Lesson #2 - Developing Your Professional Network

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In lesson #1 we discussed how to identify your goals, and how to set daily action plans to achieve those goals. In this lesson, we get to begin work on a key element in achieving your objectives; developing your professional network. This critical aspect of developing your overall plan will be the single, most important step for propelling you in the right direction and helping you get to your goals exponentially faster than trying to achieve it on your own.

This process will take diligent effort and work, but can be both the most exciting aspect of working towards your goals and the most rewarding. When you come into contact with an individual or company with similar interests that understand what you are trying to achieve, and are willing to contribute activity towards helping you do so, it automatically increases your motivation and drives newfound excitement behind your project, thus intrinsically driving you forward. The question I'm sure you have here is, "How do I contact the right company, people, or person to help me?" The beauty of that answer is very straight-forward. Simply review your goals from lesson #1, and then do the following.

1. Gather a few resources to pull contact information from for you to make your first contact. This can be your local phone book, a newspaper, the internet, established businesses around the corner, church friends, colleagues, etc.

2. Match your goals to potential contacts from those resources that you think may have similar interests, or experience in the field you are trying to operate. Don't concern yourself with whether they are a "perfect fit" at this point. After you make initial contact, you will know if/how that particular contact will fit into your plans.

3. Write those contacts down prioritizing them in order from what you deem to be the most important contacts down to the least important. Remember, you may only have 2 or 3 contacts to begin with, especially if you are new to this process. It is NEVER the quantity as in most cases, but the true QUALITY of the contacts you make.

4. Beside each of those contacts, decide how you will reach out to them, and write down beside each one when you are going to make the first contact, and how you are going to do so. Personally, I have always found easier to meet with someone in person versus having a full meeting on the telephone. This does not mean you cannot call to set up that appointment first. Also, PLEASE make a point of contacting them SOONER rather than LATER as we know procrastination can kick in, and it is quite possible you will NEVER take this critical step in the process.

5. MAKE CONTACT!! Go ahead and set up that first meeting with your prospective new network member. Ask for 15-30 minutes to sit down with them to share your goals. If they are willing to give you more time during that meeting, then enjoy that benefit of extra time and use it wisely.

6. Prepare a quick summary of what you are working on to share at your first meeting. Do NOT write a diatribe here. The people that agree to meet with you have their responsibilities and goals they are trying to accomplish, and they are working on limited time as well.

7. Write a few important questions after your summary of what you want to ask. Be VERY specific. Find out if they have an interest in your project and if they are willing to help you in some capacity. This can mean financial backing, providing advice in certain areas of your project, or even allowing you to utilize some office space once/month to work on your project. Remember, it is your goal to add people to your network that will help you move towards your ultimate goal you defined in Lesson #1. Also, you need to bring some sort of value to them as well. This can mean a shared stake in your company if they are willing to back you financially, or something as small as a progress letter you will give to them as you achieve certain mile markers in your endeavor.

8. Meet with your contact. Evaluate how it went, and make the decision whether or not you will add them to your network.

9. Follow up the meeting with an email thanking them for their time. If the meeting went extremely well, and they are helping you in a big way, send a small gift to the person. Remember to STAY IN CONTACT with this person regardless of the meeting outcome. You never know when you may want to visit with them again in the future, or even better, when they may need you again.

Congratulations! You now understand some very basic steps in developing a professional network that will help you achieve your goals. Once you have started this process, it is important to decide how you will stay in contact with the people you choose to keep in your network. You can do this with computer software or a "little black book." It doesn't really matter as long as you make a point to contact these people on a regular basis. "Regular" does not have to be daily, but can be monthly, quarterly or annually depending on your need. The important thing to do is to perpetually cultivate your network over time. Your network will continue to grow, and the opportunities that arise from these simple steps will astound you.

In my next lesson, I will discuss developing your personal network. I have developed some of the most interesting contacts from this simple strategy. These contacts can be just as important, and in a lot of cases even more important than the contacts you made purposely. I will discuss the reasons why in Lesson #3. Until then...

Networking Lesson #1 - Set Goals Before You Begin Networking

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Goal identification seems to be the largest stumbling block for anyone looking to increase their value in this world. Why? There are so many options to choose from when it comes to how we want to individually impact our own lives. Not to mention, movement towards any goal can take considerable time, and that is a commodity everyone seems to be short on these days.

So, it is imperative you begin your goal setting with the end in mind. Why do we do this? It is actually a very logical process. The idea is if we have our ultimate goal in mind at the beginning of our venture, we can reduce that goal over a specific timeline with daily tasks defined to help us take steps towards that ultimate goal. For example, you want to sell $120,000 worth of product the next calendar year. The next calendar year becomes your timeline. You break that down into $10,000 per month. You reduce that to $2,500 per week. You then translate that to $500 per day in a 5-day work week. Your product price is $100 per unit. You have to sell a minimum of 1 unit per day to reach your annual goal. Then, you simply FOCUS your DAILY tasks around selling that 1 unit per day. If any task you have for that day DOES NOT help you ultimately reach your daily goal, then you let that task fall down on the priority list.

This goal setting task seems very simple, and quite frankly it is. Where people tend to fall short is in the DAILY execution of these goals. You have to take massive action daily to accomplish your ultimate goal. The beauty of this exercise is if you do, in fact, form the correct habits over a few week time period, then reaching your ultimate goal will feel like you have been set on auto pilot, and the tasks you do daily will become second nature. When this happens, success begins to feel automatic. Now that you feel great about being able to accomplish your goal, you still have to identify what goal you want to set. To do so, do the following:

1. Where do your interests lie? Brainstorm and write a list of what motivates you, and what you are personally passionate about. Passion is the KEY to sticking with any plan and doing what is necessary to become successful.
2. What do you want to accomplish with your passion? Are you trying to create a non-profit organization? Are you trying to generate significant wealth with a new idea? Are you trying to generate just a little more income to reach a new purchase goal, an investment goal, or possibly to take a dream vacation?
3. Now, write down the types of people or organizations that can help you reach your goals. Are they charitable organizations? Are they organizations to help you build the skills set necessary to help you promote your new idea? Is it a mentor that will help you achieve your goal quicker or hold you accountable to the necessary actions?
4. Schedule a timeline for completion of that goal. How long will it actually take you? What steps are necessary to achieve it? Break everything down into daily tasks.
5. Write those daily tasks into a calendar so you can see what needs to be accomplished daily.
6. Read your ultimate goal, and the tasks that need to be completed for that day EVERY morning when you wake up, and again before you actually begin your day. This will help reinforce your priorities for that day and will "keep the ball moving forward." Reading your goal and understanding your tasks that need to be completed will propel you forward in reaching your ultimate goal, but most importantly, you will form great habits that help you achieve your goal.

Now that you have identified your goal, and have broken down how to achieve that goal, we can begin to think about the networking piece of your puzzle. Networking will give you exponential power in achieving your objectives. It will do so in NUMEROUS ways. It may provide the capital you need to get a business started, it may provide the brainpower to help you drive one aspect of your business, it might even help you hire the right people to help you achieve success at a quicker pace. Regardless, you will find networking to be the key ingredient in driving tremendous success no matter what you are looking to achieve.

Be looking for Lesson #2 shortly on how to begin developing your network. Network development is obviously a critical step, and one that does not need to be taken lightly. I will show you how you can attract anyone you want to your network, but you MUST be selective and utilize your goal to help you decide who is really important for you, and why it will benefit them to help you. Until next time...

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