How to Decide Where and Who to Network?

How do we decide where and who to network?  What must we consider before networking?  Who is your target market?  Where will you meet them?  Is your product or service truly for everyone?  Is it better to market your product to specific groups?  Is it best, even if everyone can use your product or service to reduce your marketing effort to only a targeted few?  Are general networking groups like LeTip, BNI, or Ali Lassen’s Leads where you need to be?  Alternatively, would you better serve your time with a group more specific to your target market?   How about a group where you provide support to the majority of members?  As example, say you market to the real estate profession, would you be better marketing to all realtors or to one realtor who could refer you to others?  For the answer to these questions, please read on.

First, be clear on your target market.  Often we think that more than one market is better than a single market.  We want to reach everyone.  Sometimes more is not necessarily the best.  Take for example the real estate professional.  Everyone needs a house.  General referral groups can be the best place to meet a large cross section of homebuyers.  However, not being specific can lead our potential market away from us to someone who is more specific.  Does our market position improve if we focus on buyers who buy for only real estate investment?  Our strategies will clearly be different when marketing to investors than marketing to a cross section of homebuyers.  Once you focus on investors, you can target market investor groups. They will have buyers waiting for you to come through their door with your investment properties. 

Once you decide whom to market to, the next question is where to find the market.  The key will often be less rather than more.  Frequently we gravitate to the larger networking groups, the largest chambers of commerce, or groups with hundreds of members.  We can realize greater success if we look specifically for what a networking organization places in front of us as members.  Can you find your target market group within an association which has an associate membership?  The associate membership can be such that your product or service is not the focus.  It only needs to be an intricate part of the support of the sales force of the networking group.  A great example of this is the Property Management Industry.  Property managers need service professionals to support their properties.  Great advocates for Property Managers are appliance repair, roofers, general contractors, plumbers, yard maintenance, etc.  Join a group like this.  Get active.  Then watch the referrals pour in

A concern we sometimes hear is, "I will miss some of the market if I am too specific."  The contrary is true.  Being too general is frequently the reason why we miss getting new clients.  The potential client cannot nail us down therefore they go shopping for someone who is specific. If in fact we are missing clients from being too specific, that is the good news.  We want to fill our days working with people we want to work with, being paid top dollar for our product and service. 

Remember who is running your business.  You are running your business, not the people you serve.  I find this especially true for young entrepreneurs.  They allow their clients to run them and their business.  If your clients are dictating whom you need to market to and when you have to meet them, you are jumping through their hoops.  Most of us have some of the same reasons to be self-employed.   Entrepreneurs choose to be self-employed for the freedom of choice.  Once we have our business, the first thing many of us do is go out to get all the business we can.  We provide 100% customer service.  To many of us, this means jumping through the client's hoop any time the telephone rings.  Take control. Be selective.  Continue to keep your edge.  Be the entrepreneur you set out to be, in control of your destiny.

Gerry Rose runs INTEGRITY Networking Solutions in Oceanside, CA.  He works with realtors who want to attract the right prospects and their affinity partners who want to generate more referrals.  More than 10,000 businesses have been presented the INTEGRITY Networking Solutions system in San Diego, Riverside, and Orange Counties. For more about Integrity Solutions, click here.