Stop doing it the wrong way, Learn the secrets to success

1. STOP NETWORKING
I’m actually being serious.
If you want to actually get more sales, have higher customer retention and get
more referrals, then stop networking.
And I’ll tell you why…
Because thinking of this whole thing like a transactional networker just isn’t the
way to go.
A person who self-identifies as a networker is going to think their end product is
get instant business. You have to attend a lot of events. If a few days go by and
you haven’t made any business, you feel like you’re failing. When you think of
how to get more contacts and business, you start thinking the answer is to attend
more networking events!
That’s standard transactional networking. You’re just attending events for the
hope of meeting a big client. You’re happy when you get a few new business
cards. You start getting tunnel vision and hope your business will pick up.
But then you think, “I want to monetize this!”
Monetize: The language of relationship networkers.

2. Full Stop. Let’s Get Real.
Unfortunately, many of the gurus of networking business out there don’t have
much experience other than talking about their business. They will talk about the
things which they believed worked for them, and when asked what they do they
will give their name, business title, and what their company wants to do for you.
All this industry stuff is unproductive and networkers have a hard time
individualizing themselves and their emotional business benefits over others.
Truth is…
Networking can make money. But it is hard. And it doesn’t work out for most
people.
And it is because their focus is all wrong.
Networking is just a thing you do. It is NOT a thing you can sell. And for that
reason, it isn’t much of a revenue generator.
The only way to make networking pay well is if you are successful in building a
large contact base and get a lot of business cards. Surely, it’s doable. But don’t
ever think it is easy and something that can be done quickly.
It is no wonder that those with real businesses are often doubtful about whether
networking is the right platform for them. They have a business, and they hear
networking can help them grow it. But then they’ll end up in this sea of bad
advice about networking, frequencies, and all this stuff. For a regular business
owner, networking seems… inapplicable and time consuming.
And it is. At least in the sense of how it is usually thought about.
Stop Networking. Start Content Marketing.
Yes. Content marketing.
Might seem like a mere vocabulary change, but the mindset is actually completely
different.
With networking you start with the question, "What do you do?" Then you try to
somehow fit some kind of job title, company name, and brief company job
description or model. It sometimes feels like trying to jam a round peg into a
square hole.
With content marketing, you start with an EMOTIONAL BUSINESS CONCEPT.
After all, the word “marketing” immediately means you have something there to
sell. Then you utilize content to market that thing.

3. This isn’t just a synonym. It is actually a completely different origination point
arriving to the same medium.
A networker starts with a name, company and/or product. A content marketer
has a business and starts with a personal emotional idea or concept to market it.
Same medium, but completely different viewpoint.
And, quite frankly, done very differently.
The way toget started on the right footing is not to start networking. Before you
do that, you need to arrive at your product/market fit. And then you go into this
in a targeted, strategic way toward building the RIGHT kind of contacts and
referrals and motivating them to take the next action toward it. And, of course,
that next action is something you can deliver to them in exchange for money.
This isn’t rocket science.
The CNE Networking Marketing Academy is about building a business powered
by content marketing. And because I take this very targeted approach at it, it
works. And it is far more predictable.
It works for many kinds of businesses, too. Information businesses. Software.
Services. Coaching. Local businesses. Physical sales businesses. They can all
benefit from real content marketing… it’s just a matter of adjusting the strategy
and methods of outreach for that specific market.
But, you take those same businesses and try toconvince them to start networking
regularly… and it would prove itself (most likely) to be a waste of time.
And for you networkers who want to make a transition… you can totally do it. I
encourage it, in fact! It just means coming into it with a
product/market/solution mindset rather than solely a passion mindset.
If you’re ready totake a step in a more concrete direction on this rather than
staying on the networking hamster wheel, then consider joining the CNE
Networking Marketing Academy.
Or if you’d like to get a more thorough walk-through of the business model to see
how this works far more efficiently to build traffic than just networking, grab a
spot in the CNE Monetization Webinar and I’d be happy to walk you through it
on my screen for free.
© Chief Networking Executive 2016