Notes

Building Valuable Connections
Forward

"Building Valuable Connections: Inside & Out" was written to meet the countless demands from my clients and associates to find out more on this important topic.

Four years ago, when I founded my own consulting & training company, I was primarily worried about increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of sales organizations. There I was, happily doing GAP Analyses to determine that which was wrong, and delivering tips for improvement. This might frequently be followed by an application of training & coaching.

My business expanded, and I was often asked to speak on topics such as for example selling and business networking. SINCE I HAVE was an avid person in Toastmaster's International and the National Speaker's Association, I'd jump at the chance to talk with these audiences.

The demands for my services changed over time, partly because of my speaking requests. They evolved from expounding on sales techniques to topics such as for example Career Networking Strategies, and How to Influence from the Podium. The common thread uniting these topics was the underlying theme of creating Valuable Connections.

Whether selling, presenting, or networking, the skilled professional seeks to create a number of trusted connections.
WHEN I delved deeper into this subject, I began collecting my thoughts and putting them down on paper.

Yet another twist was added when it had been requested that my workshop be expanded to add the topic of internal communications and team development. Once again, this issue fit well under the umbrella heading of building connections of value, and a new theme was created.

What you read today in this simple booklet is a brief summary of my thoughts regarding how to be more efficient in establishing and growing our relationships with other individuals and groups. A large part of that proficiency rests on increasing one's ability to connect, communicate, also to build value.

Success is largely determined by one's ability to build lasting relationships with individuals who most matter.

It really is my hope that work will set you in relation to greater connections, enhanced networking, and improved relationships.

To Your Success!

Building Valuable Connections

Inside & Out

No-one achieves excellence on their own. Whether your organization is creating a meaningful career, developing a loving family, discovering an innovative idea, crafting a work of art, or developing a vast commercial empire, your success depends upon others, and theirs depends on you.

Walt Disney had this to state: "You can dream, create, design, and build probably the most wonderful idea on the planet, but it requires people to make the dream a reality."

The father of Mickey Mouse, Disneyland, and the Epcot center knew what he was discussing. He was an innovative genius with innovative ideas, tremendous energy, and the will to achieve success. Yet, without others joining his cause, his best ideas could have died before ever becoming reality.

You may be experiencing the ditto. You have guidelines, great experience, valuable insights, and tremendous energy. You've taken the initiative and launched your own business. Now, with full confidence and optimism, you expect the planet to beat a path to your door. And that means you wait. And wait. And wait even more.

What you must do is create a Team! You have to set up a network of valuable connections which interact to help one another out. You have to create an army of advocates that willingly take the initiative to recommend your company to whomever they meet. Likewise, they need YOU on their team to recommend their services.

Everyone on the team can win the overall game, if they all interact for the common good. Every person can achieve their goals by helping one another.

The key to success in life and in the business world would be to Build Valuable Connections!

You can find two deceptively easy steps to accomplish this:

1. Build Connections

2. Create Value

It's about Building Connections and Creating Value.

To accelerate performance you must first make a connection. On an individual level, we spend 90% of our lives alone, living in fear and loneliness. We simply assume that everybody else is "normal" and that we're the only real ones who have

these strange feelings of alienation. We know, deep down inside, that we don't belong here and that we never will. Everybody else seems to be happier, more adjusted, more affluent, and much more satisfied with just how things are going.

Perhaps Robert Heinlein was correct when he wrote his science-fiction classic "Stranger in a Strange Land." His main character, Michael Valentine Smith, grew up by Martians and had somehow developed highly-evolved skills including mental telepathy. When meeting folks from this planet for the first time, he noticed how lonely and unhappy they appeared to be. There was no bond, no connection between them. These were all strangers, even to each other.

These concepts are equally relevant to the business world. Getting connected and staying connected haven't been more important. Companies spend huge amount of money annually in an attempt to "create a connection" with their consumers. Besides media & advertising exposure, you might also need a plethora of technologically-enabled solutions such as for example website s, blogs, and Podcasts, and newsletters.

Of course, consumers and businesses have adopted defensive ways of filter the unwanted connections (spam) also to spot the desired communications with sophisticated electronic defense systems such as for example firewalls, "denied lists", voicemail, and elaborate security systems to protect their resources and folks.

The driving goal of most business communication would be to create visibility (i.e. connection with) your potential consumers. Success in business demands that you will get over the internal "loneliness" and self-centeredness, and focus your time and messages outside, on your own customers.

Your success in business, in your job, and in your life depends upon your ability to create value AND to established new connections. To build your personal team requires a deeper understanding and mastering the procedure of creating Valuable Connections.

