Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
Get 7 networking secrets for business success
business networking | business networking events | business networking podcast
Showing posts with label Niche. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Niche. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Are you casting your net too wide?
When you are networking you don't want to miss on any possible opportunities that the people you meet may know about. This can lead you to casting your net very widely and talking about what you do far too broadly. In this podcast 'What is Your Niche?' I take the fishing analogy further to help you really focus on your target market. Listen here:
Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
Get 7 networking secrets for business success
business networking | business networking events | business networking podcast
Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
Get 7 networking secrets for business success
business networking | business networking events | business networking podcast
Friday, November 20, 2009
Who do you want to talk to?
In a One2One this week a mutual acquaintance was mentioned by my friend. She said this about him "I really like and trust him, but I have no idea how to help him in business because he is really vague about who he wants to talk to".
Later I was able to relay this message and ask the person who would be a good prospect. After a few minutes I understood clearly the frustration felt by my friend. He committed to work on the problem and come up with something to help his network to help him.
It is really important to get people to know and like you, but it's equally important to be clear about who and what you are looking for.
Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
Get 7 networking secrets for business success
business networking | business networking events | business networking podcast
Later I was able to relay this message and ask the person who would be a good prospect. After a few minutes I understood clearly the frustration felt by my friend. He committed to work on the problem and come up with something to help his network to help him.
It is really important to get people to know and like you, but it's equally important to be clear about who and what you are looking for.
Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
Get 7 networking secrets for business success
business networking | business networking events | business networking podcast
Friday, October 9, 2009
Are you clear about what you do and who for?
After a seminar yesterday on building business with the effective use of offline & online networks I had a conversation with a couple of the attendees about clarity of message. During the seminar there was general agreement that the more specific you can be about proposition the better. If people know exactly what you do and who for it is much easier to find referrals for you. One person mentioned someone they knew, liked and trusted but found it too difficult to find opportunities because they positioned themselves too generally and for any business whatever the size.
It is much better to be a specialist than a generalist. It is also much better to have a specific target market or market sector. Being a generalist for everyone is a very crowded space. The following image helped people to focus on this:
If you do not consider yourself to have a specific market sector then at least try to position yourself as a specialist. And if you really are a generalist at least try and define a market sector. That could be for example by business type, size, geography or a particular problem that you solve.
Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
Get 7 networking secrets for business success
business networking | business networking events | business networking podcast
It is much better to be a specialist than a generalist. It is also much better to have a specific target market or market sector. Being a generalist for everyone is a very crowded space. The following image helped people to focus on this:
If you do not consider yourself to have a specific market sector then at least try to position yourself as a specialist. And if you really are a generalist at least try and define a market sector. That could be for example by business type, size, geography or a particular problem that you solve.
Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
Get 7 networking secrets for business success
business networking | business networking events | business networking podcast
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Can you explain what you do so others can pass it on?
Many providers of business to business and professional services find it hard to explain their expertise in simple terms. In 'Dominating your niche through Business Networking' I wrote about how Chris Bose did just that.
Chris explained in simple terms the relationship between complex Power Laws and Internet Traffic. He did it so well that others are able to pass on his message and his expertise. I overheard a conversation during a London NRG-networks lunch yesterday where someone was explaining Chris' ideas to someone else struggling with generating enquiries from their website. This was someone who had attended one of Chris' Seminars at NRG a year ago!
If you can find a way that others can pass on your message, no matter how complex, in simple terms it's a real help to those that want to advocate you. Those that have got to know, like and trust you.
Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
Get 7 networking secrets for business success
business networking | business networking events | business networking podcast
Chris explained in simple terms the relationship between complex Power Laws and Internet Traffic. He did it so well that others are able to pass on his message and his expertise. I overheard a conversation during a London NRG-networks lunch yesterday where someone was explaining Chris' ideas to someone else struggling with generating enquiries from their website. This was someone who had attended one of Chris' Seminars at NRG a year ago!
