Developing Relationships at a Networking Event
Bette Daoust, Ph.D.

Have you ever gone to a networking event and talked to someone about what they do? I certainly have and I am often quite amazed by the total range of services that they offer the public. This is not unusual for a small business, but I begin to wonder what their focus is and I also wonder what they specialize in. I dont think they realize that what they are doing is not good for their business.

Can you imagine doing business with someone that shines your shoes, talks about leadership and also does your photocopying? This may be called a one stop shop but then again what does the buying business expect to gain from this type of relationship? I certainly am leery about that kind of business. It seems like the person doing the selling is trying to make it a conquest to just get business. They attend every networking event they possibly can and then spray and pray, dragging along some unsuspecting soul to gain a business relationship. Does the wary buyer have any idea that this person is one thing to them and an entirely different person to another business? For example, I know a person that says they do sales training and as well as teach businesses to market their products. It seems quite innocent until you get under the covers and find out that their real expertise is in sales and not in marketing, two widely different fields in most people?s minds.

However, to continue the story, this person also offers leadership training, change management consulting, writing skills, and the list goes on. When talking to them, they are also a professional speaker that will talk on any subject you give them.

When you move from spray and pray to a more focused approach, it is then much easier to work with potential customers. You are moving from being everything with no expertise into a person that has something valuable to offer. Having focus gives you the ability to define your services and products in a more targeted manner. It will actually enable you to define your best customer according to your best services.

Bette Daoust, Ph.D. has been networking with others since leaving high school years ago. Realizing that no one really cared about what she did in life unless she had someone to tell and excite, She decided to find the best ways to get people?s attention, be creative in how she presented herself and products, getting people to know who she was, and being visible all the time. Her friends and colleagues have often dubbed her the ?Networking Queen?.

Blueprint for Networking Success: 150 ways to promote yourself is the first in this series. Blueprint for Branding Yourself: Another 150 ways to promote yourself is planned for release in June 2005. For more information visit http://BlueprintBooks.com