You’ve been to networking groups and meetings that people tell you will multiply your chances of success. Some of them will, some of them won’t, and some of them might. How can you tell, at the first meeting, whether this group is going to help you succeed? What kinds of behavior will give you the clues you need? Here are a few ways that you will know.
Join your local Chamber of Commerce networking zone get involved in community events and activities expand into surrounding communities! Pass out flyers, get business cards made up and hand them out to everyone you meet, talk to everyone you possibly can about your business.
I will do that tomorrow. The art of procrastination and lack of follow-through is where it all starts to fall apart. You begin to get so unfocused and pulled in so many directions that you never really finish or follow-through with anything. Once this habit has started, it is hard to break. Try to stay focused on one project at a time and do not get sidetracked. This is very hard to do in Internet marketing, but staying focused on one article marketing strategy at a time will produce bigger results.
I guarantee you will wonder why you even started doing this and it will happen many times. Building a home business can be extremely frustrating and overwhelming at times. That is when connecting with other business builders online and offline can help keep you focused. Join some networking groups so you can talk to others who are going through the same experiences and feelings as you are. Remind yourself why you started your own business in the first place. You can work through these feelings.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Kathie Thomas, the founder of the Virtual Assistant industry in Australia, in a live tele-seminar for Wonderful Web Women. I asked Kathie to share with us where she suggested you should start if you intend to become a Virtual Assistant. Here are Kathie’s tips.
Look for future job fairs or events in your community by calling the local Chamber of Commerce. A booth supplied with exceptional materials is a perfect setup to advertise. Join or visit all the local Chamber of Commerce locations in your area. They hold monthly events and mixers.
While the risks are many the reward in many cases will outweigh the risk. You should choose to jump in if this is the case. But you should do so after careful examination of all the factors that will impact your success. The most successful launches of new groups always begin by identifying a core group of key participants that will bring excitement to the group. These participants should be people you know well but don’t network with as often as you would like. Once you’ve identified a core group, choose a day of the week and time that works for everyone and stick to it. Have an initial meeting to get the group going and to determine the other business categories you wish to fill. Then plan a launch party with at least four weeks notice.
Get started. Don’t wait for someone to pay you to be what you want to be. Just software defined networking do it! If you want to prove you can design logos, for example, volunteer to redesign the logo for your friend’s small business. Or simply redesign some existing corporate logos for demonstration purposes.
Keep in mind, when someone gives you a lead, that someone is most likely giving your potential customer feed back. So that potential customer will have your name, and know when the lead was given to you.
The ideal communication, and using these online marketing and networking tips, offer your customers and prospects a variety of avenues to hear from and about you. You want ‘fans’ that want to hear from you – and you have to reach out to them and bring them closer to you as your online community.