Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Building Relationships and Conversation – Networking to the Rescue


Networking and relationship marketing is an extremely important part of our business, as it should be for any entrepreneur or business owner. In a recent blog by Carol Roth, she identifies three critical components to networking, you can find out more by following this link: http://tinyurl.com/cm6bbrh
Networking is NOT about seeing how many business cards you can give out. It is more about the connections you can make (for yourself and others). Networking is about making relationships, coming from a place of service, and following up on the contacts you make.
Think about your best networking experience. What made it so great?  How did you show up? Far too often I see business owners go to a networking event and sit with people they know.  While it is great to catch up with colleagues, the point of networking is to meet new contacts.
A great book on Networking is Relationship Networking- The Art of Turning Contacts into Connections by Sandra Yancey. You can find out more here:

I recently had the opportunity to interview Sandra Yancey about networking, business and entrepreneur success and finding balance in the midst of it all. She talked about the importance of building relationships, following up and finding ways to serve others. Sandra also talked about the importance of maintaining relationships “the old fashioned way” with phone calls and face to face meetings. She talks about finding the common ground with people you meet then finding ways to help them.