First and foremost, take stock of your financial situations, and that means your savings, emergency funds, retirement assets and your monthly fixed and variable expenses. This is going to be a life changing event, so there is no getting around this very important first task. You need to start here, and that is evaluating your financial situation with all honesty.
Technique: Before you go on an appointment with a client, visit their LinkedIn profile. One of their connections could be a good candidate for your product or service. When you visit your client, ask them if they could help you by way of providing an introduction to the individual as they know them.
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.
Enter the room with confidence, stand up straight and smile. Look for a friendly face and introduce yourself. If you don’t see an opportunity to meet someone right away don’t panic. A sure fire way to strike up a conversation is to get in a line (to sign in, for food, for drinks, for the restrooms). You can also approach the person hosting the event and ask for an introduction. In addition, if the list of attendees is available prior to the meeting you can identify someone you would like to meet and approach someone to ask if the person you are looking for is at the meeting.
Make sure your breath is fresh; take a pack of gum or some peppermints in your pocket and SMILE. People are far more networking tips australia likely to talk to you if you look happy. A big old frown will turn everybody off.
If your feet hurt or the food sucks, keep your comments to yourself. Nobody likes a whiner. If everyone else complains about the food though, go ahead and join in, you don’t want people to think you’re starving!
This is my favorite part. There is nothing better than sending a blank excel sheet to a virtual assistant and getting back all the contact information you need on potential clients. Contact person, phone number, email, websites, everything you need. And not only that, they’ll even import it into your contact management software defined networking, mailing list, or even submit friend requests to them on Facebook! I love it!
Are you confident in how you look? Knowing that you look good can really bolster your own self-confidence. Get your hair trimmed, manicure your nails and make sure your suit is pressed and clean, and your shirt is freshly laundered and ironed. Shine your shoes and plan your outfit at least a few days before. That way if you find an ugly stain on your jacket you will have time to get I cleaned!
Your network can be a source of business, of friendship, of support, of information, of the things you need to build your business and lead a satisfying life. Something that important shouldn’t be done scattershot. Put thought and effort into surrounding yourself with the right people, and being an important part of their networks as well.