Tour 22: Three Pieces of Advice I'd Give My Past Self

As I reflect on my time networking, I think about what I would do differently if I had to start again.

I'm grateful to have learned so much from those around me. Here's what I would tell my past self, if I could go back to the time when I began networking.

Ask Questions When You Don't Know Something

I'm noticing more and more as I converse with all sorts of people that I am unafraid to ask a clarifying question, to help me better understand and to be a better conversational partner. How can I participate fully in a conversation when I don't understand the words in it?

I want to be a better conversational partner more than I want to appear smart or sophisticated. This desire has come to me over time, as I place more and more value on helping people, and less value on what people might think of me.

When a referral partner touts off initials I don't know, I ask what those initials stand for. When a new client rattles off a practice I'm not familiar with, I ask him to tell me more.

Key Piece of Advice To Give My Past Self:

Become more curious and less self conscious; this practice will serve you well as you network.

Join a Weekly Industry Exclusive Networking Group ASAP

When my husband and I first bought our window cleaning route I wasn't involved in the business for about two years. I practically tripped into my first networking meeting, not even knowing it was a meeting. The only reason I found a meeting was because it was happening at a restaurant that I was trying to acquire as a window cleaning client.

I walked into the restaurant, gave the powers that be my card, and as I walked out, I noticed a private room, with a sign in front of it that said "Tips Group Meets Here." The sign drew my attention, and I discovered there were business owners who met in the room weekly for lunch.

I was so green to networking that I didn't know that business owners met to have lunch together. Well I took note of the date and time they met, showed up the next week during the meeting, and joined this Tips Club within a few weeks.

It was at the Tips Club that I met someone Kim from The Moore Chamber, and my husband and I decided to join the chamber. At our chamber ribbon cutting, I met Kathy, who invited me to the BNI chapter I am still a member of today.

While the Tips club wasn't sustainable for me, I am grateful for it because it brought me to BNI.

A year elapsed between the time I first visited my BNI meeting and my induction into the BNI chapter. If I had to do it again, I would have found a way to join much sooner. I credit my BNI membership as the reason our window cleaning business didn't go under during COVID (An article on that coming soon).

I've learned much of the content for this blog, and the advice I give clients from BNI principals and it's core slogan, "Giver's Gain."

Key Piece of Advice To Give My Past Self:

Meeting weekly with people who want to see you win in your business is powerful. Find a BNI group in your area, and join.

Don't Give Up on Collaboration

I am a huge fan of collaboration. You can read more on collaboration here, and here. Early on during my BNI experience, I collaborated with a member of my BNI chapter who detailed cars. We each sent an email to our own email lists, offering a discount if our clients used each other's businesses.

Although he successfully converted two of my clients using my promotional emails, I was unable to convert any of his clients through his promotional emails. What I should have done was to work with him to tweak his emails (email campaigns are fairly inexpensive) so they would be more attractive and convert for my benefit, like my emails had done for him.

Another approach I could have taken, was to reach out to another home service provider and try the same collaboration. Maybe window cleaning is more attractive to people who pay for carpet cleaning for example.

Key Piece of Advice To Give My Past Self:

Persevere, and keep tweaking the collaborators and the messaging until you find a winning collaboration.

Go network my friend, and remember:

Learn as you go, and don't be afraid to share nuggets of wisdom with others.

The Networker's Tour Guide, Faithann Basore, and her husband Dave have owned Window Cleaning Plus (WCP) for 10 years. Growing WCP through networking has given Faithann the desire to guide other small business owners through the networking terrain so they can feel comfortable and build long lasting relationships in their business.

Got networking questions? Email me at [email protected].