Salesconx Weblog

THE DANGERS OF BUSINESS NETWORKING by Tim Seitz

I think it is incredibly irresponsible for people to teach Business Networking without warning people about the dangers. The Dangers of Business Networking need to be well understood before you start actively building your business network.

I call my brand of Business Networking “Inspirational Marketing”, inspiring others to network with you and refer business to you. I teach a tele-class on using BNI, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Myspace, Plaxo, Merchant Circle, Salesconx, Meetups and other networking tools and groups. I always let my clients know the dangers of business networking before we get started. The

Dangers of Inspirational Marketing (AKA Business Networking)

1. People will envy how happy you are – Don’t be surprised when people think you’re full of poop! They don’t believe you’re telling the truth because you’re happier then “you should be” in their eyes.

2. People will ask you how you do it, then they won’t believe you when you tell them! Maybe this is like the first point, but this isn’t them not believing in your success, but not believing how you achieved it.

3. Every time you talk to people you realize you’re networking – Wow, you’re getting really good at this and you’re not even trying, that’s almost the most fun thing about it, there is no “trying” there is only doing!

4. Spare Time? What’s That? You used to have spare time, now everyone wants to talk to you, introduce you to someone, learn from you, take you out to eat, go to a convention or seminar with you, hey, am I supposed to be having this much fun when I’m working?

5. Your competition may become your clients or your vendors* – Once people see how well you are doing, they may want a piece of the action. If you have more orders than you can fill, your competition may actually end up being your supplier, and if you provide a service your competition does not, they may become your clients, and charge their clients a fee on top of yours to get your products or services.

6. You are Invited to Speak in Public – No one lets you be a wallflower, everyone wants you to speak to their sales team, their board of directors, their networking, civic and social groups. Now you know what celebrities complain about!

7. You Keep Getting Job Offers – Headhunters just will not leave you alone. Not only are you an expert in your field, but your also an expert in networking, and with the down economy, businesses want to hire you to increase their sales