Networking For New Business

Networking Is Key To Getting New Business

Networking was the single activity outside of marketing that blew doors open, brought us new clients, and increased our influence as well as our bottom line. We went to all kinds of networking events and we learned that none are better than others. All work, it is just that some work differently from others. In meetings where only four people showed up we wrote two major sales. At beer and wings events we met many people and they were added to our vortex immediately by connecting with them on LinkedIn. We began to love weekly referral meetings and learned to engage the whole group to become our own sales force. It was enjoyable and it was fruitful. It was a powerful tool when we met people online and then met them at a networking meeting and then again at a coffee shop.

Marketing Or Networking?

I am always baffled by those who ask me if they should spend their money on marketing or networking? That is like saying should I drink liquids or breath? Both are essential to life. I can't imagine trying to hang onto one while forsaking the other! Why would you choose?

Marketing must happen. It is the support behind the scenes for all other sales efforts. These days people look you up on Google so you better be there and be there a lot! Marketing produces all of the things that people see when you meet them through networking. What they find out about you online may determine why they decide to do business with you and it is the basis by which they compare you to your competitors. However, you can't make sales if you don't know anyone. Who you know is important. How well they know you is important. How they feel about you is important.

Networking Is About Relationships

Relationships are the main factor in networking. Some people get excited that they know someone famous online, but the real value comes with those we meet and really network with. An online relationship only goes so far. Some people put great value on their distance communication list and there is some merit in it, but don’t let the fact that Arnold Schwarzenegger talks to you on LinkedIn deceive you into thinking you are somebody big locally. That is not the only basket you need eggs in. Who you know right here, right now, and how they feel about you is more important if you are a local business person.

Make friends. Play nice in the sandbox. Lean the rules of engagement because there are rules of engagement whether you realize it or not. If you want to succeed fast you need to know how to play the game. Giving is best. When in doubt give some more. Give time. Give value. Give referrals. Give yourself. Buy drinks. Hand out gifts. Shake hands. Look people in the eye. Smile. Give some more. This is how one builds relationships that matter.

You will make mistakes. You will inadvertently insult someone. Go apologize. Give that too. These are all lessons of networking and building relationships. You are a real networker when you have 200 people or more that you could call on the phone and say “Hey, I’m having a party” and they don’t ask “Who is this?” They just ask what they can bring. People want to be around a networker. They like others who invest in relationships.

Real networkers don’t just invite people to come to their deal. They can be successful inviting because they were already out attending. They went to the events, the private parties, the coffee meetings, the birthday gatherings, the Stampede Pancake Breakfast and the celebrations. They are widely connected because they left their office. There is a lot of work that goes in behind the scenes for next overnight sensation.

We made networking a lifestyle and it has significantly increased our bottom line. Bob Francis, Zechariah James and myself go to our own events, to others events, and we take in personal events. We plan them into our schedules, we coordinate with each other where we are going and who will cover which event. As a result we are writing larger business deals every month. We are becoming connectors who connect others to the people and things they need and we are teaching those valuable networking skills to our members at the CIBN as well.

Networking will help you to succeed faster and it brings you new business!

Marketing Makes A Difference

Marketing can’t wait until your product is ready to go to market. That is too late. At that point you NEED sales and a needy sales person can’t sell very well. The pressure is too great. So marketing has to start early.

It is wonderful if you have the money to get a nice fat marketing package, build a brand, get everything perfect and then start a systematic approach but the reality is most small business owners don't start that way. Most start with a skill or an idea. They get busy doing and then they find some customers and then when they realize they have something that sells they look around and consider that they want a bigger piece of the pie. Now they think of marketing. Sometimes it is too far into the process and they are already in financial trouble. Or perhaps they have a large client so they don't think there is a need to spend the money, but marketing is essential to ongoing success. It needs to start right away, it needs to continue when times are good, and it needs to already driving business towards you when that one big client does a sudden exit.

