Since the major part of a small business typically comes from business to business services, it is essential to maintain a positive standing with the local business community. It is of value to you to join as many business type organizations as possible in your town, including your local Chamber of Commerce. Most towns and all cities have chambers of commerce. The chamber … [Read more...] about How to Get the Most of Your Local Chamber of Commerce Membership
Networking and Word of Mouth
Networking Without Fear: Tips to Overcoming Social Anxiety
In the world of business, if you want to gain brand recognition, learn more about your industry, develop business relationships, or even track down new leads for future opportunities, networking is the most effective solution. Yet, for some entrepreneurs, the idea of being in a room full of strangers and striking up conversations is scary. In fact, the very thought of it makes … [Read more...] about Networking Without Fear: Tips to Overcoming Social Anxiety
Deal with Anyone: Business Tips for Negotiations
We always have to deal with different people in everyday life as well as at work. To be able to negotiate is not a talent, but a set of knowledge, skills, and experience. These abilities will be useful not only for those who are planning to arrange a business meeting, but also who want to talk with confidence and achieve the desired results, for example, on a date. After … [Read more...] about Deal with Anyone: Business Tips for Negotiations
7 Ways To Grow Your Small Business Online
These days it’s simply not enough to have a good reputation among your return customers and a profitable brick-and-mortar store. Although operating like this demonstrates that the service or product that you provide is a hit, it simply cannot sustain the kind of growth and accessibility that an increasingly digital world demands. Not only does finessing your online strategy … [Read more...] about 7 Ways To Grow Your Small Business Online
How to Pull Off a Classy Business Party as a Start-Up
In today’s world, it is important to build professional contacts with other businesses. This networking is often done at a business party or an event, where a company can showcase their unique brand while making connections with other businesses. Networking is just as important, if not more important, for a start-up business. Since start-ups are young companies that are just … [Read more...] about How to Pull Off a Classy Business Party as a Start-Up
Effective Networking For Professional Success
[This article is based on the following book: Effective Networking for Professional Success: How to Beat your Competition to New Jobs and Contracts by Rupert Hart, Stirling Books, 1997, 125 pages] We are living in an age of corporate downsizing, and freelance consultants, or self-employed workers are growing by the day. Networking is one skill you need to practice to get … [Read more...] about Effective Networking For Professional Success
Why You Should Know Your Own Clients
When most business professionals think of networking the immediate thought is networking with other professionals. One very overlooked arena of networking is that of your existing client base. Yes, your clients do network. Not formally and probably not ever with one another, yet they network -- with their friends, colleagues, church members and so forth. Get to know your … [Read more...] about Why You Should Know Your Own Clients
5 Biggest Business Networking Mistakes – and How to Avoid Them
Are you networking to grow your business? Are you constantly looking for more prospects? If you're wearing yourself out attending scores of networking events and still have very little to show for it, it's time to try something else. A good way to get started is by learning from your mistakes... How many of these five mistakes are YOU committing on your quest for more … [Read more...] about 5 Biggest Business Networking Mistakes – and How to Avoid Them
Are You Reaching the Influencers?
While listening to a set of audiotapes on the history of philosophy, I was struck by how well networked scholars and thinkers were in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. When airplanes and computers, much less FedEx and the Internet, were still science fiction, philosophers like Rene Descartes, Thomas Reid and Immanuel Kant kept up very well with who was who in … [Read more...] about Are You Reaching the Influencers?
5 Stumbling Blocks to Successful Networking and How to Overcome Them
The ability to connect with people is essential to success in any business. Professional networking events present opportunities to interact with others on a personal level and to develop profitable relationships. These occasions are critical for anyone who wants to grow a business or promote a career. Many people are simply not comfortable walking into a room full of … [Read more...] about 5 Stumbling Blocks to Successful Networking and How to Overcome Them