Guest Author - Kathryn Free

I attended a WebiNar for Successful Marketing from booksurge. This WebiNar had quite a few ‘Top 10' lists. Below is the Top 10 Tips and some notes I took about each of the tips. Thought you would enjoy seeing what the top marketing guru had to say.

10 Tips For Successful Networking
1. Be genuine and authentic
~ I heard this over and over during the WebiNar. You do not want to be a phony in any way. Honesty will always bring you the best result!

2. Prepare for each contact
~ So many times we go to places that can be great for networking but we are unprepared! Worse we go to an appointment that has been arranged and we begin talking about someone else. You need to prepare for each meeting, each contact! I use a contact management program to keep a detailed listing of all conversations and impressions for each contact. I know who I talked with, who recommend me, who recommended them and whether they were difficult or friendly. I kept records of what they were doing and how we decided on the meeting date. When I am prepared, the contact feels important and respected. This is a KEY ingredient to successful networking!

3. Visit as many groups as possible
~ By visiting groups of all kinds you become visible. By participating in groups you become knowledgeable and a valuable resource. Others will begin to recommend you to their friends and your network will grow.

4. Hold volunteer positions in organizations
~ Volunteering brings instant recognition and a certain respected status. It is one of the best ways to get doors open and turning what would have been a cold call into a warm meeting.

5. Ask open-ended questions
~ Open ended questions take time. You have to ask them and then be quiet. Listen to the answers. Hear the person and build relationships. Simple closed ended questions do not bring the other person out of their shell. Open ended questions, when answers are listened to, build strong business and personal relationships.

6. Become known as a powerful resource for others
~ By volunteering, listening, visiting groups, participating in groups and activities will quickly build you as a resource for others. One sure way to become a resource is by publishing an eBook about the topic you are trying to build.

7. Know your USP
~ No, USP is not the United States Post Office! USP stands for ‘Unique Selling Proposition’ or your 2 minute introduction. The purpose statement for your ‘who wants what’ statement.

8. Be able to articulate what you are looking for
~ Know how to articulate what you are looking for. Why should others trust you? Why should others listen to you? The more you practice articulating your USP the more able you will be to successfully network.

9. Follow through
~ Follow through is probably the step that most leave out. They make promises, like emailing information, and they forget or get too busy. Prompt follow through build a strong impression of your trustworthiness. Many believe they can talk their way out of sloppy follow through but in the end the impression you are leaving is a shifty salesman!

10. Follow up
~ Follow up is different than follow through. Following up is connecting with no ‘action’ required on the contacts part. You are just connecting with them to see how their life, business and social networking is doing. This is an art and can be very daunting. Once mastered it becomes the adhesive that holds the social networking together. This adhesive will always be there to open doors and pass on leads to you.

I hope these tips help you. Whether you are building a social network for business or pleasure, these tips will assist you. Making new friends can be hard! Making new business acquaintances can be just as hard. These tips are designs for the professional networker, but you can pull some powerful tools over to the personal. I think my best advice is to relax, be yourself, remember who you are talking to, draw the other person out with questions, listen intently, know that you skills and share them, speak clearly, do what you say and be a friend first by calling to catch up!

Until next time ~