Referrals Need Time

A funny thing happened this weekend. I often mention the large number of people on my database, some of whom I connect with on a regular basis and many I connected with once...a few years ago.

A current connection emailed requesting a referral to "someone who..." and I was able to draw on a connection from a few years ago. It worked!

Again in conversation today I remembered someone who would make a great referral partner/alliance for someone and made the referral. It so happened we only ever had a couple of telephone conversations and exchanged emails, but I kept the contact information on my data base...just in case.

You never know!

COI, Alliances, About...

Centres of Influence
Who do you know?  Who do they know?  Who listens to them and who do they listen to?  A few people?  A lot of people?  Tons of people?  You might just know or even be a Centre of Influence.
People buy from people they Know Like and Trust and if they don't know who to buy from, they are likely to tap into their network and find out who to buy from!  Get known by Centres of Influence so they can refer to you...It's Good for Business.

Alliances
Knowing everything and doing everything for your customers can be exhausting, and let's face it, you probably can't do everything really well.  Look at what you do well and like doing, and find  someone(s) else to work with who does what you don't do well or like doing, or you just don't have time for.  Sometimes it's better to work with someone because being self employed can be lonely, as well as exhausting.  Working in Alliance with someone can add new energy, a new perspective, and put the fun back into it.  You can expand your offerings, work on larger projects and tag team for each other.  So check your network.  Who can you work with?