Tour 36: What Is Different?

Brian Moran and Michael Lennington's book, The 12 Week Year, help business owners and their teams break down their goals into 12 week time frames, and then work towards those goals with reasonable, daily tactics.

I have the good fortune to be working through the book with others, and we discovered a line that hit home with me.

"Why is your 12 week goal important to you? If you hit it, what would be different?"

In the same way these authors want their readers to take a close look at their goals, and imagine what would be different if they were to achieve them, I'm asking you to look at your networking activities, and imagine what is different, as a result.

Is Our Impact Different?

I know it is. We touch many when we are building up others and giving and receiving referrals. Regularly ponder the impact you have, George Bailey style. What's different in someone's life because you passed a referral or opened a door that would have never been opened otherwise?

Is Our Resourcefulness Different?

I know it is. What is available to me now with a phone call was certainly not available to me ten years ago, before I began networking for my window cleaning business. I now have a multitude, or what feels like a multitude of tradespeople, digital marketers, and other business owners that I trust to treat me right when I need them.

Recently I asked my printer to do a rush job for me, knowing I would have to accept the answer, even if it was no. The answer I got was, "For you I will."

That's the power of networking.

Is Our Knowledge Different?

1000% it is. What do we learn from others when we network? To quote the popular expression; we don't know what we don't know. But others do.

Those business owners who have fallen into the same pits as we have often are the ones who throw us the rope and dust us off when we emerge, scraped but not defeated.

If you are networking, but struggling to receive referrals or make meaningful connections, please do not give up. Find that person in your circle who seems to network with ease, and ask her for help. Read this, this, and this to avoid networking pitfalls and network better. You can also email me a specific question and I'll happily offer my advice, thrilled to help a fellow networker keep going.

Go network my friend, and remember:

Let's make much of networking, and think about how our lives and businesses are different as a result of the networking we do.

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.

Learn more about Accountability Champions, and how you can be a part here.

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