Why “anyone who needs me” is costing you referrals
Why “anyone who needs me” is costing you referrals You’ll often hear networking professionals like me tell you to be specific and targeted when asking for referrals. Unfortunately so many business people get stuck though. They might accept they should be specific – they just don’t know how to do be specific. Let me help. There is […]
Where are the referrals
Where are the Referrals? I was stood by a lukewarm coffee urn at an accountancy conference recently, listening to a manager describe their “networking plan”. They were doing everything you’d expect from a busy professional team. Posting on LinkedIn. Turning up to breakfasts. Smiling for the group photos. Dropping comments on other people’s posts so […]
How long does it take to make friends?
How long does it take to make friends? Relaxing on the beach A 2018 study by Jeffrey A. Hall, a University of Kansas professor, looked at the amount of time it takes to become friends with someone. Given the need to build great relationships to become friends, and the need to build great relationships to […]
Give First, Connect Faster
Give First, Connect Faster The first time I went to the Professional Speaking Association conference, I was nervous as anything. I was new to the world of speaking and doing that classic thing of pretending to check my emails on my phone so it wouldn’t look too much like I didn’t know anyone. That’s when […]
Networking without even thinking
Networking without even thinking A few years ago, I got an email from my friend Adam. It was nothing to do with work, just the usual post-dinner admin: “Here are my bank details so you can transfer your share.” (a big group of us had been out for a curry, and it really didn’t seem […]
Out of Office, Still in Touch: Rethinking Networking in August
Out of Office, Still in Touch: Rethinking Networking in August Relaxing on the beach I used to treat August like a networking write-off. Everyone’s away, I’d tell myself. May as well focus on admin, batch some content, maybe finally alphabetise my Google Drive. But a couple of years ago, I got an unexpected reply to […]
How to grow your business if you don’t like to self-promote
How to grow your business if you don’t like to self-promote I don’t like self-promotion. It makes me very uncomfortable. But I still need to grow a business – and I can’t do that if I bury my head in the sand and hope it’s all going to be OK. In business, the only way […]
Have you ever tried to sell when at a conference?
Have you ever tried to sell when at a conference? Try these instead… Not long ago I went to a conference, where I met an enthusiastic salesman who was promoting a combined fire and security protection system. He shook my hand enthusiastically and proceeded to hard sell his amazing new solution that would solve all […]
Why I don’t like blowing my own trumpet
Why I don’t like blowing my own trumpet That’s right – I don’t enjoy self-promotion. I don’t like blowing my own trumpet. In my last article (which you can read here) I discussed what self-promotion is and why so many people find it uncomfortable. In this second article in a series of 3, I’m going […]
Are you an Unnatural Promoter?
Are you an Unnatural Promoter? I’m an Unnatural Promoter. What do I mean by this? I mean that I’m not great at blowing my own trumpet. I’m very happy to talk about other people – but when it comes to talking about myself, I find it difficult and awkward. In this first article in a […]