Networking

As we mentioned earlier, word of mouth is still both the most effective and the most cost-effective form of marketing. With that in mind, the case for networking is very simple mathematics—the more people who know you and know about what you do, the larger your pool of potential referrals. And if you hang around people who network vs. people who are homebodies, the numbers grow geometrically, rather than linearly.

Certainly start with the groups and communities you're already involved in. It's certainly OK to make sure that people in your religious organization or other interest groups know what you do for a living and that you're seeking work. Don't compromise the purpose and integrity of these groups, but absolutely find a graceful and appropriate way to do the same in all the organizations in which you participate.

You definitely want to find one or two groups to participate in whose primary purpose is networking. Every city has several networking groups that meet on a regular basis. Check your local paper and do a search on the web for "business networking" and the name of your city. Check with your Chamber of Commerce. If they don't have a networking activity themselves, they'll certainly be able to point you to one. You'll also want to check with some of the organizations listed at the right and see if they have a local chapter in your area.

There are also a few online sites devoted specifically to business networking. Two of the most popular are Ryze and Ecademy. Ryze traditionally had a heavy Silicon Valley bent, and Ecademy a strong international flavor, but both have become more egalitarian. Ryze is encouraging the development of local get-together's and has them posted on their site. There are many other niche networking sites out there. Surf around and find some that are appropriate for your field. When you do sign up, take the time to build a nice personal profile page. Your picture and a list of your hobbies isn't going to cut it—at a minimum, use your 30-second elevator speech we discussed earlier, but if they give you the opportunity to build out something more robust, take advantage of it. Be sure it also includes link to your web site, web logs, etc.

Be Everywhere On The Web

I can't stress this enough. Building your own web site won't get you any traffic. You need to be visible on the web at each and every opportunity. Even if your business is primarily face-to-face, a recent study showed that more than 1/3 of Americans get on the web daily, and more than 2/3 do on a regular basis at least once a month. No matter what your line of work, you have a potential audience of interested people online.

Participating in forums, newsgroups, and e-mail groups is a great start. Find half a dozen of each to participate in, and make sure you post regularly—it does you no good to be a lurker. You want to try to post on each of them at least once or twice every couple of weeks, so keep it to a manageable number so you can keep up the participation. Showing up intermittently and then vanishing can actually hurt your reputation rather than help it. One other very important thing is to be sure to include a link to your web site or e-mail in all your messages. If at all possible, try to figure out how to do it as a hyperlink when you're posting to web-based forums. It may take some research, but it's critical if you want to make those connections.

Another opportunity is expert and guide sites. There are a ton of sites out there where people exchange knowledge, both for free and for pay. Find a couple of these that are appropriate for you and sign up. Just as with the business networking sites, if you get a profile page, be sure to build it out fully, or it's really not serving the purpose.

Take advantage of hyperlinking and make it work for you. Be sure your home page contains links to all the other places people can find you and your work on the web. Put a hyperlink to your web site in all your messages and profile pages. You'll get more direct referral traffic to your web site, and you'll also improve your search engine rankings.