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[The Power Of NETWORKING] Are You? You better be...

by Ant Marshall
7 replies
Okay guys here's my first giant post of 2012...

I want to talk to you about networking and tell you why your leaving money on the table right now without doing it.

Everyday on the WF I see someone ask the same old question...
How do I get clients if I have nothing to show?!
Honestly, you don't even need clients if your starting out. The first thing you should be doing is networking.

When I started out I was asking the exact same question and I couldn't get an answer that satisfied me anywhere, I still felt out of my depth no matter how much motivation I had. If your the kind of person with that kind of attitude too then I know how it can feel and how much it can set you back.

Since then, I've quit my full time job and I work from home. I can't explain how good that feels to say that. But if I can do it you can too.

So here's what you need to do... You need to look LOCALLY for people, events and places in your location.

You'd be amazed at how much advice or what kind of relationships you can achieve by sending an email to someone telling them your situation if their local to you.

You can go to some networking events, which are mostly free if they're sponsored. MAKE SURE YOU TAKE A BUSINESS CARD. You can get these for FREE from vistaprint, there is no excuse not to have one. Tell people you are starting out and you are here for advice, some of them won't care and some will because they were there once too.

After my first networking event, I had 2 guys ring me up asking if I was interested in some work. They contracted me for 2 weeks and that gave me and instant instant portfolio.

I then had an email back from a local marketeer I hadn't even MET (just emailed) saying he'd love to meet me for coffee and that he'd be more than happy to offer me some advice. I've gone on to become great friends with him and still to this day receive 50% of my income through clients he has but doesn't have time to manage all the time.

From leaving my job in July I am now earning a very comfortable income and have a nice track record to show all my new clients. The best part? I've never made a cold call in my life and I don't intend to. My networking has done that for me. I still continue to go to events and maintain all my business relationships very well. You NEED to be doing this to at least some degree.

So if your stuck like I was and you've spent too much money on WSO's about "Getting leads like a PRO", then just try this. It won't cost you a penny and it will work.

If it DOESN'T work, which I can almost promise won't happen... what's the worse that's happened? You've picked up some great advice from people doing business in your area which will be very relevant to you when you start doing business too. No WSO or online information product can teach you about your own area like someone who has already had experience in it.

Now get out there and start shaking hands and creating opportunities. You never know where it may lead you.

All the best,

Ant Marshall
#marketing #networking #offline #power
  • Profile picture of the author maxrezn
    Originally Posted by Ant Marshall View Post

    Okay guys here's my first giant post of 2012...

    I want to talk to you about networking and tell you why your leaving money on the table right now without doing it.

    Everyday on the WF I see someone ask the same old question...


    Honestly, you don't even need clients if your starting out. The first thing you should be doing is networking.

    When I started out I was asking the exact same question and I couldn't get an answer that satisfied me anywhere, I still felt out of my depth no matter how much motivation I had. If your the kind of person with that kind of attitude too then I know how it can feel and how much it can set you back.

    Since then, I've quit my full time job and I work from home. I can't explain how good that feels to say that. But if I can do it you can too.

    So here's what you need to do... You need to look LOCALLY for people, events and places in your location.

    You'd be amazed at how much advice or what kind of relationships you can achieve by sending an email to someone telling them your situation if their local to you.

    You can go to some networking events, which are mostly free if they're sponsored. MAKE SURE YOU TAKE A BUSINESS CARD. You can get these for FREE from vistaprint, there is no excuse not to have one. Tell people you are starting out and you are here for advice, some of them won't care and some will because they were there once too.

    After my first networking event, I had 2 guys ring me up asking if I was interested in some work. They contracted me for 2 weeks and that gave me and instant instant portfolio.

    I then had an email back from a local marketeer I hadn't even MET (just emailed) saying he'd love to meet me for coffee and that he'd be more than happy to offer me some advice. I've gone on to become great friends with him and still to this day receive 50% of my income through clients he has but doesn't have time to manage all the time.

    From leaving my job in July I am now earning a very comfortable income and have a nice track record to show all my new clients. The best part? I've never made a cold call in my life and I don't intend to. My networking has done that for me. I still continue to go to events and maintain all my business relationships very well. You NEED to be doing this to at least some degree.

    So if your stuck like I was and you've spent too much money on WSO's about "Getting leads like a PRO", then just try this. It won't cost you a penny and it will work.

    If it DOESN'T work, which I can almost promise won't happen... what's the worse that's happened? You've picked up some great advice from people doing business in your area which will be very relevant to you when you start doing business too. No WSO or online information product can teach you about your own area like someone who has already had experience in it.

