Network! Network! Network
Networking can be crucial to ideas at the startup stage. How do you think you're going to get your message out? There needs to be an audience and more specifically, an audience with a high net worth. Did you know that angel investors backed 48,000 companies to the tune of $22 billion in 2004 alone! I am sure that you are in a position where you could use a chunk of that cash as well, right? Any entrepreneur would like to be in that position. The question is how? How can I tap in to such a wealth of capital and backing as this? The place to start is to build your network.
It was Tim Sanders, business authority and author of Love Is the Killer App: How to Win Business and Influence Friends and get The Likeability Factor: How to Boost Your L-Factor and Achieve Your Life's Dreams, who clarified that, "Your network is your net worth. Treat it with respect. Nurture it. It is the most valuable thing you own outright. Only you can take away your network. Everything you need, everyone you'll ever need to meet - probably has a loose tie to your network."
CRUCIAL TO FUTURE GROWTH
Have you ever heard of the term viral networking? Viral networking is fairly self explanatory. It follows the concept of chain e-mails in effect. When we establish a contact in a certain industry, the scope of that contact is often limited in our minds. We see that person as someone we can speak with when an exchange of goods or services is needed (or simply to call in a favor). What we often do not realize is though that person may be one in a thousand in our personal network, we are also one in a thousand in theirs. If you utilize your network one or two degrees further, your network is now exponential. That is viral networking. Now think how this can affect the growth of your business. With tens of thousands of contacts within your reach, are you utilizing your resources sufficiently? Are you harnessing the potential of your network? If not, the market will create a ceiling to the growth of your business that will eventually trap you out. With 23 million small businesses in the U.S, the competition can often creep up without you knowing it.
ACTION ITEMS TO START BUILDING YOUR NETWORK
Here are some suggestions of ways to start building your network today.
• Purchase a PDA-style phone with easy access to Outlook and other contact management software that can sync to your desktop's existing database.
• Joining a reputable country club. Investigate the membership of the various country clubs in your area first.
• Attend trade shows and industry conventions.
• Create business cards (if you have not already done so) and have them on hand at any time stored neatly in a business card holder.
• Join the professional networking web sites such as linkedin.com or doostang.com (to join doostang one must be invited by a member).
• Join a local chapter of an industry association in your arena.
• Participate in forums and blogs of reputable web sites in your industry.
• Make the effort to communicate on a regular basis with your current network (holiday greeting cards is a great way to just say "hi" and keep yourself in the minds of your network.
• Never eat alone, if possible. Always set up meal appointments for business or leisure purposes.
• Make a concerted effort to stay in touch with high net worth individuals within your network.
Related Tags: entrepreneur, affiliate marketing, networking, vc, startup, capital, seed, joint venture, angel investor
Shane Starr is Director of Marketing for Cloudstart.com. Since the latter part of 2001 Cloudstart.com has been providing the means for angel investors to link with entrepreneurs with promising business plan ideas. By seeking strong relationships in the angel investor space Cloudstart has sought to become a leader in linking new ideas with start up capital. The entire venture capital industry has long been a somewhat mysterious place for some entrepreneurs and sometimes a difficult network to break into. Our entire goal at Cloudstart is to give your business plan visibility with as many accredited investors and accredited investing entities as possible.
We seek to build relationships not only with the angel investor group, but also with venture capital firms, private equity firms, and even hedge funds. Our theory is that if we can bring as many sources of capital together as possible, it will increase the likelihood that your business plan gets the needed exposure to help in raising capital.
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