Do you want to fill your books with people you love? Connect with people through networking. Networking is a great way to grow your client base and build brand recognition. By networking, you’re increasing your opportunities to be successful. By connecting with groups of people, you’re leveraging your time and energy. For the best results, identify who you want to reach and develop strategies to reach them.
Identify Who You Want to Connect With
While we can fill our books with any and every guest, it’s so much better to have guests that we love to see! When you’re determining who you want to connect with, think about the guests you already have and answer these questions.
- Which ones do you absolutely love?
- What are traits that they share?
- Where do they live?
- What do they do for work?
- What are their hobbies?
Now that you have your answers look for commonalities. Recognizing common threads allows you to be intentional about the people you connect with. You can then start to determine where to connect with your ideal guests. Think about where they shop, what organizations they’re a part of, where they volunteer and what events they attend. How will you get involved in the same spaces?
Start Connecting With people
You can sit back and wait for the busy bus to bring clients to you, or you can take control of your success. Don’t place your own success in someone else’s hands. Get out there and do it! Create strategies to get in front of your ideal guest and start networking. Identify one charity, event or organization to participate in with twice a year. Create an in-house event that you can host twice a year to connect with your ideal clientele. Determine one or two local businesses that you can partner with. And don’t forget about referrals! Ask your existing clients that you love to send in their friends, family, co-workers or anyone they know. It can be as simple as saying, “Mary, I’d love to build my business with more clients like you. Would you refer me to your family, friends or anyone you know?”
Charities, Events and Organizations
When getting involved with charities, events and organizations, there are two things to keep in mind. One, where can you connect with people you want to have as guests? And two, what causes matches your core values and beliefs? You want to find charities, events, and organizations that allow you to be authentic to who you are and connect with more people like the guests you love. Take time to research where your guests are involved and determine the ones you want to be involved with as well. Once you’ve identified a couple of charities, events or organizations, here are a few ways you can get involved:
- Donate gift baskets or services
- Be a guest speaker
- Provide free services
- Host a charity event
The Eric Fisher Salon hosts a cut-a-thon to support the Wichita Family Crisis Center, offering discounted cuts and waxes every year. All service proceeds from the event go to the organization to help change lives and empower victims of domestic violence. The Eric Fisher Salon first got involved with the organization after a request from one of the stylists.
In-House Events
In-house events are a great way to thank the existing clients you love and encourage them to invite others to check out your services. For example, at the Eric Fisher Academy, they host an event once a year called a Bring Your Own Bestie (BYOB). The school invites its top clients to come in for an evening of complimentary services, food, beverages, and special discounts for the event. Plus, each guest gets to bring a friend! This is a way for them to show appreciation and love for their best guests while connecting with people like them. Think about in-house events you could host to connect with people. Bonus points if you can also reward the guests you love most at the same time!
Partner With Local Businesses
Connect with people by partnering with local businesses. Use the information you identified earlier to determine one or two local businesses that you can partner with. Think about where your ideal clientele shops, eats and frequents. Which of those are close to where you work? Create a service trade with them. Offer the business gift cards for your services in return for gift cards to their store. You then hand out the gift cards as a thank you to your best clients, and the business gives your gift cards to their staff or guests. It’s a win-win. You get to reward the guests you love and gain more people like them!
Ask for Referrals
One of the best ways to get more guests like the ones you love is simply by asking! First, tell them how much you enjoy having them as a guest. Then, ask them to send in family, friends, or anyone they know who’s like them. If you want, you can also set up a rewards program for referrals. This can be anything from a kick-back for every new guest they send in. Or, it can be a contest with a larger prize. Whether you decide to offer a reward or not, most guests will be flattered you asked.
THE CHALLENGE
Answer the questions above to identify who your ideal guest is. Then, pick one of the four ways to connect with people to get started.
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