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  • "Rarely have I seen such an energetic, impactful presentation that also gave me the opportunity to exercise the vocal chords and participate fully! Great food for thought, Rob. You motivated me to action - thank you!"

    Elizabeth Cairns, MD, Amitova
  • "Rob's workshop was the most enjoyable and relevant I've ever attended. See Rob in action - it’s an excellent investment of your time!"
    Liz Whitfield, Business Development Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance
  • "Rob Brown effortlessly delivers the holy grail of reputations and relationships! He generously shares his networking insight and wisdom in a way which makes people take action with amazing impact!"
    Sir Eric Peacock, President - Institute of Sales & Marketing Management
  • "I would highly recommend the enthusiastic and inspiring Rob Brown to chase away your networking nightmares and give you loads of practial advice to turn strangers into friends and advocates!"
    Elaine Hanzak www.hanzak.com
  • "Rob is superb! With our audience of high calibre and seniority, the depth of content and energy of delivery was extraordinary and the feedback excellent!"
    David Allanson, Head of Large Corporate, Lloyds TSB
  • "Rob Brown combines a deep knowledge of what makes networking work. A highly entertaining and engaging speaker, Rob lives as he speaks - with a passion, enthusiasm and energy that make him a pleasure to listen to and engage with!"
    Andy Lopata, Business Networking Strategist
  • "Having been through Rob's coaching program, I've experienced the huge commitment of insight, resources and energy he brings to his clients. It's made a big difference to my focus, my momentum and my results!"
    Fiona Coffey, www.fionacoffey.com
  • "Half a day with Rob gave us great new ideas and tips which we were put into practice immediately. Very worthwhile, significantly impacting our business development!"
    Norman Kimber, Area Retail Director, HSBC
  • "Rob inspires new thoughts and colossal action! Nobody approaches networking and referral marketing with the level of intelligence, structure and rigour that Rob provides!"
    Simon Bozeat, Founder of Bozeat Business Clubs
  • "This has to be relevant to what we do. There are no downsides, only upsides, even if you are already good at networking. Great ROI!"
    Richard Oldfield, Former Head of Procurement, Experian

The Three Networking Target Markets

Ever wasted precious time networking? It's time you'll never get back. And like me, you've been to the wrong events, spoken to the wrong people and had the wrong conversations. That's your fault! To put it right, start with a good understanding of who you're looking to meet - your three target markets...

 Dr Ivan MisnerOn my business-winning development programs, I often ask people to come up with the secret of great networking. You won't be surprised to hear I get many different answers! Dr. Ivan Misner, Founder and Chairman of global networking organisation BNI and  the world authority on the subject,  give the definitive answer:

"People who concentrate entirely on the material and financial aspects of business fail to realise that in the end all business is conducted through personal relationships."

It's all about relationships! And relationships are all about people. Attending networking events, 'pressing the flesh', shaking hands and swapping cards is often what puts people off about networking. Lunch after lunch, the whole rigmarole of small talk, selling and following-up is a misunderstood, and therefore not always enjoyable process for many professionals. Fact is, this is only one aspect of building up your network and creating opportunities for yourself. That's why this definition works.

One of the biggest reasons networking doesn't work for most people is because they give such little thought to who they want to build these relationships with. There are three possible target markets for your networking:
  1. People You Can Sell To.
  2. People You Can Buy From.
  3. People You Can Connect.
Let's unpack these first two a little. First, these people you are selling to could be prospective customers and clients, referral sources and advocates. You're selling your ideas, your opinions, your products and services. You do that through:
  1. Word of Mouth Marketing. This is a powerful way to generate business for the majority of professionals. And it's low cost too! Forget advertising, forget cold calling, and forget even referrals. To market means to network, on pretty much every level! Marketing creates business opportunities - if you want people to think of you first, you have to be 'in the game.
  2. Increased Visibility. It's vital you make yourself visible to key audiences and target markets. It's been said that the strategy for survival is visibility. It's not good enough to be the best at what you do. You've got to have a profile else you'll be the hungriest expert in the world! There are professionals out there that are half as good as you, yet earn twice as much. Why? Because they're networked! So think what you could do if you worked on the same level with your networking!
  3. Education. This is teaching others about you and what you do, and learning about others and what they do is vital for business success. It's no good being the best kept secret in the world. You've got to get your message over. You've got to educate people on who you are, why you're good, how you're different and why they should choose you above and beyond all of their other choices. In the same way, you've got to find out the same things about everybody else. And what better way to do that than networking?
Second, there are people you need to be engaging, buying from, being advised by and learning from. You're looking for:
  1. Advice, Ideas & Support. You've got to build your business for yourself but you can't do it alone. You need people every step of the way, so you might as well get good with your relationships. Networking is something every successful business professional has done to get where they are. Networking is THE way to connect people, knowledge, ideas and resources. It's a powerful way to tap into great suppliers, advisers, providers and experts. Everything you want to do in your life, someone else has probably done it already. Almost all the answers have been answered and almost all the problems have been solved. Unless you want to make your own mistakes and re-invent the wheel, you've just got to locate those answers. Building a relationship is simply getting people to know you, then like you and then trust you. Then they'll think about helping you, connecting you and buying from you.
  2. New Partners and Alliances. Networking is a powerful way of uncovering new opportunities and kick-starting new relationships. Every person you've ever come across, they hit your radar in one of five ways - by phone, by correspondence (letter, brochure), by the internet (website, email), by meeting face to face or by reputation (recommendation, hearing or reading about someone. There is no other way to come across someone for the first time. And in order to get the right people on your radar and get known, networking should be your premier tool.
In its purest form, networking simply means making connections to allow things to happen, and can be done professionally, socially, personally or even technically. You see, the old adage, ‘people buy people’ still holds true. here's one of my very own quotations:
"Business is personal, and even the biggest deals, orders, projects, sales, promotions and contracts come down to two or more people making a connection."

When you start thinking about your target audiences, you begin breaking your business networking into manageable and controllable factors. Go for it!

Rob's Quick Tips

Networking is aiming the following bullets at two target markets of those you can sell to and buy from:

  1. Word of mouth marketing.
  2. Building relationships and support networks.
  3. Making yourself visible to key audiences and target markets.
  4. A way of uncovering new opportunities and kick-starting new relationships.
  5. Connecting people, knowledge, ideas and resources.
  6. Educating others about you and what you do and learning about others and what they do.
  7. Sourcing new suppliers and providers.
Now check out my latest DVD - How to Work a Room - you'll never be a stranger again!
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© Rob Brown 2009. All Rights Reserved. To publish or reprint any Rob Brown article, the following must be included:

Rob Brown is one of the UK's leading authorities on business networking and referrals. He is an inspirational conference speaker and author of over 40 publications, including Amazon best-seller How To Build Your Reputation. Go to www.rob-brown.com for your free 60 page copy of ‘The 13 Commandments of Turning Relationships Into Profits', or get in touch on (44) 115 846 21227 or rob@rob-brown.com for details of his motivational presentations, business winning programmes and relationship-building resources.

© 2009 Rob Brown. All rights reserved. Site by Kent Kreations.