networking

Kevin Willett says there is no way you can’t find five minutes a day to grow your business

This week three of my connections have posted about how mad they get when people connect with them on social media and then try to sell them something right away. I understand the importance of getting to know, like and trust someone, but I am ok with you pitching your services to me, because I have the right to say no.

As I take on more responsibility, I must stop and ask myself what did I forget to do today? I can no longer keep everything in my head, so I have started using programs to keep track of the things I need to do and the people I need to reach out to.

One of my challenges is that I loved to be challenged. I am always willing to take on new opportunities. I have learned that I must be careful in this area because I have to stay focused on my primary business if I expect it to grow.

My answer to this question may surprise you. I think you should network when you are busy. I find many people stop attending events when they get busy because they tell me they do not have time. When I ask them why they are so busy, they often tell me that its from meeting people at networking events or from referrals from attending events. If that is the case, why would you stop?

Now I understand you may have to be more selective about the events you attend, but you should continue to attend events to keep your pipeline active and avoid an eventual decrease in your business.

One of the common frustrations I hear from my friends is that they meet people at events who say they are interested in learning more about them, and then never return their calls or emails. Please stop doing this. Please stop ghosting people.

Yesterday afternoon I was super cranky because I did not hit my goals for the month. When this happens, you need to pause and analyze why it happened, so that you can adjust your plan to grow your business. In some cases, you may not have hit your goals because you simply did not put in the work, and in other cases sometimes things happen that are beyond your control. You simply must analyze the situation, learn from it and move on. Same rules apply when you have a great month, analyze the situation, learn from it and move on. Do not let one bad month derail your business. You need to stay focused and work towards your goals.

I received an email this weekend from a person asking to meet me for coffee. When I told him that I could meet him in about six weeks, he emailed me back saying that if I didn’t want to meet him, I should just say so and not lie to him about my schedule being so full. I then made it worse and told him that if he wanted to talk sooner then we could schedule a video chat. Sadly, that just made it worse. His response was ‘what are you too important to meet me in person’?

One of the things that amazes me is how often people will meet someone at a networking event and proceed to tell them that they just used someone else who does what they do.

It happened last week. I had someone go on and on while talking to a realtor and a mortgage person about the great experience her child had purchasing a home and that she would recommend the realtor and mortgage person that her child used to everyone. Would you like to have been that realtor and mortgage rep listening to this lady tell you how great someone else in your field was?

Kevin Willett says expanding your affiliations increases the reach of you business

I meet a lot of people who only belong to one networking group. When I ask them why they haven’t tried other groups, they usually say things like “I feel safe where I am”, or “I am comfortable there”. That is OK, but I think you are missing a chance to grow as a person and as an entrepreneur.