I love advertising my business through networking with other upbeat business people. There are many networking groups in every city—trade organizations, Chambers of Commerce, Rotary Clubs, national associations, etc.
But you don’t have to restrict yourself to business organizations. Parties are unofficial networking groups. One January, I was invited to a friend’s New Year’s Day party, and I only knew a few people there. My friend, Victoria, introduced me to a woman friend of hers who was reading my book and enjoying it.
“You have to meet George!” she told me. “He has your book and he has been faithfully reading it one page every day. He would love to meet you.”
Well, I always enjoy talking to a fan—I will go out of my way to find someone who is going to say nice things to me—so I set off in search of George. I didn’t know what he looked like, and there were a lot of men at the party, so I just waltzed up to the first man I saw and said, “Hi! Are you George?”
The man shook his head and said, “No, I’m not. Why are you looking for George?”
“Someone told me that he was a fan of my book and wanted to meet me,” I replied.
“Oh, really? You’re an author? What book did you write?” the man asked.
“It’s called The Wealthy Spirit…” and all of a sudden I am networking and telling this man all about who I am and what I do. After a pleasant conversation, exchange of contact numbers and information, I continued my search for George with the next man I saw.
“Excuse me, are you George?” I smiled sweetly.
“Nope. Who’s George?…” More networking.
“I’m looking for George. Are you George?”
“No. Why are you looking for George…?”
I was getting giddy. This was the best line I’d ever used. This same conversation happened over and over. I met every man at the party before I found George (who was delightful, of course). What a great conversation opener “Are you George?” turned out to be! I decided that I might use it at every party I go to. You can use it, too. Invent an imaginary George, and use it as an excuse to talk to anyone you want!
Today’s Affirmation: “I love talking with people and they love talking with me!”