Networkers should BE REQUIRED to list in advance what services they want to buy BEFORE the event so that the organizers can pair them up during the event ----what is so hard for everyone to understand? Time & life is too short!

      You are spending more money than is coming in your business.  Your spouse tells you are wasting TOO MUCH MONEY advertising and promoting the business. Wasting? Not really -You need to fight back and not give in to the normal temptation to cut back on marketing. You need to bring more attention to your business ....not less!

      You really have just one shot to present your pitch to a prospective client . Familiarity with you and your product will make it easier to break down the pre conceived walls that  prospects put up at the first signs of a sales pitch.

       Yep - you get an idea or a burning desire to start your own business. Then you have a little initial success and then you fall into this deadly trap: you procreastinate hiring the right advisors lawyers, accountants, or whatever... and eventually PUFF you screw up- the governments (Fed , State, or Local) or your bank or your credit card company or most likely your empty wallet kils your dream & business once and for all. You never sought out an accountant to make sure that you were paying the least or the right taxes. You never sought out a lawyer that protected the assets that you had or accumulated. This death happens so often it is sickening for me to watch. And your bigger competitors just sit back and laugh at how one threat after another to their wealth crumbles to its own death due to this lack of planning and taking the time to do it the right way.  

In fact depending on it to bring new clients may spell doom for some businesses who spend way too much time "establishing relationships" in the virtual world, It seems much better to make things like Linkedin a time filler when you just need a break from your daily grind. 500 or 5000 Linkedin "friends" may yield a "connection" that leads to a sale, but you can't count on it if you not a stable mature business. That's just my take on this new social networking world.Much better that you you use tried & tested marketing methods until you really have the time for it.

Whenever we ask ourselves or professional sales consultants what can do to increase our sales, the number 1 response is always "You need to spend more time networking!" How true ...whenever I look over my current client base, that's the number 1 reason why I gained that client. Yet many of the groups that I belong to are not able to bring "new" faces to their networking event. Why?

    As long as you pay your dues to these organizations and associations, they do little or nothing to find out why dues paying members never show up at their networking events. That's why exclusive networking groups that restrict membership to one member per category work so well for many small business owners. If run properly, these exclusive networking clubs work because the other members keep their eyes and ears open for referrals for you. As non-exclusive chambers of commerce and neighborhood business organizations are finding this out the hard way- their memberships are declining and interest is starting to wane. Unless these non-exclusive organizations get more new faces at their events, their popularity and financial stabilitity will continue to fizzle.