As people in business, we all desire to excel in business networking with highly influential people. We look forward to engage with those people which the market listens to and can provide insight, recommendations, introductions and opportunities.

I want to touch on how you can build an enviable business network.

Think about this for a minute:

Most marketers will struggle to find leads, let alone signup clients, even though they are subscribed to various business networking groups and are connected to thousands of people on social media platforms.

That is unreasonable!

Certainly, one with access to all these contacts, should be able to reach out with a message and expediently convert more clients than they could possibly need. Alas, that is not the case.

They simply can’t do it; and this is why: The average marketer is part of ordinary networks of very little commercial value.

That’s why the most effective marketers employ a very different approach.

Allow me to paint a picture of where I am coming from.

Successful and effective marketers are well connected.

Highly successful people in business are usually effective marketers who are well connected. It is their second nature to recognise valuable contacts in advance and nurture relations with them. Consequently, they have people they can go to for advice or assistance in any area of their business.

Whenever they have a challenge, it’s often a case of just reaching out to their network and in an instance, their problem is solved.

On the contrary, average marketers are terrible networkers.

Ordinarily, small business owners take the contradictory approach wherein they focus on network size, not value. They concentrate on social media following, never engagement. Often, they focus on joining networking groups and connect with other average business owners… who are merely in that same group because they too are struggling. (Does MMM ring a bell?)

As a result, average marketers end up with tons of low value professional contacts. They lack the type of significant connections, which are essential in order to support a successful business.

Accordingly, when they are in need of new clients, sales leads or have a substantial business problem, their equally struggling contacts are unable to offer any help.

Make the influence of association work for you.

There’s another imperative motivation as to why you shouldn't network with struggling business owners.

In my discovery, time and again, marketers who associate with business owners of no influence, tend to find their own businesses going down in a spectacular spiral. It’s the same power of association we experienced at school, when a bright student started hanging with the hard knocks and soon saw their grades drop.

Fortunately, the power of association works both ways.

While connecting with average business owners may dent your business prospects, associating with influential business owners on the other hand, will inspire you to raise your bar. It’s difficult to not overstress the value of associating with influential people and learning from their proficiencies.

Have you ever thought about this?

The thing about networks is that it has nothing to do with numbers. It’s a game of value. We are all created equal. Conversely, in business, our marketable value differs immeasurably. Effective business networking is about connecting with the right people.

Be discerning, concentrate less on numbers and more on value, Quality over quantity, that’s how you develop a network of influential business contacts.

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