    Now get out there and start shaking hands and creating opportunities. You never know where it may lead you.

    All the best,

    Ant Marshall

    To really put networking on steroids...always give before your receive. Offer to help somebody or do them a favor. Never be the one in need.
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    • Profile picture of the author Ant Marshall
      Originally Posted by maxrezn View Post

      To really put networking on steroids...always give before your receive. Offer to help somebody or do them a favor. Never be the one in need.
      Great advice. If anyone has read the book "Influence" you will know why this is such a good technique,

      A person automatically feels obliged to do something for you if you have done something for them, regardless of whether they actually wanted the help or not.
      Signature

      If you haven't made money online yet then just send me a PM and let's see what we can do together.

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      • Profile picture of the author maxrezn
        Originally Posted by Ant Marshall View Post

        Great advice. If anyone has read the book "Influence" you will know why this is such a good technique,

        A person automatically feels obliged to do something for you if you have done something for them, regardless of whether they actually wanted the help or not.
        Exactly. Really can't go wrong with it.
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        • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
          Ant, only one problem with it, it's not scalable.

          If you have read the book "The E Myth", you'll know what I mean and
          the limitations this creates.

          Best,
          Ewen
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          • Profile picture of the author Ant Marshall
            Originally Posted by ewenmack View Post

            Ant, only one problem with it, it's not scalable.

            If you have read the book "The E Myth", you'll know what I mean and
            the limitations this creates.

            Best,
            Ewen
            Hi Ewen,

            This is more for people who are starting out in the offline game and are afraid to start cold calling people. This is a way of getting to know people and letting them know what skills you have and this [B]can[B] generate leads.

            I haven't read the E Myth, but perhaps I will.

            I do know however, that building a reputation in the offline marketing world is something you should be doing consistently from the very beginning.

            Ant
            Signature

            If you haven't made money online yet then just send me a PM and let's see what we can do together.

            Did my post help? Click thanks! ->

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            • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
              Originally Posted by Ant Marshall View Post

              Hi Ewen,

              This is more for people who are starting out in the offline game and are afraid to start cold calling people. This is a way of getting to know people and letting them know what skills you have and this [B]can[B] generate leads.

              I haven't read the E Myth, but perhaps I will.

              I do know however, that building a reputation in the offline marketing world is something you should be doing consistently from the very beginning.

              Ant
              Ant, I'm not saying, "don't do it".

              Just making people aware of it's growth limitations.

              Even marketing guru Dan Kennedy had to learn that lesson in his own business.

              Two things he had to do was...

              1 Replace himself from doing public speaking to groups.
              He did this by using direct mail

              2 Hand over control to others to do the marketing of his business.
              That's when he recruited Bill Glazer to partner with to run the operations.

              The last job I had as an employee was for a small business person employing myself and 1 other. He was doing the same daily work as us employees. He became frustrated at the demands of his role of organization, payroll, chasing money owed, quoting work, government paper work and doing the same manual "grunt' work as we were doing.

              One day I said to him, "Merv, do you really want things to change for the better,
              and how badly do you want it? He said yeah he really wants it and asked why.
              I said you are too busy working in the business, not on it and to fully explain what I mean by that I would give him my copy of the E Myth.

              Just remembered he's still got the book.

              Here's what happened, in 2 years he went from 2 employees to 10, his costs remained the same as a percentage of revenue, and he worked less in the business. Less stress meant he was able to give up smoking too.

              For the marketing of your business, you need a system in place that is beyond the one person. If that person becomes ill, wants a holiday, slacks off, then the business goes down with it.

              Big businesses started small too.

              An example is one I've dealt with recently.

              She had herself and a couple of employees helping her.

              She was frazzeld working 7 days to meet her income goals.

              Now she made a determined step to fully market her new business.

              Today she has 6,000 new leads phoning in to her office per week.

              That could never happen from networking.

              Her business does $20 million now.

              Even many of the top internet marketing gurus get burnt out because they don't know this.

              It was Rich Schfren who showed them their errors and how to fix it.

              Go read the E Myth.

              Go read Rich Schfren's free Manifesto's.

              They will teach you how to become a better business person, not a trapped self employee.

              Best,
              Ewen
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  • Profile picture of the author Ant Marshall
    Thanks Ewen.

    There's definitely a fine line somewhere and it's understanding when you have reached it and when you need to cross it.

    I'm sure many people will learn from your input.

    I'll be sure to pick up those books, thank you.
    Signature

    If you haven't made money online yet then just send me a PM and let's see what we can do together.

    Did my post help? Click thanks! ->

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