- Professional networking is a powerful tool for business owners. It's something that allows you to connect with other people and also grows your business at the same time. I cover this concept more in my course on lynda.com called "Building Professional Networks." If you're interested in the topic, I recommend you go to that to dive in deeper, but in this video, I just want to talk about some specific reasons why it's critical for entrepreneurs. First, rate yourself. On a scale of zero to 10, how strong of a networker do you consider yourself? Zero being horrible, and 10 being the best networker in the world.
No matter where you are on the scale, there's room for improvement, and it's important that you improve for many reasons for your business. Let's talk about a few of those. First, if you're a solid networker, you'll require less monetary investment to make your business succeed. That's because you'll be able to more effectively drive sales in your business. You don't need someone else's money if you're bringing in your own money through sales.
The best networkers are best sales people, and all business owners need to sell to some degree. Number two is that it's easier to get funding. Now, I just said you don't necessarily need funding. Well, if you have a business that you want to grow quickly, and you want to bring in angel investment or Venture Capital money, if you're a solid networker, you're going to find it much easier to connect with those people and get the money that you need on favorable terms.
Number three is that it's easier to find mentors. Mentors are people who have already had success, and they have a wealth of knowledge and wisdom to share with you to help you succeed in your business. I can think of names and faces of people who have helped me succeed, and all of these people I met through the power of professional networking. Number four deals with employees. Now, whether or not you have employees right now, at some point as your business grows, you're going to want to bring in people to work for you.
If you're a good networker, it will save you lots of money and lots of time. This is because it can be costly to make job listings. It can also be costly to hire someone and just kind of test out whether or not they're going to work for your business. By networking, you can see how someone else works in another business, saving you the trial period. You can see them in action. Then, number five deals with luck. Now, I don't necessarily believe in luck, but I do believe in what Louis Pasteur said, which is "Fortune favors the prepared mind." In other words, if you're prepared, good things will happen to you.
When it comes to your business, if you've prepared yourself by making lots of professional connections, you're increasing the likelihood that good things are just going to happen. It's not necessarily because there was luck involved, but because you prepared yourself by creating those opportunities. Professional networking is a powerful tool, and I recommend that you invest some time and effort into becoming an expert at it.
Author
Updated
3/31/2015Released
4/15/2014Skill Level Intermediate
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Introduction
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Welcome48s
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1. Finding Your Most Valuable Customers
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2. Setting Fees and Prices
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3. Solving Problems
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4. Working with Family and Friends
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Managing family and friends2m 59s
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5. Creating a Business Plan
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6. Starting a Hobby Business
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7. Discovering Your Most Valuable Service or Product
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8. Bootstrapping Your Business
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9. Creating Culture
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Building company values2m 34s
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10. Getting Organized
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Managing your time4m 45s
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11. Marketing with Social Media
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Deciding on your channels3m 11s
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12. Business Entities and Compensation
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13. Small Business Accounting
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14. Finding Your Marketing Message
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Refining your message4m 56s
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15. Documenting Business Systems
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16. Balancing Work and Life
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17. Increasing Sales in Your Business
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Developing your sales system3m 15s
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18. Testing Whether You Have an Idea or a Business
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19. Hiring Service Providers
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Selecting and hiring vendors2m 51s
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20. Hiring Employees
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Crafting a job and pay range3m 58s
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Interviewing candidates7m 25s
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21. Motivating Employees
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Developing people and paths4m 24s
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22. Seeking Capital
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Crafting your pitch5m 40s
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23. Working With Difficult Customers
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Working through complaints6m 11s
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24. Letting Employees Go
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Making a smooth transition5m 58s
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25. Generating New Sales Leads
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26. Maintaining Focus as a Business Owner
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Avoiding opportunity traps5m 26s
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27. Thinking Like An Entrepreneur
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Getting rich your own way4m 16s
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28. Dealing with Competition in Business
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29. Avoiding Blind Spots
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30. Creating a Customer Experience
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31. Networking for Small Business
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32. Building Accountability into your Small Business Culture
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33. Dealing with Business Failures
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34. Improving Sales Systems
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35. Giving Back
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36. Setting Goals for Small Business
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Measuring your success3m 31s
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37. Channeling Your Motivation
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Why you deserve success3m 8s
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38. Building a Small Business Exit Strategy
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Exit strategy options5m 7s
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39. Building Customer Loyalty
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The role of customer loyalty3m 47s
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40. Building Employee Loyalty
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41. Structuring a Small Business
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42. Branding Your Small Business
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Crafting your company story3m 39s
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43. Dispelling Big-Business Illusions
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44. Understanding if Entrepreneurship Is Right for You
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45. Managing Remote Employees
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Leading from a distance3m 11s
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46. Crowdfunding Your Business
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Understanding crowdfunding3m 29s
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47. Cultivating Entrepreneurial Curiosity
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48. Growing into a Mature Business
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Putting it all together5m 50s
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Video: Understanding the power of networking