Marketing Does Not Have To Be Expensive

I had no money at all three years ago, but fortunately I had some social media skills that others did not have yet. I used these skills on my own business as well as for clients and that got the ball rolling. I could not afford radio, TV, newspaper so there simply was no dispute about where to spend marketing dollars. That proved to be a good thing because while others were debating the merits of social media I had no choice but to put my all into it and fortunately it worked magically. We became our own best customer. We drank our own koolaid. Later when Loyal2U would sell our services we could say with confidence that Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn when used properly will get your phone ringing. The fact that we were still in business was proof positive. If it did not work we would have been in the 80% that had failed. We only used social media marketing. We never used anything else.

Social Media Marketing Is Effective

Later when I began growing the Calgary Business Network and then the Canadian Imperial Business Network we hired Loyal2U to do our marketing. For the networks we continued to only use social media marketing. Our phone rings every week, many times a week. When they call, they are looking to attend a meeting or buy a membership on the spot. The marketing works.

We used to have to prove that it works every day to every potential client. Now more and more people are hearing success stories and social media marketing is becoming more accepted as a viable marketing option. While some are still ingrained in archaic methods, most forward moving companies have at least the basics in place.

Marketing Can Be Integrated Across Multiple Platforms

Many of the Loyal2U clients came to us already using magazine articles, radio, web design and promotional events. We learned exciting ways to integrate their marketing with the online work that we were doing through social media, blogging and YouTube.

Marketing also included having business cards, brochures, sales support pieces, and being sure that the website answered the necessary questions. The CBN inherited our websites in acquisitions and again had little money for making them the perfectly designed platform. So we did the best we could and we made sure that they were at least clean with good information. That was enough. The social media marketing added to that was what made the difference. Every week tweets and posts were consistently made. Blogs were written. Publications were created. A funnel of activity was produced and it began to pay off in a short period of time.

Good Marketing Assists The Sales Process

Marketing makes the sales job easier. It takes at least 7 touches to get the sale. If a person has already seen you on Facebook, looked at your Linkedin profile, and read your blog they have been touched 3 times before they even met you. It is now easier to get to the 7^th touch. The sales cycle is shortened. Marketing is key to your business success. You must invest in it, and there is a cost to a successful marketing program. Time and money are necessary. Many companies make the mistake of investing thousands of dollars into their product and do not prepare the market to receive their product. The stage needs to be set and followers need to be gained so that when the announcements of new products come there is a group of connected people listening to that message.

At first we had no money so we put in lots of time and then we were able to hire a couple of people to help out and we put more time and money into it. Now it is a free flowing vortex of activity. But why wouldn’t you do it? Why would you spend thousands of dollars on a facility, IT, infrastructure and other things but not invest in your marketing? We spent more money on marketing that on any other expense and that is what made the difference. It is one of three things that we now tell people has created success for the CIBN network and our other affiliations.

We hope that you put some priority on your marketing. Tell us how you are doing.

Always Loyal2U,

Kerry George

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Vision Takes Time

I remember a year ago sitting down to brainstorm on an idea called The Excalibur Sponsorship Program. We thought we were pretty smart and that this was such a no-brainer that everyone would get it right away. We did market research. We analysed potential strengths and weaknesses of the program. We considered who would be a good fit for the opportunity. Certain that everyone we wanted would join us immediately we prepared materials, we got our statistics in order and we trained our staff. Sounds like a fairly well thought out plan, doesn't it?

Even a good plan takes time to implement and ours was no different. Walt Disney discovered that it can take years for your great idea to catch on. Mickey Mouse and Fantasia were decades ahead of the public, fortunately though Walt had other ideas that sustained his growth while the common man caught up to him.

Last year I encountered an individual who had an idea to create a new kind of company. It sounded like a good idea to me but frankly I have no idea if they did diligence or not. They did put a tremendous amount of time into the project and then just before the product launched the person’s sister discouraged them from continuing. Based on the “expert” advice of an unemployed naysayer that had never made more than the poverty level in 40 years of earning potential the project was shelved. Probably that was for the best because if one cannot withstand the verbal assault of a relative one certainly can’t withstand the onslaught of strangers who may actually be professionals. Was the project a dud though? We will never know.

