Several years ago, without warning, I lost a cushy office job.
My wife and I were stunned … and stuck. We had two toddlers at home, and minimal savings. A few numb days later, I made the craziest decision of my life: I would start my own business.
I knew absolutely nothing about sales or marketing. I had no business experience … but I refused to return to the corporate grind.
I scrabbled hard for a couple of years, trying every low-cost marketing scheme I could find. Nothing worked well, or for very long — until I stumbled into business networking.
My expectations were low. I didn’t think of myself as a “people person,” certainly not a peppy, buttoned-down Chamber of Commerce type. I thought networking had to be ‘phony’, and I only tried it because it was cheap.
My un-phoniness rescued me. I believed in my product and my pitch. I succeeded, modestly at first, through blind sincerity and persistence. I kept networking, and learning … and earning.
Networking now produces over 50% of my income — even if I skip a meeting or two.
Here are 10 ways to maximize old-fashioned “relationship marketing” that I wish I’d known starting out …
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