o Which are costing you?
7 Step Pruning Process
1. Define your “client from hell” (or vendor, consultant, or employee)
2. Decide who should be pruned
o Usually, people from step 1
3. Get rid of unrewarding clients
o Make room for the right clients
4. Define ideal clients
o Consider personality and demeanor
5. Identify favorite clients
6. Identify the qualities of you favorite clients that separate them from the rest
7. Turn the rest into great clients
o Use the list of qualities from step 6
Suggested Book:
Book Yourself Solid: The fastest, easiest, and most reliable system for getting more clients than you can handle even if you hate marketing and selling by Michael Port
Social Media/Social Networking
Social Media has overtaken porn as the #1 activity on the Web
1 out of 8 couples married in the U.S. last year met via social media
Years to reach 50 million users:
Radio – 38 years
TV – 13 years
Internet – 4 years
IPod – 3 years
Facebook added 100 million users in less than 9 months
iPod Application downloads hit 1 Billion in 9 months
If Facebook were a country, it would be the world’s 4th largest
If MySpace was a country, it would be the 8th largest
1. China
2. India
3. United States
4. facebook
5. Indonesia
6. Brazil
7. Pakistan
8. MySpace
2009 US Department of Education study revealed that n average, online students out performed those receiving face-to-face instruction…
1 in 6 higher education students are enrolled in online curriculum
80% of companies are using LinkedIn as their primary tool to find employees
LinkedIn site has 23 million users who are on average about 41 years old and earn $110,000 a year.
100,000,000 - number of users who log on to Facebook at least once each day
The fastest growing segment on Facebook is 55-65 year old females
Ashton Kutcher and Ellen DeGeneres have more Twitter followers than the entire population of Ireland, Norway and Panama
80% of Twitter usage is on mobile devices
People update anywhere, anytime
Imagine what that means for bad customer experiences?
YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine in the world
>100,000,000 videos
There are over 200,000,000 Blogs
54% of bloggers post content or tweet daily
25% of search results for the Worlds Top 20 largest brands are links to user-generated content.
34% of bloggers post opinions about products & brands
People care more about how their social graph ranks products and services than how Google ranks them.
78% of consumers trust peer recommendations
Only 14% trust advertisements
Only 18% of traditional TV campaigns generate a positive ROI
90% of people that can TiVo ads do
Hulu has grown from 63 million total streams in April 2008 to 373 million in April 2009
70% of 18 to 34 year olds have watched TV on the Web
…only 33% have ever viewed a show on DVR/TiVo
25% of Americans in the past month said they watched a short video on their phone
24 of the 25 Largest Newspapers are experiencing record declines in circulation
We no longer search for the news, the news finds us…
In the near future, we will no longer search for products and services…
They will find us via social media
Social media is a fundamental shift in the way we communicate
More than 1.5 million pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photos, etc.) are shared on Facebook daily
Successful companies in social media act more like party planners, aggregators, and content providers than traditional advertisers.
7 Secrets of Social Media
1. Be remarkable
2. Be fun
3. Be helpful
4. Be supportive
5. Be controversial
6. Be resourceful
7. Be yourself