If you can find a way that others can pass on your message, no matter how complex, in simple terms it's a real help to those that want to advocate you. Those that have got to know, like and trust you.
Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
Get 7 networking secrets for business success
business networking | business networking events | business networking podcast
Monday, July 20, 2009
Dominating your niche through Business Networking
One of the temptations in business networking is to speak about your business in very general terms in case you miss a possible opportunity. The problem with this approach is that everyone misses the specific opportunities they could refer you to. Presenting your business in terms of the specific things you do for a defined target market produces much better results.
Last week Chris Bose explained how the Internet works in a seminar before the NRG London City Business Networking Group Lunch. The seminar was called, 'Dominate your online niche to survive and prosper'.
Chris demonstrated real expertise by explaining in simple terms how you can get well qualified web traffic through the search engines by presenting content that specifically answers the things your potential clients are asking. It is much better to get the 100 real prospects for your business than 100,000 who may or may not be interested. You can find out about real google searches with their free tool at www.google.com/sktool.
The same applies in business networking. Talk about the specific issues that your target market have, where they are and what they will be saying about their problems. There are two simple ways to establish what questions they are asking. You can use the same free google tool and you can ask them!
Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
Get 7 networking secrets for business success
business networking | business networking events | business networking podcast
Last week Chris Bose explained how the Internet works in a seminar before the NRG London City Business Networking Group Lunch. The seminar was called, 'Dominate your online niche to survive and prosper'.
Chris demonstrated real expertise by explaining in simple terms how you can get well qualified web traffic through the search engines by presenting content that specifically answers the things your potential clients are asking. It is much better to get the 100 real prospects for your business than 100,000 who may or may not be interested. You can find out about real google searches with their free tool at www.google.com/sktool.
The same applies in business networking. Talk about the specific issues that your target market have, where they are and what they will be saying about their problems. There are two simple ways to establish what questions they are asking. You can use the same free google tool and you can ask them!
Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
Get 7 networking secrets for business success
business networking | business networking events | business networking podcast
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Dominating your niche online
Chris Bose presented an excellent seminar before the NRG Business Networking Lunch in London this week. Chris explained that if you work out a niche for your business you can get relevant traffic to your web pages from searches rather than just any old traffic. People are searching for solutions to their real problems rather than your actual service. If you address your web pages to these issues in the area you operate then you can attract the people looking for the answers you provide. You can then work on converting those into real interest in your services and make real sales.
He explained how to work out your niche by thinking about what people really buy from you and why they buy. You can also calculate when, where and how they do this. With this you can work out who your potential customers are and address your web pages to them and the issues you solve for them. If you have multiple markets then approach each niche separately.
There were a lot of lessons during his talk for successful offline networking. People often introduce themselves and what they do without sharing what they are looking for and how to spot an opportunity for them. Next time you are planning your introduction at a Networking Event think about who the people you meet are likely to know. What are the problems those people have that you provide a solution to? Concentrate on telling people about the issues you work on together with those likely to have these issues and where. Share the symptons that people can look out for to get you an introduction.
If you need some help with this then ask some of your customers what they really buy from you and why.
Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
Get 7 networking secrets for business success
business networking | business networking events | business networking podcast
He explained how to work out your niche by thinking about what people really buy from you and why they buy. You can also calculate when, where and how they do this. With this you can work out who your potential customers are and address your web pages to them and the issues you solve for them. If you have multiple markets then approach each niche separately.
There were a lot of lessons during his talk for successful offline networking. People often introduce themselves and what they do without sharing what they are looking for and how to spot an opportunity for them. Next time you are planning your introduction at a Networking Event think about who the people you meet are likely to know. What are the problems those people have that you provide a solution to? Concentrate on telling people about the issues you work on together with those likely to have these issues and where. Share the symptons that people can look out for to get you an introduction.
If you need some help with this then ask some of your customers what they really buy from you and why.
Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
Get 7 networking secrets for business success
business networking | business networking events | business networking podcast
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)