In 2003 I spent four weeks in the French countryside outside Paris, house-sitting for a former client. This was made possible because I went to a Golden Triangle Chamber of Commerce Mixer in 1997.
At that mixer I met … for that one & only time, a chiropractor who three years later (!!!) referred someone to me. (I do remember that I had followed up with a “nice to meet you” letter and a brochure). A year later year that client moved to France. And to think…I had left the mixer happy that I’d won a raffle prize … a bottle of wine – Woo-hoo. Little did I know what was in store for me years later!
The power behind “networking” is the opportunity to form relationships, but first we must set our sights further out … beyond looking for immediate results. My years in Ali Lassen’s LEADS Club taught me that it takes “spaced, timed, repetition of information” before people start to remember what it is that you have to offer. I would like to add to that trust, and trust comes from building a relationship. Sometimes we will get fortunate and have one meeting turn into something wonderful, (a month in France!) but usually it is a concentrated process of relationship building. (net-work, get it?)
We attend events, but often we are not looking beyond immediate results … finding a new client … getting an immediate introduction. Next time you are in a crowd of people, look at the faces and imagine who could be impacting what you’re doing 5 years from now. And who could YOU be impscting 5 years from now? You never know when the next great connection will happen…Maybe at the chamber mixer??
