We all need prospects! Networking at live events has always been my favorite method of generating new prospects yet it is important to cultivate a wide range of generating new prospects.
Most authors do not consider the value in developing a broad spectrum of resources forJoint Ventures, Interviews, Speaking Engagements or Consulting Services. Rather, most authors focus on the “here and now”. I need to sell books today and what can I do today? In order to overcome finding yourself in the position of “having” to sell your books, you may want to develop a master plan of cultivating each of these resources on a daily basis. Within a few weeks you will find you are no long in a pinch to sell your books.
When it comes to networking, unless you live an hour away from any metropolitan community, there are more events to choose from than you’ll ever be able to attend. In the Bay Area where I live, it would be impossible to attend every event available if I went to ten events a day, six days a week, for the next five years. So it becomes prudent to select the events you attend wisely. One resource to find events is your local newspaper. Almost all of the weekly (community or smaller towns) will list events in their calendar. You might want to start slow and attend the Lions Club, Rotary Club, Kiwanis Club, Soroptimists, women’s groups (even if you’re a man) such as Powerful Women International, National Association of Female Executives, Women in Networking or National Association of Women Business Owners, just to name a few. You’ll discover by Googling “organizations” and “women’s organizations”, there is no end to the list.
There are also local chamber of commerce events where active business owners in your community participate in social environments. These events make it easy for you to meet and get to know who the most influential members in your business community are. When you treat these functions as a private party (one you don’t have to be involved in the clean up), you will have fun and project the kind of personality others will want to engage with.
When it comes toJoint Ventures, the resources are limitless. Social Media has made it possible for us to reach out into the world and create relationships with people we otherwise would never know they existed. I typically approach people on Facebook, LinkedIn (through groups) and SelfGrowth. I find authors, experts, radio personalities and other influential people who are more than willing to talk live. Usually, by the end of our conversations we have shared resources, found some way to work together in the near future and have begun a new friendship. It is a rare occasion when I can not manage to create at least one method of generating a means of working together. It might take some practice, but you’ll find most of the people you approach are open minded and are just as interested as you are in expanding their database and resources.
The key to creating a greatJoint Venture (JV) relationship is to have an in depth conversation with them and keep in touch. Don’t make it a one-time “it’s only about what you can do for me” relationship! Set up introductions for them with others you know who might benefit them or send them articles they will find interesting or even an invitation to teleseminars you find worthwhile.
When you work with theJV partner, be sure to set up a capture page (you can hire this out on fiverr.com) where theJoint Venture will be able to send out a notice to their list with the information about what you will be working on together such as an interview or a teleseminar. This will allow you to capture from their database of loyal followers and add them to your database.
Interviews, whether you are interviewing someone or they are interviewing you for a radio show or a teleseminar work very much like a Joint Venture relationship. However, there are more than a thousand radio programs each week that need to have interesting guests for their shows. That makes it easy for you to book as many interviews as you want. However, your message needs to be educational and entertaining and not a sales pitch. I will typically call four to five radio show producers to book one radio interview.
I love speaking to groups! When you are speaking to an organization or any size, you’ll find you will develop a group of fans. Your audience will be more generous than you can imagine. Speaking is one of the most rewarding activities you will do to develop your business. You may find speaking engagements at the same organizations mentioned above as well as networking with other speakers, searching for speaking engagements through Google and trade show events.
When I am speaking I present several options for being able to work with the audience. One is through selling my books and audio programs, or one of the several training programs I have designed or even through private consulting.
It is up to you to develop various ways to engage with your audience and create long term relationships.