Want to find new clients? The power and magic of Networks …and some tips on how to start using it right now
Flashback! I was feeling stuck. My mission was to secure new UK customers for my client in Sweden within a few months. His product was (and is) amazing and it works. The problem was I had no contacts. I had limited time available and no idea where to start. Why oh why had I agreed to take on this mammoth task? I now had to rise to the challenge or admit defeat… (this is one of my longer articles so if you are impatient to know what happened just click to the end here!).
The majority of my coaching clients are Change-Makers: typically freelancers, entrepreneurs, socialpreneurs, consultants, small business owners and creatives. They are all wonderful people who share the drive and passion of wanting to make a positive difference to the world with their services or products. In other ways, they are very different to each other yet they all tend to have this same question when we first start to work together:
“How do I find new clients?”
So what do you do when you need to find new clients and just don’t know where to start?
I know this question so well. I have faced it myself many times. Every time I am starting a new venture or launching a new product this question makes me feel small, insignificant and fearful. I have also found my answers many times…
Notice what is already there
Sometimes not finding the answer to this core and essential business question stems from a lack (or temporary lapse) of confidence that prevents even the most experienced and intelligent person from noticing the abundance of opportunity right in front of them. It doesn’t seem like there is an abundance when you are wondering where the next sale is coming from but there is a definite abundance of opportunity out there. There are so, so many ways to tap into that abundance. Advertising on social media, LinkedIn connections, and public speaking are just three of the hundreds of ways.
One thing we forget to notice is that we are all part of networks whether we recognize it or not. Social analysts have studied these networks in detail: ‘social network analysis’ is a complex field involving mathematics, psychology, anthropology and more. You could say it’s the ‘science of trust’ or the science of relationships. I am by no means an expert in the field but I have looked at the power of networks for many years and continue to marvel at their power.
The abundance part.
Social network studies have indicated that we each know about 300 people on at least ‘nodding terms’, and that’s even before we get online, (think about it, your family, friends, friends of friends, neighbours, work, local shops etc…) and each of these people also knows 300, so in theory ultimately we each can get in touch with 90,000 people. An experiment at Columbia University found that about five to seven degrees of separation are sufficient for connecting any two people through e-mail. Most of the time, most of us are simply not aware of our amazing resource of networks.
Most of us are just not utilising our networks to the max.
Social network studies have found that we tend to network with people who are similar to us. It feels safe, we have similar terms of reference and we trust each other. However, it also means that we miss all the good stuff – such as the new ideas and new connections – that is available from the people we know less well and the strangers, the people who don’t think like us.
Even small networks are super powerful.
The Tipping Point, a classic and brilliant book by Malcolm Gladwell shows how when a certain number of people are doing the same thing and sharing the same memes and habits it ‘tips’ into an ‘epidemic’. This tipping point is said to be a mere 150 people. Other social studies have found that it only takes 10% of a community to align with a value or behaviour for the rest of the community to follow suit, which explains how both dictators and peacemakers can gain widespread power.
Offline still rocks.
Online methods are powerful and essential for most businesses, but when you are starting out or starting something new, a simple and enlightening method is to simply talk to people within in your existing networks to get the ball rolling. You will be amazed at how much information and connection is available simply by asking questions such as:
- ‘Who do you know who is having x/y/z problem?’
- ‘Who do you know that might be interested in x/y/x product/service?’
- ‘Where do you think I should advertise my product/service?’
Yes asking around like this is a bit random and can’t replace proper market research and a strategic approach, but the randomness is actually the fun and magic part. You often unearth all sorts of information quickly that you might not get from a more straight-line approach.
Did I save the day?
So back to my opening story: did I save the day for my Swedish client? Yes. I did everything I could think of, such as attending industry conferences, calling friends and colleagues which gave me a surprising amount of connections. In the end I was running a marketing workshop one day and suddenly realised that two of the participants were potential leads and one of them became a client of my client. I then also remembered that I already had a great contact that I had simply forgotten about because my mind didn’t make the connection to this new sector – and they became a client of my client too. So, I met the goal but more importantly I never forgot that it’s worth waking up to the power of the networks right under our noses.
4 Simple actions you can take right now
Think about your 90,000 contacts
Who could you call or email and ask for some help, feedback, ideas?
Talk to some new people
How often do you go to new places and events?
Consider your ‘social capital’
What do you have to GIVE? Is it information? Is it contacts and introductions? Or is it that you are a great listener, you are fun to be around, or that you are a creative thinker? Be a contribution in your network.
Be great with people in your networks
Just because, as Maya Angelou said, “..people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
Got a BIG Goal?
I help Change-Makers to finally get the results they really want for their business by owning their big vision and confidently taking the right steps with ease.
Money, Marketing & Miracles, my coaching programme for small business is now up and running with six wonderful participants. The next one starts in March 2017. If you want to go to the next level in your freelance career or small business, email me now to join the advance programme information list.
