 | 10 Commandments To Stay Invisible When Networking | It will save you huge amounts of time ... | Posted on: 14/01/2015 By: Jacky Sherman |
Start the New Year with 10 networking commandments that will guarantee you stay invisible and have time to deal with all the stuff in your office. It'll save you a huge amount of time ...
Never have your name on your business card. It's not enough to just have 'sales@' or 'info@' as your email address. That is off putting but beware people will still try and contact you after the event and then you'll have to stop what you're doing to:
Listen to them Delete them from your messages Employ someone to tell them you're in a meeting all week
Better still don't have any cards at all. That'll fox 'em!
Arrive just before the meeting starts and leave as soon as the formalities are done. If you're lucky the meeting will finish early and you can get away before the time wasters try to speak to you.
Only turn up occasionally, no point in making it a habit. If you turn up too often people will want to know all about you. And, for goodness sake, they may even offer to help you.
Warning. don't accept this help as you'll be obliged to say thank you. What's more they'll expect you to talk to them the next time you see them!
If you're asked to 'do a 60 seconds' in the meeting, remember to waffle vaguely in a monotone about the quality of your service and never, ever, make it clear what you do or who you'd like to meet.
In the unlikely event that anyone expresses an interest tell them how busy you are. That usually stops them from pursuing you any further.
Eat your breakfast in silence. GREAT TIP, focus on your plate. If someone insists on talking to you, keep the conversation firmly on the quality of the breakfast or how you're 'not a morning person'.
Please tell me you're not out socialising with these people in the evening or worse still taking valuable time away from work for lunch. If you are, don't worry, follow this advice and they'll soon stop inviting you!
Avoid eye contact at all costs, especially if the other person is talking. If they think you're interested in what they are saying, it only encourages them to tell you more. Before you know where you are they are asking questions about you. Answer with either Yes or No. No need to give more information than necessary to a bunch of nosey parkers.
Never offer help to anyone. It only encourages them to return the favour and put you in touch with all the wrong people. After all, how can they possibly know the right type of clients for your business? They're not psychic!
Keep quiet and don't voice your opinion, join in or share your expertise. Obviously others should pay for your knowledge, not freeload.
Worse still, they may ask you to speak at their event and start promoting you to others! All that extra work preparing and yet another couple of hours out of the office. It could mushroom like mad, suddenly everyone wants a piece of you.
Social media is a real time waster! If you were foolish enough to sign up in the first place make sure you don't comment on others people's posts. It only encourages them to contact you. Do not have contact details on your profile and make sure you have notifications turned OFF, otherwise you'll get loads of emails from people interested in the same things as you.
You haven't posted a photo I hope? Replace it with a bad copy of half your logo. That'll put people off!
It's OK on Facebook to broadcast what you had for breakfast and how the cat's getting on since her operation. You don't want a reputation for being anti-social.
Never follow up. Everyone said you should network and you've done your bit; now you need to get on with your work. No need to keep in touch, no-one will mind and you will have the satisfaction of telling everyone that you were right. Networking doesn't work for your business!
So follow my advice to stay invisible and save yourself a whole load of time and effort meeting new people who think they can help you. Isn't it peaceful now?
"Shame that posh car had to go!"
Want to learn more? Why not contact me on 07970 638857 and let me show you the real power of networking and how it can work for your business.
Until next time ...
JACKY SHERMAN
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