Let's talk about referrals. They are the lifeblood of your business. You know you need them and hopefully you're good enough to deserve them. But you don't ask for them!

One of the four main reasons you don't get referrals is you're not entirely sure of the best and worst times to ask. There are critical moments of truth when you have a 'green light' to 'go for it!'

When you're building your business by referral, you can undo all of your great positioning and relationship building work by asking at the wrong time. So here are four of my favourite, really good, safe times to ask:

I use the phrase 'CTC' in my many networking and referral seminars. It stands for any of the following:

• Card to Client
• Contact to Customer
• Card to Connection
• Connection to Client

You get the idea. It's about turning that business card into a sale. It's about converting your networking leads into paying customers and clients.

It's also the hardest thing for most networking business people to do. Here's why:

Let's talk about referrals. You do all this networking to either win direct business or cultivate relationships that will lead you to direct business. This second strategy is referrals.

The problem is that few people can tell you what a referral is.

Getting terms mixed up can make you sound a bit confusing when you ask for help. What you think is a referral might be a lead to someone else. You can see how it will help to get people on the same page. Would it help you to get a definitive answer on this?

Most people will tell you that their business comes mostly from referrals, recommendations, introductions and word of mouth. Yet could you tell me:

• Where each of your referrals comes from.
• How to identify and develop your best referral sources.
• Exactly how many referrals your need.
• What kind of referrals your're looking for.
• The amount of business you generate by referral.

Considering this is your best source of business, shouldn't you be a little more on top of this kind of information? Read more and I'll show you how it works...

Why do people go networking? Forget the silly reasons like 'because we have to' or 'because everyone else is'. Forget 'because I have nothing better to do' or 'because it's the only way to win business'.

I'm talking about developing your networking strategy so you have proper, strategic reasons to attend networking events and spend time with online networking sites. I'm talking about walking into networking events with a real purpose, a proper reason for being there and a set of networking goals or objectives. In other words, a powerful 'reason why'!

There are lots of good reasons to do business networking, but every single one boils down to either PLEASURE, PROFIT, PROFILE or PROVISION.

Let's break these down for you so that you can make that transition from amateur networker to professional networker...