Never Stop Growing Your Network!
- Grow Your Network Continually!!! - Growing your network is the key to everything about growing a successful business or personal brand. It really is about who you know, who they know, the relationships you build growing your network, and the reputation you build by building those relationships right. This does not happen overnight. It takes time to build your network and you never stop building it. Your network needs constant growth.
Proven Tips to Using and Developing Your Network To Grow Your Business:
1. Golden Rule of Reciprocity: How Can I Help You?
This is the single most important rule of networking. Being a helpful, honest, giving person really does pay back, especially if you own a business. Pay attention to your network lists, business blog readership, and twitter followers and find out what people in your network are interested in and make sure you do all that you can to help them. If you have a friend/follower/network contact, for example, who runs a corporate cleaning business, and perhaps another friend/follower/network contact you have access to who manages commercial properties, it would benefit both of them if you made an introduction. Both will remember this and think of ways that they can help you in the future. Another example would be if you are scanning through your readership comments, twitter follower posts, Facebook business fan page follower posts and learn what they are interested in and then you are reading a news story, article, or stumble upon a webpage that would benefit them or is something about what they are interested in and you help them out by tweeting about it or sending them the link to the article or the webpage. These are small things that build strong network relationships and the bonus is that you also make new life-long friendships. People will be more apt to hear and follow your advice and suggestions, namely to the product you are promoting as an affiliate marketer, when they remember you took time to make that introduction or send them that information that helps them.
2. If a friend gives you a great idea and you write about it in your blog, credit them! They will return the favor. Everybody wins and you will help each other grow. Being helpful and gracious is never the wrong choice.
3. You Are Not Selling Anything, You Are Educating People On Your Passion - A huge mistake many new affiliate marketers make with their existing networks is they completely lose their personality and start trying to spam them with marketing messages. Instead, develop really exciting content around why you’re doing what you’re doing with your art or business. Remember, the key to networking is developing relationships – it is about people. Start a blog with information that is truly valuable to your network, share anything and everything that could be helpful to them. Then, at the end of your helpful article place your affiliate link as an example that solves the problem or is beneficial example as to what you were writing about.
4. Be Interactive: Make friends, be helpful, and build strong relationships. Building trust with your readership/followers/friends/business fans involves you reading and commenting on their blogs and business fan pages, join their networking groups (online social networks and trade groups) and think of ways you can help them on goals they are focused on.
Don’t forget: everyone you meet, everyone you know, and everyone that knows everyone that knows you might be friends of, sister-in-law to, or otherwise connected to people that could be key to your success. Living graciously, being helpful, and staying connected are the greatest tools you have as an artist or business owner and builds your reputation as trustworthy, caring, and integral.
