Why do you need to know your focus when joining a group?
The power of focus will differentiate you from the rest of the crowd. You need to concentrate on where business comes from for your organization. Without focus, you will fall into the trap of being the do-it-all person with no particular expertise. In chapter one we talked about making sure you knew your pitch and how you wanted to present yourself to others. Focus has everything to do with how you meet and greet others in all situations. You need to become the specialist for another organization and become ingrained in their activities so that they come to rely on you for your expertise. So how do you obtain the focus? You need to take the time to really define where you want your business to grow and how you will get there. It is not about how much business you do or what you do, it is more about how you focus on the services and products your company provides. Focus can be a culmination of things.
First it can be focusing on the business activities you conduct on a daily basis. You may decide to focus on getting 10 appointments each month, or perhaps going to 3 networking events. Secondly, your focus could be on balancing your work life with your family life. Or, perhaps your focus is simply to grow your business.
If you are focused on gaining more business, then it is wise to spend your money and your time in the most appropriate place. Networking and leads groups will help you in this endeavor. Other groups will help you to focus on being recognized for working with other businesses and providing support. If you focus on your business, you can gain respect and obtain inroads with many business organizations.
Bette Daoust, Ph.D. has been networking with others since leaving high school years ago. Realizing that no one really cared about what she did in life unless she had someone to tell and excite. She decided to find the best ways to get people's attention, be creative in how she presented herself and products, getting people to know who she was, and being visible all the time. Her friends and colleagues have often dubbed her the "Networking Queen". Blueprint for Networking Success: 150 ways to promote yourself is the first in this series. Blueprint for Branding Yourself: Another 150 ways to promote yourself is planned for release in 2005. For more information visit http://www.BlueprintBooks.com