Building Basics

First, some general comments on the main topics Building Connections.

Because the title implies, connections don't just happen, they are built. This requires taking action! If you wait for connections to happen, you'll be waiting for a long time! You need to take the time to create an Action Plan which has the aim of building the Right Connections you have to forward your purposes. Additionally, you will need to review each one of your present connections and classify them. Here are several sample categories:

Friends and Family

Associates

Partners

Prospects

Qualified Prospects

Customers & Clients

Referral Sources

Super-Connectors

Who do you Connect With?

The short answer is "everyone vital that you my business."

Harvey MacKay, among the world's best networking experts and writer of "Dig your prior to you're thirsty," explains some maxims about who you need to be networking (connecting) with:

1) If everyone in your network is the same as you, it isn't a network, it's an anthill.

2) Networking is not a numbers game. The theory is not to observe how many people you can meet. The idea would be to compile a list of people you can count on.

3) You can't continually be an expert. You can't always know a specialist. Nevertheless, you can always hire an expert.

Below are a few other advice on who for connecting with:

-- When you find someone that is well-connected, connect with them. If "everyone knows" Joe, so in the event you.

-- Ask around. If you are new to a meeting or group, find out who's running the meeting and obtain introduced to them. Then you can tell them who you are and who you want to meet.

-- Get introduced. When you create a valuable connection, have them expose you to others in their personal network. And be sure to come back the favor by introducing them to others in your network.

-- Plan beforehand. Look for out who'll be at the event beforehand. Should you choose your research, you'll know who you REALLY want to meet.

Where do people connect?

Everywhere! Any time two or more people are meeting there is an opportunity to create a connection. After learning more about one another and their businesses, they'll make decisions about whether this chance meeting has potential, and whether it ought to be expanded and changed into a more productive business connection.

There are a large number of locations where business people congregate, and you should make it your organization to get and use every one of them. Here's a short list:

Industry Associations

Networking Groups (BNI, RBN etc)

Company-wide meetings

Clubs & Hobbyists

Churches

Volunteer Groups

Chamber of Commerce, Rotary, Lions

Toastmasters International

Political Action Groups

Fundraising Groups & Events

ACTIVITIES (golf, baseball)

Alumni Groups

Special Interest Groups

College & University Events

Social Events (Plays, Opera, Music)

Any time people congregate, there is an opportunity to "meet & greet" also to connect with people who may be important. Needless to say, this can also be their opportunity to meet and connect to you. Whenever building connections, remember to take the initiative and provide to give first. The simplest way to get yourself a valuable connection started is to be the first to connect them with someone of value.

Since time is really a critically scarce commodity, you should spend it with folks who are the most highly relevant to your success. Therefore, you will need a method of selecting who, from on the list of billions of people available, would you like to make connection with.

You can do this right now. Make a list of all the people you would like to meet. This should include business leaders among others that might be most helpful to your career. Include companies that could be candidates for your services or products. Give it some careful thought, and think of a complete list. When the list is done, at this point you have a high impact "target list".

The next thing is to learn who you know that may know someone on the list. Or who have you any idea that may know someone who.......? You get the idea. Now you know exactly who you are looking for and you have a better plan.

Besides the planned list, you should always be on the lookout for new potential connections. This normally occurs if you find yourself among a crowd of individuals, mostly strangers. How can you make the optimum connections then?

Here's the simplest way to do that. When meeting someone new, learn their "sphere of influence." Utilize the following Connecting Drill at group events:

BUILDING CONNECTIONS DRILL

What do you do with your Connections?

Follow Up! If you've spent the time to meet and greet new people, and have sorted out the ones you want to build a relationship with, follow up! Enter the information into your contact database and follow-up within 2 days with a telephone call or an email at the very least.

Create a coffee meeting or luncheon. Do it within two days or the individual might just forget who you are and why it is critical to meet? This LAW should be cast in concrete and encased in gold. Follow up NOW!

When you do meet, that is when you have the opportunity to really establish your value and build the partnership. Remember, it needs to be a mutually beneficial relationship. Play the role of the one who gives first! Discover what you can do to greatly help your partner, and take action. Connect them with your other valuable connections whenever you can.

Your individual network of connections operates very similar to the internet. The linkages you build between and among your connections establish your value (ranking) in the search engines. The more you connect others with others, the more valuable you feel. When you make a connection and help another person, you have built good will among two people. All of them will now be actively looking to promote you and your services to their circle of friends.

