Stop Networking and Start Building Relationships

Creating working relationships should be the goal of networking, not meeting as many people as possible.

At traditional networking events and online networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn, the focus is simply connecting you with as many people as possible. We need to shift our networking goals from numbers and volume to quality and relationships. After all, the point of networking is to connect yourself with others who can help you, as well as you help them. Relationships, communication and trust are fundamental for this. Simply exchanging business cards doesn’t build communication or trust.

"The formula for success = your human capital (what you know) times your social capital (who you know) times your reputation (who trusts you)."

When you build relationships you are increasing your social capital and reputation. You may even build your human capital too because you can learn a lot through your relationships.

Building Relationships 101
When was the last time you've met an excellent contact and developed a relationship at a networking event? It's probably been a while, if it has ever happened to you at all. Networking situations aren't always conducive to creating relationships. There are many distractions, expectations and information hustlers – the people who collect massive stacks ofbusiness cards.

After you've met someone, when you call or email, do you have to explain how and where you met? If so, does that count as a contact and is it worth having? By building meaningful working relationships, you will know your contacts and they will know you. This builds trust, which can lead to amazing opportunities.

Relationships blossom in non-networking, low stress, situations (dinner parties and social settings) because nothing is expected. This environment allows everyone to act natural. If you aren't expected to connect with someone, when you do connect it's genuine and authentic; the spark is there and the ideas flow. Through these connections, relationships are formed. You should always be ready to start a new relationship. Here are some tips to help you:

Make New Relationships

Starting a relationship is like inspiration, you never know when it will hit. Taking a moment now to prepare will help you when your next relationship starts.

* Always Be Prepared - A business card is your most basic relationship tool, it allows others to connect with you. Step one is to make sure you always have your business card with you. This is the easy part and the challenge lays ahead.

* Shareable Ideas - Think of 3 interesting ideas and keep them in the back of your mind, current events and popular topics work well. These ideas will act as a springboard when you meet someone new. These topics allow you to open a dialog, which is the first step tobuilding a relationship.

* Empathize - Think not only of yourself. Try to imagine the other person's needs. How could you help them? What can you offer? By giving a little, you can get a lot.

* Spend The Time - Spend the time to get to know someone. Don't pressure yourself into meeting as many people as possible. Slow down and connect with those who are around you. Like anything of value, a relationship takes time to build.

Reach Out
Once you focus on building relationships instead of gathering business cards, following up with others is easy and fun. For starters, you'll have less people to contact because you’ve spent time communicating and sharing ideas. Also, when you reach out to your contacts, you'll have something important and interesting to say, based on your previous conversation.

It’s All About Relationships
Remember, the goal is to establish lasting working relationships. Reach out and talk to your peers, neighbors and those around you. Take an interest in them and you’ll be surprise with the results.

Home-Based Business/ Network Marketing, Who's getting Rich?

In the advent of so many MLMs/Network Marketing Companies, I always hear comments about "Pyramids" or "Get rich quick scheme"...It seems most don't have a grasp of the capitalist system, if you work in any field you are part of the capitalist "Pyramid", where the $$$ is funneled to the top, this short vid explains:

How to Raise Entrepreneurs: 3 Easy Ways to Prevent Them from becoming Worker Bees

Ever since my kids can remember, I’ve worked from home. Sometimes I have to remind them that I’m not sitting home playing with their toys or eating bon-bons when they’re at the babysitter or at school, but for the most part they “get it”. As they get older and are able to comprehend dinner table conversations, they are developing a business vocabulary: tax write-off, clients, firing clients, blogs, podcasts, etc. Now I’m starting to get hammered with questions like, “Why do you have clients and Daddy has co-workers? Why does Daddy work in an office and you work at home?”

At 4 and 6 years old, my sons are already noticing the differences between employees and entrepreneurs. I can’t help but wonder if they too will become entrepreneurs several years from now. Certainly they see some of the benefits–more flexible schedules (Mommy can get them on and off the bus in the morning and afternoon), Mommy doesn’t complain about the price of gas (I only need to drive to run errands), Mommy can watch school plays, help with kidwriting at kindergarten, chauffer them to doctor appointments and speech therapy sessions, and stay home with them if they’re sick without it being a major inconvenience.

I hope that as they grow up, they’ll be able to see the hard work and rewards that come with being an entrepreneur. I’d like them to be able to spend more time doing activities they enjoy, spending time with their family and friends and spend their working hours doing something they love. So how do we, as entrepreneurs, encourage our children to take the path of entrepreneurial freedom?

Entrepreneurial Lesson Number One: Have Your Kids Help with Your Business:
Even young kids can help you with very simple business tasks. A 3 or 4 year old can put some outgoing letters in the mailbox and raise the flag. A 5 or 6 year old can help you weigh a package on a home scale and tell you the reading (be sure to double-check for accuracy). Young kids can help pick up the house before a client stops by your home, or accompany you on trips to the office supply store and post office. Be sure to tell them what you’re doing and why you’re doing it.

Older children can help with filing and fulfilling orders, responsible teenagers can be taught to screen and respond to customer email or answer your business phone. If they have a knack for numbers, they could even help you with balancing your books.

