In This Chapter

Seeing why networking is so important

Becoming business best friends

Obtaining referrals

Attending networking events

Assembling an advisory board

In direct sales, as in any kind of business for that matter, it’s important to network. Engagement and communication are how you grow a strong circle of professionals, community members, and friends. Networking is a catalyst for success.

In business, return on investment (ROI) measures the success you receive from investing in your business through actions that are monetized — advertising, for example. Return on relationships (ROR) in the business world describes the success we receive from building authentic relationships with our customers, community, and others. Establishing these relationships online, within your community, and at professional events grows your customer base and helps you reach more people every day. Always be on the lookout for community or chamber of commerce events in your area and get involved!

Networking can be scary and difficult for many people because it involves putting yourself out there and starting conversations. To help you get over your nerves at a networking event, arrive early so you can become comfortable in a small setting first. You can also bring a friend/colleague with you.

When you are in business for yourself, it’s important to network for a number of reasons:

• Grow your reach. Networking gives you the opportunity to grow your audience and reach more people who may be interested in your service or product.
• Make connections. Making strong bonds is important in business for a variety of reasons. You know the saying, “It’s who you know.” It’s so true. Knowing the right people can help you find new customers and new opportunities that will be profitable to you and your business.
• Get referrals. Who do you know who …? During networking events, you may not meet people who are in need of your product or service, but you may meet people who know people who would benefit from it. Networking is a great tool to gain referrals for your business that will help you increase your customers, hosts, and recruit leads.
• Seek advice. A networking venue like your local Chamber of Commerce is a great place to meet other successful business professionals who have already navigated some of the hurdles you may be facing. These people are great for advice and motivation.
• Increasing profile and brand. People want to do business with people they want to be friends with. Networking and getting yourself out there in the community will make your name known; it is a free marketing and branding technique that you should all be taking advantage of.

Introducing Yourself

At networking events, you can’t sit in the corner and wait for people to come to you. Here are some easy ways to introduce yourself:

• Stand near the bar or refreshment table. Many people head over to the bar or refreshment table throughout the night. When you’re there, it’s easy to spark a conversation without having to walk up to a group of people.
• Introduce yourself to the organizer. Always introduce yourself to the organizers of the event and thank them for putting it together. Often, they will point you in the direction of someone they think you would benefit from speaking to or introduce you to someone else on the spot.
• Don’t be a spammer. You don’t want to “work the room” or be a business card spammer. Introduce yourself to someone and spark up a conversation — then let them introduce you to others in their circle. Having a bunch of short conversations won’t help you in the long run. Instead, try to have a few, meaningful dialogues.
• Don’t be afraid to join in. People attend networking events to meet new people and gain new connections, so don’t be afraid to initiate a conversation or introduce yourself during a break in a group’s conversation.
• Find familiar faces. If you recognize someone, re-introduce yourself and remind them how you know each other or where you saw them. You can say things like, “Hi there, my name is Belinda. I recognize you from LinkedIn and remembered that you own the restaurant Wild Orchid. I go there all the time with my family. How are you enjoying the evening?”

Business Best Friends

Business best friends is a term used to describe a relationship between two business owners — in your case, independent representatives — who share a mutually beneficial relationship.

One way to grow your reach and network with other like-minded people is by developing relationships with representatives who represent a company different than your own. You typically meet these people through social media, tradeshows, home parties (you can book a party with a consultant from a company you would be interested in working with), and other vendor events. The two of you work together to promote each other’s products and services so that you can each grow your audience by tapping into each other’s customer bases.

Here are some important tips to remember:

• Same demographic: Business best friends should always have similar demographics for their customer base. If your product line typically attracts women ages 45–55, then you should work alongside someone whose products also attract that age group. The point of a business relationship of this nature is to refer your audience to your friend when they are in need of her service or product and vice versa.
• Different product lines: You don’t want to be in competition with your business best friends, because then you will always be taking sales away from each other. Instead, find a rep whose products complement yours. For example, a cookware company and a food company, cosmetics company and jewelry company, or decor company and cleaning company would be great matches.
• Being authentic: Even though I’m mentioning this last, this is probably the most important point of the three. You don’t want to develop a fake relationship in order to benefit from a business best friend. Developing an authentic and trusting friendship is not only a great way to increase your reach, but to gain a friend who is like-minded and who also believes in direct sales. Friendship is one of the reasons people join companies and stay in the direct sales industry. Establishing lifelong friendships is both rewarding and fulfilling.