There is no better connecting tool at your disposal than this. Connecting others with others builds your value across the network and will improve your worth by an exponential basis.

Think about the "Godfather" series of movies. Don Corleone was the main person in the entire movie because he was the "head to" person. He knew everyone worth focusing on and he could get the job done. He actively looked out for his friends and he ensured they were introduced to each other. He sat at the nexus of most of the communication lines. He was the crossing point, and he created the connections!

The Inside Connection

This is called "Looking after Business." Your established network (your rolodex) includes your present associates, friends, contacts, and partners. You curently have built a Community of Contacts. Now it's time to deliver VALUE to the existing network and take care of them like they're family. Here's how:

Deliver Great Service

Make them Special

Get Testimonials

Distribute Testimonials/Post them

Give Referrals to

Get Referrals from

Expand your Database of Contacts

--- friends

--- clients

--- referral sources

--- Super Connectors

Publish Newsletters & Blogs

Special Website login for the "secret sauce"

INTERNET AFFILIATE MARKETING --- Web

Co-Branded Events (Seminars, Workshops)

Co-Sponsor Events

Remember their Important Dates

Make it Personal

Hand out Valuable Reports/White Papers

Special Offers

Free attendance at your Events

Rewards Programs

Spiffs for Referrals

Cultivate Referral Sources (parallel services)

When asked, consultants will tell you that 80-90% of these business originates from referrals, and it is vitally important to deal with these "inside" connections. So should you.

The Outside Connection

This is actually the extremely powerful business expansion system which a lot of people call networking. I prefer calling it Creating HOME BASED BUSINESS Connections by Building Value.

A network filled hastily with anyone and everyone does not have any value. Rushing through networking meetings and handing out your business card to anyone who breathes may feel just like it's networking, but it has no value. Sending out email blasts or mailings to "the planet" is really a waste of time and money. Today's smart marketers prefer to TARGET their marketing. When building your personal/business network, you have to adopt exactly the same principles. This implies you target who should be in your network, and you find ways to build a connection to them. It is a precise activity, not haphazard.

Here are come of the greatest methods you can use to create external connections:

Newsletter

Networking Groups

Industry Associations

Speaking Opportunities

Writing

Prove your Expertise

Positive Press

Communicate Your Value

Give Away Something

"Who are you aware who"

Networking Meetings --- Strategies

Research

Target Market Analysis

Target your Networking

Be Helpful

Target who you intend to Meet

Find the Super Connectors--and connect

Working a Networking Event- Tips & Techniques

A networking event can be defined as anytime several people gather together with the reason for exchanging ideas, information, or resources.

The main element component is RESOURCES. You're a resource in their mind. Additional hints 're a resource for you. You are already exchanging information and ideas. Where it becomes most effective is when you can now connect them with other resources in your network and vice-versa.

You want to end up being the Conductor....the one who is directing traffic. You're at the intersection and you are directing traffic in one point to another. Without you in the middle, these two other connecting points could not know about each other. You're the glue which attaches them. Therefore, you are the in a position of power and influence.

The right networking attitude is to Be a Resource, Not a Vendor. You should approach the ending up in the resolve to help make everyone else in the meeting more lucrative. Your talent in connecting them with other people, resources, and ideas is the key to your individual success.

To make the most effective use of your time, it is advisable to spend it with the people who find themselves most important to your organization.

There are three Kinds of People at a Networking Event:

1. Decision Makers

2. Centers of Influence to Decision Makers

3. All Others

Your key objective is to identify the Decision Makers or Centers of Influence and to minimize spending excessive amounts of time with other people.

Some more Suggestions for Effective Networking

1. Carry Business Cards at all Times

2. The purpose of Networking is to WIDEN your circle of Friends. Don't just hang out with people you already know.

3. Speak to Everyone. Whenever two different people meet, it is a networking event.

4. Allow other person speak, and you also LISTEN.

5. Be Helpful. Give first. "How do i help you" is MAGIC.

6. Be Memorable. Short and Sweet and Memorable.

7. Networking isn't Sales, it's about developing relationships.

Building Value

How do you go about building value? Let's focus on a definition.

"the worth of a thing in money or goods at a certain time"

"the quality of a thing which makes it be thought of as more desirable, useful, important"

Notice something? It's all in accordance with one person. Just like "beauty is in the eye of the beholder," so too is value. It really is an intangible quality which is assigned by one person. It is all tangled up in that person's perception of what's being evaluated.

If you fall into line 3 different cars and also have people select which one they like, chances are they'll pick differently. They'll pick the car they like based upon their perception and their values. They'll choose based on their PERCEPTION of the most important thing, desirable, and useful at that moment. There is no very best choice; it is all based upon the values held by the average person.