Entrepreneurial Lesson Number Two: Encourage Children to Take Risks
I’m not talking about allowing your children to jump off a 20 foot wall just to see what happens. But “no” should not be the most common word in your vocabulary. If your child wants to try something new, let them try it, even if you think it will fail. It doesn’t matter if your child is the shortest one in the class and wants to try out for the basketball team, or wants to make a peanut butter and bologna sandwich that will definitely taste awful. Let them try and learn from their own efforts.

Haven’t you had some failed experiments in your business? I have. These periodic failures may knock you down, but don’t you get back up and try again? Teach your kids to do the same, and they will be on their way to developing an entrepreneurial spirit.

Entrepreneurial Lesson Number Three: Give Your Kids a Financial Education
As soon as your kids are old enough, start teaching them about money. Let them know that as employees, they can pretty much expect the same paycheck week after week with modest increases until they retire. But as an entrepreneur, they are in control of their own financial future. How hard and smart they work will directly affect their immediate income and their long-term wealth.

Teach your kids the amazing power of residual income. Whether it’s a photo they take for a stock photography website, or a book they write and sell 10,000 copies of, they can learn that they don’t have to trade an hour of their time for an hour’s worth of pay. They can do something once, and reap the rewards for years to come.

Teach your kids that there is profit and loss in business. Not every dollar you make can be spent. Some needs to be invested back into your business, some goes to taxes, and some needs to go to your employees’ salaries (if applicable). Show them your quarterly statements. Show them the difference between your gross and net income. All these money lessons will serve them well over the years, even if they choose not to be entrepreneurs.

Despite your best efforts, your kids still might decide to become corporate drones. You’ll love them anyway. But if you’re anything like me, you’ll have an extra sense of satisfaction if they take control of their own destiny and become entrepreneurs or business owners just like Mom or Pop.

So while they’re young, answer their questions, teach them the vocabulary, get them involved, and encourage them to take appropriate risks and not be afraid of failure. You’ll both be glad you did.

About the Author: Lauren Hidden is an author, a blogger, and the owner of The Hidden Helper (http://www.hiddenhelper.com), an editorial services firm. To read her blog, visit http://www.hiddenhelper.com. For more information, email her at Lauren@hiddenhelper.com.

Time Management Tips

Time is what you make it. It is the one thing you cannot get back once it's gone. Here are some simple ways to "get a grip" and move toward goals more effectively.

1) Realize that time management is a myth.

No matter how organized we are, there are always only 24 hours in a day. Time doesn't change. All we can actually manage is ourselves and what we do with the time that we have.

2) Find out where you're wasting time.

Many of us are prey to time-wasters that steal time we could be using much more productively. What are your time-bandits? Do you spend too much time 'Net surfing, reading email, or making personal calls? Tracking Daily Activities explains how to track your activities so you can form a accurate picture of what you actually do, the first step to effective time management.

3) Create time management goals.

Remember, the focus of time management is actually changing your behaviors, not changing time. A good place to start is by eliminating your personal time-wasters. For one week, for example, set a goal that you're not going to take personal phone calls while you're working. (See Set Specific Goals for help with goal setting.) For a fun look at behaviors that can interfere with successful time management, see my article Time Management Personality Types. Find out if you're a Fireman, an Aquarian or a Chatty Kathy!

4) Implement a time management plan.

Think of this as an extension of time management tip # 3. The objective is to change your behaviors over time to achieve whatever general goal you've set for yourself, such as increasing your productivity or decreasing your stress. So you need to not only set your specific goals, but track them over time to see whether or not you're accomplishing them.

5) Use time management tools.

Whether it's a Day-Timer or a software program, the first step to physically managing your time is to know where it's going now and planning how you're going to spend your time in the future. A software program such as Outlook, for instance, lets you schedule events easily and can be set to remind you of events in advance, making your time management easier.

6) Prioritize ruthlessly.

You should start each day with a time management session prioritizing the tasks for that day and setting your performance benchmark. If you have 20 tasks for a given day, how many of them do you truly need to accomplish? For more on daily planning and prioritizing daily tasks, see Start The Day Right With Daily Planning.

7) Learn to delegate and/or outsource.

No matter how small your business is, there's no need for you to be a one-person show. For effective time management, you need to let other people carry some of the load. Determining Your Personal ROI explains two ways to pinpoint which tasks you'd be better off delegating or outsourcing, while Decide To Delegate provides tips for actually getting on with the job of delegating.

8) Establish routines and stick to them as much as possible.

While crises will arise, you'll be much more productive if you can follow routines most of the time.

9) Get in the habit of setting time limits for tasks.

For instance, reading and answering email can consume your whole day if you let it. Instead, set a limit of one hour a day for this task and stick to it.

10) Be sure your systems are organized.

Are you wasting a lot of time looking for files on your computer? Take the time to organize a file management system. Is your filing system slowing you down? Redo it, so it's organized to the point that you can quickly lay your hands on what you need. You'll find more information about setting up filing systems and handling data efficiently in my Data Management library.

11) Don't waste time waiting.

From client meetings to dentist appointments, it's impossible to avoid waiting for someone or something. But you don't need to just sit there and twiddle your thumbs. Always take something to do with you, such as a report you need to read, a checkbook that needs to be balanced, or just a blank pad of paper that you can use to plan your next marketing campaign. Technology makes it easy to work wherever you are; your PDA and/or cell phone will help you stay connected.

You can be in control and accomplish what you want to accomplish - once you've come to grips with the time management myth and taken control of your time.