I'm often asked these days about how to network and build a
referral business as a homebased business owner. Let me start by
saying that I ran two homebased businesses for many years. During
the eight years I worked from home, I learned a great deal about
the pros and cons of working from home and how it related to my
networking efforts.
Working from home has its own unique rewards and challenges. And
although most of the networking techniques that work for any
business work for most homebased businesses, there are at least two
important issues that I think apply to a homebased business more
than any other.
The first relates to introducing yourself to others in
networking environments. One important thing I learned while being
a homebased business owner related to how I promoted myself at
networking groups or when meeting people one on one.
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My opinion in this area rubs some homebased business owners the
wrong way, but I feel strongly about it: When networking, I
don't recommend you share that you run a homebased business. I
believe this characteristic is what I call a
"neutral/negative" feature of your business. That is,
telling people you meet in networking environments that you
"work from home" has either a neutral or a negative
impact because it either doesn't matter to them, or they're
not impressed that you operate your business out of your house.
When I worked from home, I rarely, if ever, met anyone who said,
"Oh, fantastic, you work from home--I must do business with
you!" Working from home was just not something that I found
made people "want" to do business with me; therefore, why
should it be emphasized when meeting people through networking?
I open with this issue because it's something that I see
done to this day. Often, when I attend a networking function, I see
someone stand, say what they do, how people can refer them and then
add at the end that he or she runs a homebased business. I believe
that bit of information will generally have no impact or a negative
impact on what people think of your potential abilities--it almost
never has a positive impact on people wanting to do business with
you. (Please note that I never hid that my business was homebased.
I simply didn't bring it up until after I had a business
relationship with the individual.)
The second issue relating to networking that I think is more
important for homebased business owners than the average business
owner is that it's important to break out of what I call
Cave-Dweller Syndrome.
I find that many homebased business owners seriously suffer from
Cave-Dweller Syndrome. (See my article on word of
mouth marketing for more advice on this topic.) Here is how the
non-homebased business owner suffers from this syndrome:
He gets up each morning in a large cave with a big-screen
TV--his home. He goes out to his garage and gets into a little cave
with four wheels--his car. He goes to another really big cave with
plenty of computers--his office. At the end of the day, he gets
back into his little cave with four wheels and drives back to the
large cave with the big-screen TV and can't figure out why no
one is referring him.
For homebased business owners, it's far worse because
they don't even leave their large cave with the big screen TV
to go to the cave with the computers. They're one and the
same!
And it's even harder for those working from home to get out
of their caves. So for you homebased business owners who want to
build your business through word of mouth, you have to be visible
and active in the community by participating in various networking
groups and/or professional associations. It's critical for you
to join organized networking groups and professional associations
that will get you out of your cave. These kinds of groups include:
Casual Contact Networks (like your local chamber of commerce),
Business Development Networks (like my own BNI), professional
organizations (almost all professions have one), and service clubs
(like the Rotary or Lions Clubs).
Look for other ways to be very visible in your circle of
influence. For example, be active in your child's school PTA or
your church. Keep your eye open for opportunities to be involved in
groups of people who come together for a common cause.
These opportunities will afford you the chance to build
relationships, and that's what social capital is all about.
Visibility leads to credibility which, in turn, leads to
profitability. (See my article on building
relationships that last for more tips on the topic.)
The bottom line is, networking doesn't change too much
whether your business is based from home or a corporate location.
But there are a few key points to remember that are specific to
working from home. The dynamics of developing a strong
word-of-mouth-based business transcend your business location. The
caveat for the homebased business owner is that you'll have to
be even more diligent and focused about finding those networking
opportunities.
Ivan Misner is Entrepreneur.com's "Networking"
columnist and the founder and CEO of BNI, the world's
largest referral organization with thousands of chapters in dozens
of countries around the world. Ivan's also a New York Times
bestselling author--his latest book is Masters of Success: Proven Techniques for Achieving
Success in Business and Life.