Business isn't difficult. People just make it so. After all, who chooses to go after everyone, trying to sell everything using every selling channel? Not you, of course!

Or who spends time on the wrong things - you know - the things you should be doing? The things that DON'T play to your strengths. Not you again?

Likewise, networking should be straightforward. Get out there, meet the right people, have the right conversations, keep in touch. Help, sell and connect. Know and be known. So what goes wrong?

Ever heard 'I'd love to do more networking but I don't have the time'?

If you don't have or make the time, you will not and cannot network. If you do not network you will not make the contacts you need to increase your influence and win more business.

Let's assume you think networking in all its many forms (online and offline) is a valuable way to achieve your goals. How good are you at finding the time to do it?

I've taught thousands of people to be professional networkers. Here are my top ten tips for making the time to network...

You're good. You have a well-thought-out referral marketing plan and you regularly get referrals from a range of special referral partners, right?

WRONG. Or at the least, unlikely.

Why? Because very few people have any kind of strategy for generating referrals beyond 'we deliver a great service and we ask for them occasionally.' Is it any wonder most people claim to grow their business by referral but struggle to get as many of the right kinds of referrals?

I'd like to give you some food for thought on an area of weakness for many referral marketing disciples - the follow up. In strong contact networking groups like BNI, you have one of the most powerful referral generating mechanisms in the world. But you still have to do the follow up and make the sale.

Depending on the complexity of what you're selling, the sales cycle and the ticket price, it may pay to go into some detail with your fact-finding on this new prospect. Here are 12 of the best questions I've used in the past to help me make the right kind of approach in the right kind of way to make the right kind of sale!

1. Who do they follow, admire or like?
2. How do you know each other?
3. Why is this a good referral for me?
4. How do you think they will respond to my approach?
5. What's the best way to get their attention/onside?
6. What drives them?
7. Will your referral partner/introducer be contacting the prospect?
8. How will contact be made?
9. How might they react when I approach them?
10. What are they likely to say?
11. What's the best place and time to contact the prospect?
12. What possible objections might I have to overcome?

Answers to just a few of these will put you in a better position to make the sale. And the more you can educate your referral partners, the more these questions are answered for you.

To learn more about how to craft a referral marketing plan that will double your business by referral in 12 months, guaranteed, here are two ways forward:

1. If you live in the East Midlands, and can get to Nottingham, Derby or Leicester in the next few weeks, come to one of our Referral Institute Success Masterclasses. Simply click a date to the right here - we run them once a month in each town.
2. If you live anywhere else, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it about you joining my intense six week Networking and Referrals Mentoring Program. It's incredible!
   

Here's to more referrals for all of us - there are plenty to go around if you know what you're doing. Get some education!

Personal marketing is all about working on yourself. It's the EVE ratio - the proportion of time you spend on your education vs your entertainment. I discovered this from iLearning Global - it's a really powerful way to assess where you are putting your time.

Working on yourself will help you create a fortune. It will bring you the recognition, the kudos and ultimate 'go to'status for what you do.

There are no secrets to success. If there were, pretty much everyone would know about it and everyone would be successful. The truth is, being successful (whatever success looks for you) is the application of various core principles. I've not seen anything better than this three minute video for setting it all out for you.

Have a look and embarrass yourself that you're not doing at least half the ten things on this video. Then wonder why why you're not doing as well as you should be!

So Barack Obama is the next US President! Remember from my bestselling Reputation Book that reputation is what people think, say, do and feel when they come into contact with you or your name. Obama's reputation made millions of people vote for him. But it's funny how millions didn't. Your reputation has many sides, like a diamond. Some people will love you and some won't, with many angles in between. Here's how it works...

As the credit crunch hits hard and 'the fat lady' of world recession begins singing, are there any opportunities or upsides? It's hard to stand out as a professional in a cluttered, noisy marketplace, without giving some thought to your personal brand. If you want to be the stand out choice, building your personal brand helps people come to you. If you're not familiar with the idea of personal branding, take a look at this quick slide show by one of the world leading personal branding experts.

Every so often you need to overhaul your personal brand. From the Amazon best-selling book How to Build Your Reputation, you'll see that your personal brand is simply all the messages, cues and signals you give people. Every time they come across you or your name, though all those personal branding messages, they think, do, feel or say particular things. This is called reputation. Want to know when you should overhaul your personal brand?

I spend a lot of time showing my clients how to enhance their reputations and become the 'go to' professional for what they do. I'm not the only one who sees this as important. Spend five minutes out of your day and listen to world-class thinker Seth Godin on the Mindset of a Winner. This video will open your eyes to personal reputation building!

Personal Gravitas could just be your greatest reputational asset.

However, it is a somewhat misunderstood term. Moreover, there is still some contention as to whether it's a good thing or a bad thing. What we do know is this:

Cream rises to the top of the milk.

In the same way, those people with a depth of character, a serious credibility and a compelling personality seem to...

• Rise to the top of their professions.
• Assume positions of major influence.
• Accelerate their career.
• Acquire the best reputations.
• Attract the best ventures and opportunities.
• Exert the greatest influence.
• Add the most value.
• Make the biggest difference.

If you want to rise to the top, you require the capacity to network with higher level people, have higher level conversations and ask higher level questions. You need higher level insight and you need a higher level reputation. If you don't do it on purpose, you run the risk that it might not happen by accident! What are you doing to increase your gravitas? Here are five things you can get started with:

1. Read Read Read! Work on your knowledge, because when applied it gives you wisdom and power. Both are facets of gravitas.
2. Network Network Network! No good being a well-kept secret. Get out there and make connections. Gravitas is often acquired though association.
3. Take a Step Back! Those with personal gravitas seem to speak less, listen more, observe plenty and take things in. They don't feel the need to speak all the time.
4. Ask Insightful Questions! Make people think, keep them sharp and make them clarify things. This makes you look sharp and insightful - two critical elements of gravitas.
5. Take the Gravitas Survey! Go to http://www.personalgravitas.com/shape.html and join hundreds of other prominent business figure, thought leaders, commentators and experts who are offering their insight and understanding to the gravitas debate.

When you get gravitas, incredible things begin to happen!

Did you know the game of Monopoly was created by a unemployed heating engineer named Charles Darrow ... and that his first version of the game was developed in 1935?

I didn't until Alex Mandossian told me. The toy company rejected Darrow's idea because they said it had 52 fundamental flaws and would never become a big seller.

Today, Monopoly is so successful that Parker Brothers (the toy company that did like Darrow's idea), prints more than $40 billion of Monopoly money each year... which twice the amount of real money printed by the U.S. mint!

What can we learn from this in building your business your relationships and your reputations? Four things:

1. No matter what  you do, people will hate you, rubbish you and ignore you. Doesn't make them right or wrong. It just is. Don't take it personally. It's usually not you.

2. Not everyone has the insight and empathy to see your good ideas. Whatever you're selling (your products, your servcies, your opinions, your vision or your company), you may not ignite the interest of the first person you run it past. Knock on another door.

3.  Persistence pays. History is littered with stories of inventors, authors, performers, entrepreneurs and visionaries who were ridiculed and derided as they came out of the gate. You need the resilience to get up off the floor and the persistence to get back in the game.

4. Think 'Monopoly' in your business. For you, that means coming up with great BD! Not business development, but BETTER and DIFFERENT! Instead of fighting with everyone else, can you create a category or niche for yourself? The one that you can dominate?