Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Notes on Networking 1

Notes on Networking is my new series all about networking for your business in real life. I know that networking and finding new prospects can be one of the most difficult parts of owning your own business, especially if you're shy. That's why each week I want to devote at least one blog post to finding your new clients!

If your list is running low on contacts you might consider networking with other people in direct sales (outside of your company). A new friend taught me about a great idea for a brand new booking, it's called a Party Swap. Basically you find another woman in a very different direct sales business and swap parties. She hosts a party for you, and you do the same for her. This is a great way to meet new people and get a show/party on your books pretty quickly. I'm actually doing a party swap this month! The only snag with the party swap is that you can only do this every once in a while, because you don't want to continuously invite your friends and family to party after party, soon your party attendance would suffer.

Another idea for networking with other businesswomen is to start a "face book", and I don't mean the social networking site. Now, this idea is really for those of you with a make-up/skincare based business (i.e. Arbonne, Mary Kay, Avon, etc) because you will create a makeover binder. The idea here is to contact local businesswomen to invite them to be in your Professional Face Book. What's in it for them? They will not only get a free makeover but also provide business cards to put with their picture in this professional book. You will take this book with you to all of your appointments to show off your skills, but also the business ladies get some free advertising in your book. You can get a professional makeover portfolio on ebay or getpinked.com. You can look up businesswomen in your area and explain that you're creating a women in business portfolio and would love to have someone from XYZ Company in your book. Do NOT have more than one makeover per company or else they will be competing in your book. Do a before and after photo and put it in the portfolio with their business information.

One last idea is to create a Shop 'Til You Drop event in your area. This is something I am doing on the base that I live at. You would find a place and time and invite several different types of business to join you. They set up their own booth, as do you, and they also invite their own customers and hostesses to this event. It's like a small festival! Have drawings and meet new people, this could catapult your business. (More on setting up booths soon.)

So there are some ideas for this week. Stay tuned for some hot books to help your business...

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