So, how does it actually work? Here are some ways you and your business best friend can work and benefit from each other:

• Special giveaways on social media: Your business should be on at least one of the following: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Pinterest. Social media is a great way to reach your customers and gain new followers. Chapter 11 discusses how in the world of social media, engagement is king; engagement determines whether your content makes it into newsfeeds and ultimately who sees your posts. Engagement on Facebook for example is measured by three actions: Likes, Comments, and Shares. You should be sharing interesting content that includes calls to engagement. For example, “Like if you agree,” “Comment below with your answer,” and “Share this photo with your friends and family.”

  Contests and giveaways are great ways to increase your engagement through Likes, Comments, and Shares and get more people falling in love with your products. Most companies offer contests for people who comment on a post or submit their own content. In this case, you select a winner and send them free product. Just always be sure to check Facebook’s policies on contests and giveaways. For example, Facebook permits contests focused on Comments and Likes to Comments, but not on page Likes or Shares. Contests and giveaways are especially great if you offer new products, because many of the people who already like your fan page have either tried your product or are at least familiar with it.

  A great way to get your fans excited and sharing your content is to offer them something new. Work with your business best friend to offer giveaways on each other’s social media. Your fans will be excited by the new product you’re giving away from your friend’s business, and you’ll gain new, excited followers through her page.

• Referral gifts: Referrals lead to new customers, hosts, and recruit leads. Everyone at some point in their life will need your product, a fun night out with friends, or the benefits from having a home-based business. And when you meet someone at a time when they aren’t interested, find out if they know someone who is.

  Your business best friend can be a great tool in helping you gain referrals. The two of you can offer each other referral gifts when you refer someone (a customer, host, or recruit lead) to each other.

• Open houses: Again, the main benefit of having a business best friend is cross-promoting your products across each other’s customer base and audience. Holding an open house together is a great way for you to meet new people, gain more customers and bookings, and achieve additional sales.
• Advice: Your business best friend can be an amazing resource for training, information, advice, and motivation. You can lean on each other, cheer each other on, and help each other build lasting and successful businesses. That’s the amazing thing about this industry — that we all work together to help each other succeed.

Finding the Right People to Network With

Not every event or situation is the right place for you or your business. It’s a good idea to attend events with like-minded people or with people who are within the demographic that you are trying to sell to.

The key to networking is quality over quantity. It is far better to develop a few really close relationships and connections than a bunch of shallow ones. Say, for example, you’re trying to sell a luxury car. Who would be better to network with — five financially well off adults or a hundred teenagers?

Walking around the room passing your business card out to every person you bump into usually isn’t the best way to gain new business or interest. Instead, listen to what people are saying and look for cues that might suggest they would be interested in your product or business opportunity. Then approach these people, introduce yourself, and take an interest in their problem or need. You want to take the focus off of you and put it on them. It’s how can you help them — not how can they help you.

Practice makes perfect. Practice your introduction at home before you venture off to a networking event. It’s important to sound confident. Be clear when you speak. Don’t come off like you’re hand-delivering sales pitches around the room. It is 100 percent acceptable to talk business at business events, so be sure to practice ways that make your business and product sound interesting, appealing, and beneficial.

Tips for Power Networking

When attending networking events, always be prepared and ready for business. Here are some helpful tips of things you should always be ready to do or say:

