The Networking Paradox: Fast Sales Vs. Sustainable Growth

I recently did a #poll here on #linkedin , asking this question, “What have you found to be the best ways to meet new prospects/potential clients?”

With over 2,000 looks at this post and another 5,000 in another group posting and 200 votes later these are the results:

• 75% said they find networking and referral marketing to be the best
• 17% said social media/online marketing.
• 8% said conferences & events…

While I’m not denying that this is a wonderful way to get clients, there’s a couple of things that don’t sit well with me on relying on networking and referral marketing here in the online space.

1) You’re relying on people outside of your company and your sales and marketing efforts to introduce you to others. Unless you’re running a business, whose business is networking and referrals marketing, then this can mean that you’re never really building a strong foundation in your business.

2) Networking and referral marketing (referral marketing that is NOT done on autopilot) are some of the most time-consuming marketing activities whether they are done online or offline.

With all those time consuming activities for networking and referrals (and if you’re doing networking and referral marketing correctly…you’re giving as much as you’re getting) there’s little time for sales/follow-ups, further marketing, staying up to date on your expertise, and the most importantly, customer/client fulfillment.

Here’s where I’ve seen many business owners, coaches, consultants, and solopreneurs end up with this approach:

Scenario #1:

• Spending 30-40% of your time marketing
• With 10-20% of your time on #sales
• And the rest in fulfillment and other business endeavors…

Scenario #2:

• Spending 50-60% of your time #marketing
• With 20 – 30% of your time on sales
• And the rest in fulfillment only (no time for other business endeavors or upgrading your expertise, etc.)

Scenario #3:

You do more of a sprint in your marketing and sales until you fill up your calendar for a couple of months. Go head down in fulfillment, come up for a breather only for food/water/sleep and then head back down again.

Once you’ve completed the fulfillment piece (and only then) you go back into your marketing and sales sprints and start the whole cycle again, but this time, there are at least two (and mostly likely four to six) months with no income at all.

**And if you don’t have a stable #network, meaning you came in as more of a taker than a giver in the back and forth of networking, better give yourself more time as you’ll have to build up your network again. (That old saying of fool me once, shame on you…comes into play here).

All in all, the above has a similar pattern. Can you see it?

Little room for actual growth and scaling!

All in all - Networking and referral marketing is still the faster ways to speed up the buying process. Yes, hands down, that’s true.

And a lot of that has to be done by the individual of a company, which means that your business, while it can be stable, it won’t have the ability to scale unless you deploy:

• Building a team of marketers and/or sales people, create systems and automation in your business
• The build out of powerful social media platforms
• And the implementation of online marketing tactics that can fill in the gaps and create more streamlines of prospects and customers.

So, what can you do now in between the things that are working and the streamlines you need to grow?

You can start creating sales and marketing systems on social media.

My advice…get good at one social media platform first and start converting there.

Want to know how we do this on LinkedIn?

I’ve got a free pdf download for you then! This is our Captivate to Close LinkedIn Sales System where I’ll show you the 7-simple steps we take to align, attract and convert our prospects on the LinkedIn platform.

Go on in and grab it and start getting this marketing and sales system in place on the platform that is perfect for selling high-ticket programs & services.

Click here to grab it!

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Danielle Fitzpatrick Clark is lovingly referred to as America's Favorite Digital Disruptor. She doesn't just live, breathe, and sleep digital marketing, she embodies the constant shifts and pivots needed to create long-lasting businesses in the online space.?

Her company Influence Builder is all about bringing the human element to the online tech and digital space. Specifically focused on helping the lesser-known experts and thought leaders, Influence Builder shows them how to break out of the noise, create powerful platforms, and thriving businesses so they can spread their mission and message to the world. This is the bridge where disruptors disrupt and build with authentic influence.