In a world where Ashton Kutcher pushes to get 1 million followers on Twitter, it’s sometimes hard to believe that networking and developing alliances isn’t just a numbers game. For most of us mere mortals, though, it’s not.It’s about relationships. It’s about contributing to a community and providing value.
As Staci Shelton asks in her blogpost:
“How many people do you truly engage? How many people are talking with you and about you, positively, whether you’re present or not? [Whom] have you affected to the extent that you’ve influenced them to promote for you, not in a manipulative way, but because they have identified you as a source of something of value?” When you’re perceived as someone who provides value, then you can attract new opportunities for growth . . . especially through alliances. Make sure you’re working with people who are providing value themselves, and not just riding on your coattails.
Once you’ve found that person/company, then you can start exploring ways to provide value together. Maybe you’ll test the waters by doing some joint podcasts or interviews. Give some thought to whether you’d like to take the relationship a step farther, either by pitching clients together or creating a product together. My article, Is a Strategic Alliance Right for You? (published on WomenEntrepreneur.com) gives you the top 10 questions to ask when you’re ready to move to this more formal stage. But remember, you can’t get to the part where money flows if you haven’t done the groundwork in nurturing the relationships first.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 21st, 2009 at 7:59 am and is filed under Partners and Alliances. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.Leave a Reply