• Always have business cards on hand. If people are interested in your business or products, or even just staying in touch with you, they may ask for your business card. Having a business card keeps the relationship going as well as showing that you are serious about your business.
• Always ask for business cards. If you meet someone you would like to keep in touch with, always ask for their business card as well. And be sure to keep a pen either in your pocket or your purse. When they walk away, take a few notes on the back of their business card that you can mention when you speak to them again.
• Be prepared with your 30-second commercial. You want to draw people in to what you do with your 30 second commercial (see Chapter 6 for more on this). Be sure to tell people what you do, not who you are. For example, you could say, “I show homeowners how they can clean their homes using safe and environmentally friendly cleaners without harsh chemicals,” instead of, “I am an Independent Group Director for [Cleaning Products Company].” The first example not only explains what you do, but shows your prospect how you might be able to help them as well.
• Ask (and care) about what they do. Don’t make everything about you. You want to be sure to ask questions about the person you are talking to and take interest in what they are saying. You want to always be genuine and authentic in your conversations. This will help you establish a closer and more meaningful bond.
• Find similar interests. Finding similar interests can be a great way to keep not only the conversation going, but also the friendship. Bond over things you have in common and make plans at a later date to do them. For example, if you meet someone who loves golf, and you love golf, invite them out to play with you.
• Ask for leads. Just because your product or business might not be for them, it doesn’t mean they don’t know someone who would benefit from your opportunity. Always be sure to ask for leads, referrals, and introductions to others who may find your business interesting.
• Probe about other events they attend. People who attend one networking event are likely to attend others. Ask what other events they attend in the community and see if any of them sound right for you and your business.
• Tweet during the event. Twitter is great for events. Many events or networking groups usually have hashtags that they use to promote the evening. Be sure to tweet throughout the event and tag those you’re meeting. If there is someone in the room you want to meet and you notice that they have tweeted, you can always respond to their tweet — which will make it easier for you to approach them at the event. Not only will tweeting help you at the event, it will show others in the community that you are involved.

Maintaining Connections After Meeting

You don’t want to let your connections die or fizzle out after the event. Here are some ways you can stay connected to people you have met:

• Connecting online: Stay in touch on social media. I suggest adding your new connections to Twitter and LinkedIn only. Some people don’t use Facebook for business and only for personal use, so sticking to Twitter and LinkedIn is usually best. If the event you were at was using a hashtag, be sure to tweet the people who were there using the hashtag to remind them you were there and that you look forward to connecting again.
• Email and phone calls: If you have exchanged business cards with someone, don’t be afraid to email or call them to say you enjoyed meeting them and look forward to chatting more.
• Setting up a meeting. If you discussed business with someone, reach out to them to set up a meeting to discuss your business and products more. If your meeting was more casual, you can always ask them to meet for a coffee after work or for a bite to eat during a lunch break.
• Staying in touch. Continue to engage with the people you meet at events. This could involve something as small as retweeting them, commenting on a blog post they made, or endorsing them for a skill on LinkedIn. You want to make sure you always keep yourself and your business in front of them so when they are in need of your services, you will be there.

Networking is about the long game, not the short one. Developing friendships over time is rewarding.

Set Up an Advisory Board

You can’t succeed in business alone. That’s why it’s important to have a group of people who essentially make up your advisory board. I divide them into three different types of people:

• Mentors: Your mentors are the people you look up to, who offer you advice and training. They are usually the people you go to when you’re struggling with a certain part of your business or are looking to grow your business. These would include people like your upline leaders in your organization or successful business owners outside the direct sales industry.
• Peers: Your peers are the people you work alongside that you can brainstorm with and bounce ideas off of. These are typically people who are at the same stage as you in business. They can be within your company or outside the direct sales industry.
• Connectors: Connectors are typically outgoing and extroverted. They are great at networking and helping establish connections between others. People trust them and their recommendations. Connectors are great for you to have in your life to help refer you to people who may be interested in your business, or to people who can help you in an area you need assistance in.

You also need to be a connector for other people. For example, let’s say you sell cosmetics, and you call a customer to see if she would like to re-order.

• Belinda: “Hey Karen, it’s Belinda. I just wanted to touch base with you to see how you were doing with your products and if you’re needing anything right now.”
• Karen: “Oh, hey, Belinda, I am loving the make-up and I am almost out but I can’t even begin to think about that right now. I desperately need to find someone who can repair my furnace.”
• Belinda: “Karen, I actually know someone who fixed our furnace last winter and did a fantastic job. Would you like me to connect you two?”
• Karen: “Oh, my gosh! Thank you so much. Yes, please!”

The more people you know in your circle of influence, the more value you bring to your relationships. Adding value to people’s lives makes people feel important and reminds them that you are important, as well.

Networking and growing your reach is important and vital to your success. If you continue to add people to your circle and nourish those relationships, you will always have an abundance of business.