Olympics – Love them or Loathe Them?

I recently overheard a conversation where 2 people were talking about the work that one of their mentors was doing. The comment that struck me was “I don’t want to have to do all that….”

Too often it seems to me that people are looking for the quick fix, for the way to have everything without doing anything.

So let me be controversial here.

“To be successful you need to put in the effort.”

Just ask any of the Olympic athletes competing in London! They have worked incredibly hard for their chance to represent their country in their chosen sport. Business is exactly the same.

I heard Loral Langmeier describe herself as a 14 year overnight success! She seemed to suddenly appear in the media and be the expert in her field – yet it had taken her years and years of work to get to that point. There are so many people that I do hear this from, it really excites me. You see, I don’t tell you this to scare you or frustrate you; I tell you this to encourage you to keep going.

Building a business is hard work and requires determination and effort. Yes, there are people who achieve rapid success with seemingly little effort. However, they are in the minority and we do not always know what is happening behind the scenes.

Sometimes I wish that I taught a get rich quick skill rather than networking. I am sure that it would be more attractive and easier to sell. However, teaching people to build their businesses through building relationships means that they will get great results over time.

However, I am willing to put in the effort and do the work – are you? What I will leave you with are 3 things to do that will speed up the process of getting amazing results from your networking.

1. Be strategic.

Consider where and with whom you are spending your time. Networking is all about who is not in the room as it is about building connections; however, you can be strategic about the types of businesses in the room and the type of network you can most benefit from and bring benefit to. Ask yourself whether the network is more business or more social and which you prefer, whether the businesses represented are larger or smaller and how that fits with your target market, whether your particular business is over- or underrepresented.

2. Add value.

You cannot just become a part of a networking group, sit there and expect referrals, clients, business and money to fall into your lap. Always be thinking about how you can add the most value. Can you offer assistance to the people directly in the group? Can you take on a leadership role? Can you bring specific visitors? Can you make more introductions?

3. Ask for what you really want.

Spend some time preparing so you know what most helps your business. Are there certain people that can bring you massive repeat business or who can facilitate large scale introductions? Do you need specialist help in an area of your business and you are not sure where to go with that? Are you looking for team members and can you ask for that?

Building a business takes time and effort. Are you truly willing to do what it takes to achieve the success that you are really looking for?

Will you do what it takes?

Relationship Marketing Expert Ruth Thirtle works with Small Business owners all around the world on how to get greater results for their networking, attract the right clients and engage in inspiring profitable conversations. This article is from her blog www.businessnetworker.co and you can access previous blog posts there if you liked this one.

Until next time,

Cath

Cath Daley Ltd.