How can you utilize this precept in your favor as a consultant?

You're selling yourself as well as your ability to deliver something. In order to do this, you must create a perception that you will be an expert, that you could get results, that you are the proper person for the work. You are selling the worthiness of your service, not the service itself. And the person/company you are selling to is evaluating that value based upon their PERCEPTION of the most important thing, not what's actually important.

You are projecting an intangible value and it is being evaluated by an intangible perception. It's all pretty intangible. It can't really be measured, weighed, felt, tasted, or touched. It's intangible.

The Value Equation

However, there's one critical component that IS tangible. It really is seen, felt, measured, weighed and even smelled. That is the body.

If you have done any public speaking, you know this startling fact: 80 % of the "message" that's sent to an audience is delivered by the Body Motion (Body Language). And 60% of that BM comes from the face!

Your customer can easily see your body and your face. They can and can make dozens of decisions about you within minutes of first being introduced. The "first impression" they receive after greeting you, shaking your hand, looking you in the eye and reviewing the others of your areas of the body will generate an indelible impression.

Like it or not, your client or prospect will make an initial decision within the first 40 seconds should they like you and if you will be trusted. That's why experts always emphasize making a good first impression in a small business setting.

You can overcome an initially poor first impression, nevertheless, you are fighting against the odds. Once made, a poor impression is hard to overcome.

So, the first rule of building value is to develop a positive first impression. This involves that you project that you are professional, poised, confident, and friendly. The body language, your spoken word, the clothes you wear, the expression on your own face, will all contribute to this image. You need your image to project in the most positive manner.

Needless to say, the intangibles are being communicated simultaneously. We human beings project energy that is distinct from simply the body. The emotions we project create an "emotional impact" on other people. We rub off on other folks quite easily.

The second section of selling yourself is to project the proper energy, to use the right emotion and to "broadcast" on the right wave length. This can donate to the impression that you will be poised. What energy you choose to project is totally up to you, but you should ensure it is appropriate to the situation. Most importantly, it must be under your full control, and not simply a reaction to what's occurring in the meeting.

The third the main value equation is Confidence. This is accomplished by being prepared and ready for the meeting. This implies action and research before the face-to-face meeting. The only reason people display a lack of confidence is because they're not prepared and also have not practiced enough. You need to know whenever you can about the person in advance of the meeting, wherever this is practical. When you are entering a meeting, there must be an agenda and a target. When you are reviewing a proposal, it must be clear and concise. There must be as few variables as you possibly can.

Finally, and most importantly, is Delivery. You have made a good first impression, you've created probably the most optimal energy for the occasion, and you are ready and ready for the encounter. You are now connected, primed, and ready to deliver your message - also it must be perceived as valuable to your partner.

Your client/prospect will make decisions based upon their PERCEPTION of reality based upon their very own background and experience. Your task will be to break through this false image and connect with them instantly.

People in general are usually listening to the within of these head ("the committee"). They are mostly worried about themselves, plus they have hardly any spare attention for you. Until you give them a compelling reason to listen to you, they'll remain unfocused. And soon you tap into the "WIFT" factor, you won't capture their full attention.

Your initial delivery, therefore, should be directed at them. It ought to be valuable to them, in their terms. It should be perceived as interesting, valuable, humorous, helpful, or educational in THEIR WORLD. In short, concentrate on your partner and meeting their immediate needs. The simplest way to do this would be to inquire further simple questions and show them the thanks to listening. People love to talk about themselves, and they are always searching for a good listener. If you are a good listener, you will end up perceived in a positive light, and they'll recognize you as a valuable connection and a significant person. Once this initial rapport is made, upon a company foundation of value, you will then have the basis to conduct mutually beneficial business.

To recap, selling yourself as a professional requires building value. To get this done, you need to master the tangibles and the intangibles. You build value by concentrating on developing a positive first impression, projecting the proper energy, by displaying confidence and by delivering messages that create rapport and establish the basis for doing business together.

Boosting Performance

To perform your life's goals, you should recruit a team and inspire them into action. The positive energy which a network of professionals can generate is astonishing, since there is no limit to their accomplishments. Each teammate can recruit an entirely new band of connections, and they can recruit another band of connections, etc and so on. Building Connections of Value leads to exponential growth!

Use these simple steps to Build Your Connections of Value.

To your Success!
My Website: https://te.legra.ph/5-Ways-to-BECOME-MORE-Valuable-to-Your-Readers-05-07