There will always be those who do not agree with you. If you are sticking your head above the crowd you can expect someone to take a shot at you. It is the nature of humanity. Remember that nobody ever accomplished anything great without discomfort, but if the vision is strong, your persistence will prevail. The journey of vision is difficult but the rewards are worthy of the endeavour. 

Write your vision down. Think about it often with focus. Care for it and protect it from those who would bring damage to it. Work the steps that take you closer to it's completion.

Everything worthwhile takes effort and consistency. Count the cost and if you want the end result, get to work. Vision is not going to be attained in a fortnight. Vision is a long term arrangement. It takes bigness of character to develop vision and a hero-like fortitude to accomplish it. Strategies can be thought out over weeks or months but implementing the plans can take decades. One needs to know their road, accept their road with surety, and then put one foot in front of the other until they finish. If one sees the journey as the end result one never really gets there – they just enjoy the process…

Vision takes take time to accomplish, but I hope you have the biggest vision ever and that you consider it worthy of your pursuit.

Always Loyal2U,

Kerry George

"A leader has the vision and conviction that a dream can be achieved. He inspires the power and energy to get it done.”   — Ralph Lauren

A vision is a bigger picture than just a mission statement. The vision is the broader version. This video clip explains the difference between a vision and a mission statement. We can have these over aspects of our life as well as for our business. They are useful tools to identify priorities. Just remember that the vision takes time to accomplish!

The Danger Of Too Many Income Streams

There is a danger in too many income streams.

When I first got into business I was given a lot of bad advice. Most of the bad advice was camouflaged in layers of what seemed to be good advice. These things sounded like good ideas on the outside but the reality was they did not work, or they would not work for me, so I had to figure that out. Unfortunately the journey takes a lot of time and work and one can die on the trail of good ideas if they get lost there simply because real income is not being made in the process.

One of these seemingly good ideas was this one of having multiple income streams. It sounds good. Who wouldn't want to be diversified. This makes sense because: 

• If one is only in one country doing business we can be taken out by one disaster that happens locally.
• You appeal to more people if you have more product lines.
• You can reach more people with a variety of ventures.
• If you lost one source of income you would have another to replace it.
• You can use one source of income for living and another one as your savings, or your investment fund, or your educational fund, or whatever you need as a safety net.
• There is power in leveraging. Whether that means having more money to leverage, or having the skills of many people working with you in a network marketing venture. Leverage is a good thing.

If I had a job, I would definitely want a side business to protect me from losing my employment. I would want the tax advantages of owning my own business and I would want to get more back that I paid needlessly to income taxes.

So if all of this is true. What is the danger of too many income streams?

The danger in this ADHD world is a lack of focus. One can get too busy doing too many good things and never focus. Real, lasting success and success that produces income really happens as a result of focus. So anything that takes you away from your mission in life is not a good idea after all, no matter what it sounds like or looks like on paper.

Are you going to change your whole life to put your focus into the new venture? If the answer is “yes” and you can do it with all your heart, then go for it, but you will have to let other things go. Focus on the new idea and give it the opportunity to give you success in it. Otherwise it is not profitable to change course or to even shift off the course you are on by a little bit. A ship that is off mark by even 1% will arrive at the wrong destination.

Does the new idea go with the other big idea that is your real focus? If it is complimentary and does not take a lot of time there may be a reason to add it to your portfolio, but you need to count the cost before you begin to build. Are you already doing most or some of the things required? Is there someone you could partner with or bring in to do some of the additional work? How realistic is their involvement level going to be? Can you hire and pay someone to handle the excess workload? With partnering or hiring it may be a good fit if it works alongside what you are doing, but questions need to be asked and answered before beginning.

