The Behaviour Effect

Expanding your network of contacts is generally agreed to be the best way of increasing visibility, meeting business people in increasing trust and confidence in your capabilities.  But for some, being thrown into a roomful of strangers is a scary proposition.

There are a variety of different networking groups, those who base their strategy on referrals, those which are more social,  those that enable one-to-one appointments and the social media sites.  It’s necessary to assess what your needs are and decide what format best suits you.  But how do you get past the initial fear of introducing yourself to new people and describing your business?

In basic terms, “networking” is merely talking to other people. While that might seem simple, the importance of making the right connections and putting across the right impression can make the process very daunting.

Some pointers

Be polite to everyone

This seems to be ‘taken for red’ but it would be very easy to spend your time seeking out those who have an obvious direct link to your business but it’s also important to get talking to and be polite to everyone else.  You never know who that person may be talking to afterwards or what connections they may have.

Help others before yourself

Networking is not about sales pitches, its about contacts and getting your business concept and serivces known.  So don’t be afraid to concentrate on the other person.  You will need to know as much about their business as possible in order to respond to their needs and letting the other person talk demonstrates that you are interested in what they have to say.  Reciprocation is where the real business deals are done.  Providing help and assistance to someone now may well have them ringing you later on downthe line with a nice piece of business work.

Be Patient

Networking does not bring immediate business to your door.  Be patient, build your network and the business will follow.  If things aren’t moving after a couple of weeks, don’t panic and think its lost effort.  Keep it up and in time people will get to know you, your work and the value you can add.

Any other hints and tips for folk wanting to network?  Please add your comments and lets see if we can get people putting themselves about!!

One of the best ways of gaining confidence is to make things happen.  Feeling effective is a huge boost to self-esteem.  Once we have started achieving then we are encouraged to continue.  This I discovered when I wanted to lose weight.  For years I talked about it, moaned about it….paid lip service to the ‘diet’.  Nothing happened.  Sound familiar?    But when I actually lost a few pounds I felt elated, and not eating that chocolate chip cookie (or 10!) was so much easier because I could see and feel the benefit.  I went on to lose over 4 stone in four months.

All very well but how do we ‘get started’?  How do we initiate the motivation?

Psychologists normally agree that there are two types of motivation, ‘Outer’ and ‘Inner’.  ‘Outer’ motivation are the elements that bring us public recognition such as someone else noticing my slimmed down physical appearance.  ‘Inner’ motivation are those needs and drives that proivde us with personal satisfaction such as being able to fit into that pair of jeans.  It is widely accepted that ‘Inner’ is the stronger motivator.  Yet this tells us ‘what’ motivated us…not ‘how’ we motivate ourselves.

Goal setting helps us satisfy our needs and thus are a mechanism to motivation.  Great! But why then, when I had a goal of losing 4 stone did it not work for such a long period of time.  The problem was my goal was too big, not specific enough and didn’t have enough direction.  It was only when I created smaller ‘mini‘ goals that I was ultimately successful.  Having a goal of getting through 1 week without eating those high-calorie snacks was not going to have me drop 4 stone but it was a start.  When I succeeded with that smaller goal, dropped those first few pounds…and I felt effective…I felt good about myself and my ability to continue towards my end goal.  It was those first few pounds that were the hardest.  Getting started was the key to my ultimate success.  A ‘kick start’ so to speak.

If you are having problems getting started, have you thought about what you are actually trying to achieve?  Have you given yourself the opportunity to gain a quick win and thus provide that vital encouragement to continue?

Next time you find yourself procrastinating about getting started, set yourself a smaller goal and reap the benefits!