Being An Effective Networker Can Make Or Break Your Success If you’re someone serious about growing your business, you know how important networking is as a tool to market your product and services.

Today, networking can occur anywhere - at a formal event, a casual luncheon, online or at the supermarket. So, let me ask you - when asked, “What do you do?” what do you say? Are you able to comfortably deliver your message in a way that makes people want to know more? Even hire you? .

Years ago, when first getting my business off the ground, I heard my colleagues continually say that in order to effectively network, you had to have a compelling elevator speech. So, I came up with all kinds of ways to try to articulate what I do. I took classes to help me “get to the heart” of my message. At one point, I thought” I finally got it. I now know what I do for my clients!” I practiced saying my speech (memorizing it really!) and left to deliver my message to the next group of prospects. .

Guess what happened? Not much. People smiled at me, nodded and moved on to the next person. That was years ago. Effective networking today is very different from the 80’s and 90’s. Now I network very differently. Read on to learn some tips I picked up along the way…...

Five tips and some mistakes to avoid:

1. Having a niche(s) is critical to building your business. If you haven’t identified one or more key niches that become part of your brand, you might be wasting a lot of precious time, money, and energy marketing your business. If you speak in general terms, people will have difficulty grasping what you do. Forget trying to be all things to everyone. I can’t tell you how many times I stand in front of people who give me all sorts of information and I still have no idea what they do. They speak in generalities and industry jargon. What that tells me is they have no idea what they do or they lack the words to articulate their value to clients.

Is that you?

2. Dump your so-called practiced elevator speech. That’s what it is - a speech. Instead, plan on having conversations with people. Be yourself rather than trying to impress people. The first thing people buy is YOU before they become interested in your product or service. Being genuinely interested in getting to know who people are and what they need. Developing quality relationships is KEY to growing your business. Tip: Grab this book if you don’t have it: Never Eat Alone, by Keith Ferrazzi. This is a must-have business building book!

3. Identify your target audience. Who is your ideal client? Not sure? What specific attributes, interests, challenges, and qualities comprise your perfect client - in other words, what kinds of people do you enjoy working with? Had great success with?

4. Find out where your target market goes to network both online and offline. Hot social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Plurk, LinkedIn, and MySpace are gaining in popularity as an important networking trend. Include forums and yahoo groups to the mix as a must to increase visibility and make connections. Remember that building relationships takes time.

5. When discussing what you do, talk specifically about the value you bring to your clients. Remember that people are listening for, “What’s in it for me? Why should I care?” Consider sharing a brief success story that highlights a challenge you helped a client overcome or a result they achieved. Not sure what benefits you provide to your clients.

Ask them. They’ll tell you why they enjoy working with you.

Copyright © 2007. Lorraine Cohen. All Rights Reserved