How many things can you do? Most people can do one or two well. A few people can do four or five things well, but usually as one of those things gets busier the others lag for need of attention. Then one needs to be able to delegate. Do you have anyone you can delegate these tasks to? If the answer to that question is “no” then you need to STOP adding more to your plate. You don’t need many good income streams, you need a couple of good income streams that have commonalities so you can manage them better.

Self-made millionaires have a common story. They were intensely focused for a period of their lives to attain what they have. While others yacked about balance, these people lived very focused and unbalanced lives for 2-25 years to get to where they are. They gave up other things. They said “no” to many good ideas and said “yes” to other ones that fit their long-term vision. While others jumped from company to company, they stayed focused. While others got into every multi-level business that came along, they said “no” to most and occasionally “yes” to one that added some kind of value to their existing plan. If it did not work, they learned quickly and moved on. They created seasons in their life where their focus may have shifted from business operation, to real estate investment but they stayed focused on the big picture. They bought and sold but they stayed true to their passion.

It is good to have options but too many income streams can make you lose focus.

Always Loyal2U,

Kerry George

Here is Tyler Perry talking about how he focused on one thing for a long time and then he had a breakthrough. It will inspire you!

Cashflow 101 For Cash Flow

Last night I got together with a group of friends and played the game Cashflow 101 created by Robert Kiyosaki. It was amazing. If you ever get the chance to play it, I highly recommend it. The board reminds one of life and all of the challenges that come up to try and limit your profits and restrict your cash flows. You are stuck in this purgatory state  called the Rat Race until you can get your passive income higher than your total expenses. The game really got me thinking about what really creates cash flow in real life.

Over the last couple of years I have been learning a lot about cash flow and revenue and I thought I was getting a better grip on it all, but last night I learned something important. It seemed that revenue should be going up but this nasty number under the “passive income” category was barely going up, while the “total expenses” number had no problem climbing. It was infuriating until I figured out that “passive income” was different than “total income.” In life it means that “passive income” is not the same as “revenue.”

Revelation #1 - Revenue must be worked for - every month. Revenue is dependent on something happening. This morning I got up and examined all of my business interests. Guess what I found? All of my brilliant ideas from the last two years have not been that brilliant after all. Just about all of them are revenue based. So every time I try to get ahead I use the method of producing more sales, which produces more work as those clients need to be maintained. Revenue has a cost in time, labor and thought every month. I have four businesses that produce revenue. Each business has an expense list almost as high as the total income. It feels a lot like last night as we all were struggling to get out of the first area of play to get into the big area where our dreams were waiting to be found.

Revelation #2 - I need more passive income. I need to invest in things that bring in money every month without a high cost of time, effort and thought. I need little money slaves that are working to bring in more while I sleep. I need to pay attention to these possible opportunities. I need to have an open mind but I must also be shrewd about my focus. I can’t afford to chase rabbits. It has to fit into the current plan without a huge effort but yet produce more passive income. Not every deal is a good deal. Not every good deal on the table is a good deal for me. One must examine each opportunity and carefully consider if it will indeed produce passive income.

Revelation #3 - I don’t know anything about real estate, stocks, mutual funds, or investments. I do know and understand business to some degree but I am empty of all investment knowledge. It is time to go learn something. We can all try to pretend we are smart, but the reality will show up somewhere. The fact is, I have to admit I don’t know enough about these things. Those with millions of dollars of passive income do know these things. I can convince myself I am just fine and smart enough, or I can admit the truth and grow. Pride will keep me where I am at.

Revelation #4 - Playing this game changed the way I thought. Playing it more will help critical thinking. I now know that I need to raise my passive income. What will I learn next week when I play the game again?

I challenge you to try this game. You will learn things you never knew you needed to know. We are going to keep meeting to play it. If you are in Calgary and you want to come give me a call. I will get you invited to an evening out with a bunch of crazy, excited business people who want to learn a little more and go a lot further.

 

Always Loyal2U,

Kerry George

403-397-1909