Art of Networking
Making Use of "The List"
By Debby Peters, Certified Networker Program

The List:
All of us have them, whether it's the Chamber of Commerce directory or the membership list of an association.

The Question: What can we do with these lists that will give us a return on our investment of time and money?

I am a Director of Training for The Certified Networker Program of Ohio. You'd think with all the work I do in helping my clients to network and gain effective referrals that the answer to this question would have been a no-brainer. I'm going to use the excuse that I was too much in the middle of the forest to see the trees! Or better said, the expanse of the list turned my brain to mush. Each month the Toledo Chamber publishes their new members on the back page of their monthly newsletter. Each month I would tear off the back page and save it. My plan was to "do something" with this resource. For the longest time, the best idea I could develop was to send some promotional material to these people. As soon as that idea would pop into my head, I realized what I do with the materials that others blindly send me. Since I didn't want to waste my marketing dollars, I rejected the idea.

The Solution:
Realizing that personal introductions work so much better than a cold call, I finally became aware of how to use the lists to my advantage. Instead of trying to initiate conversation with these prospects, I asked my business friends if they would be willing to review the list to see whom they knew. These friends are people that I'm willing to also help in return, people with whom I've already developed a relationship. I now have several of these friends working to promote me.

The Next Step:
With this enlightenment, or the clearing of the fog, I also realized another way to use the list. Many directories give the type of business of the company listed. I went back and circled all those within my target market. These can be used for specific referral requests at my weekly BNI chapter meeting. From three months of new chamber members, there are five companies connected to my target market. That gives me five weeks of referral requests. Not a bad way to make a profitable use of the list. I can report that in the first week's attempt, already a member knows and is willing to introduce me to the company I requested.

The Take Away:
Blindly sending a marketing piece to a list of prospects will take my time and money. For me it doesn't deliver the level of return that I need. Personal introductions and promotion are the only way I want to do business. The chamber list of new members is now a tool I can use to make that happen for me.


Debby Peters is the owner and Director of Training of The Certified Networker Program of Ohio, Ltd., a 24 hour referral based training that takes cold calls out of marketing plans.  She is also the founder/owner of Sales…And More! Debby is a member of BNI Madison Avenue Chapter in Toledo, Ohio.


Art of Networking
Marketing is Essential to Success!
By J Lance Mead, BNI Executive Director

"Today, it's not stretching the truth to say that the biggest mistake many small business owners make in terms of marketing is not marketing. Either owners feel they do not have the resources for marketing or they do not realize its overall importance."

I come across business owners who say this to me everyday. They can't afford to market themselves or their company. They're relying on their phone book listing, a sign on their car or truck, or just plan old luck for business to come in their direction. When you point out to these same owners the percentage of business derived from the phone directory, stick-on signs and luck—it's frightening.

Marketing yourself and your business is not an option - it's absolutely essential. There are so many simple, quick and easy ways to accomplish this. On the other hand there are also ways that are complex, take time and can be costly, but it's important to realize that marketing increases your visibility, credibility and overall profitability. This is known as the VCP method and is an incredible tool for marketing your business. Let's take a look at just a couple ideas that might increase your Visibility, Credibility and Profitability:

1. Display your brochures or products — Asking businesses that complement rather than compete with your business to display your brochures or products can lead to excellent VCP.
2. Introduction to potential clients — This is an extraordinary way to hasten the relationship process by introducing you directly to a prospect that needs your product or service. When you have strong and powerful relationships with businesses that complement your business this can only add to your VCP.
3. Promote and publish information on you — This is a very positive approach that can be extremely rewarding. If your complementary business has a newsletter or mailing, including an article you wrote on your business, or an article on you, can increase dramatically your VCP.
4. Personal or professional endorsement — This is a "Home Run." An endorsement by your complementary business is a can't-miss because if that person needs your product or service they will almost undoubtedly use a provider endorsed by someone else they know and trust.
5. Provide you with a steady source of referrals — When a complementary business knows you and trusts you, they will refer you with confidence to all those in need of your product and service. It's too easy, they know you need the product or service and are looking to be referred.

There are more potential ways of marketing yourself, but these are easy ways to get started. It's funny, I just put a contractor, plumber and electrician together last week and they're already referring each other to their clients based on my introduction and endorsement of the quality, professionalism and cleanliness of their work.

Remember though, the most important part of marketing yourself through the ways I have listed above is to reciprocate to the complementary business as often as possible. Otherwise that steady source of referrals will dwindle down to a mere trickle as the complementary business finds a new source. If you want to maximize your VCP, you've got to contribute to your referral source's VCP as well.