Almost on a daily basis, I come across opportunities to refer business to someone. Sometimes I’m asked for a resource, like if I know someone who can design business cards. Sometimes a possible connection just pops in my head, like if a person I come in contact with mentions something that reminds me of someone else or of an opportunity that might interest him or her. Other times, though, I miss the opportunity to make a referral simply because no one comes to mind right away. Yet, if I gave it some thought or asked some of my existing contacts, I’m sure I could easily find a resource to fill the need.

As a business owner, maximizing these opportunities is really important for several reasons:

1. It solidifies your place in the customer’s mind as a go-to resource, as someone who can always help solve problems and find solutions,
2. It reinforces relationships you’re building by showing your willingness to help those around you, and
3. It opens the door for reciprocal referrals between you and other service providers to which you regularly send business.

But how do you make sure you’re ready to act the minute an opportunity presents itself (or at least not very long afterward)?

Step 1: Have Tools in Place to Support You

There are tons of CRM and contact management applications available to help you manage an ever-growing database of connections. Highrise is my favorite; I like the simplicity and ease-of-use of 37Signals tools.

Of course, even the best tool won’t help you if you don’t populate it with data, and this can be the most intimidating part of starting to use contact management software. My recommendation is to ease into it. Start from today and add new contacts you come in contact with. To get existing contacts into the program, try adding a few each day until you have everyone set up. There are ways to import contacts from other programs, too. Just be sure to go through all applications and places where you currently keep information about contacts, including your email and social networking accounts, past blog entries (for example, if you interviewed someone for your site or they provided a guest post), and anywhere else you might find a long-lost resource.

The most important thing, though, is to be sure and tag each person in every way you might search for him or her. For example, you might tag a virtual assistant as VA, virtual assistant, web designer, website designer, etc., depending on that particular virtual assistant’s expertise and skill set.

Step 2: Get to Know the People in Your Network

Learn what your network does. Learn what they need. Recently, someone asked if I knew of anyone who did a particular type of web design. At the time, no one came to mind, but then just a week later, I met another person who fitted the bill. I did an email introduction, which will hopefully lead to shared referrals between the two of them.

Pay attention to the little details about people, even things like hobbies and past work experience. If someone is an avid reader, for instance, you might need a book recommendation one day, or maybe you’ll read a great book that you can pass along to that person. As you discover these little tidbits, enter them (again, as tags) in the person’s contact record.

Not only does paying attention to the “little things” help you along the way as a business owner, but it also deepens your relationships and builds your credibility.

Step 3: Keep Your Network Top of Mind.

Always be thinking of the people around you. How can you help them? How can you help not just your clients and followers, but also fellow business owners? Every connection, every referral and every introduction strengthens your network and your business. People will come to trust and depend on you for quality recommendations and resources to help them in their lives and businesses.

Step 4: Show Initiative

Show people you can help them. When someone asks for a web designer and that’s out of your area of expertise, go to your contact management software and search for “web designer” and see who shows up. Nothing will impress a customer more than you going the extra mile for him or her and sending over a list of quality web designers.

By developing a strong and comprehensive list of resources, it becomes even easier to take better care of your customers and clients, as well as all the relationships in your network, and of course, there’s something to be said for good karma and paying it forward.

What tips do you have for maintaining a better “little black book”?

Photo by Flickr user vince42, licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0

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1. Provide something of value. Your readers subscribed for a reason. Now it’s your time to shine. Provide them with consistently high-quality content. Give them something that will actually help them in their lives or businesses.
2. Be interesting. Think before you post. Would you want to read this? Will it capture their attention and make them want to continue reading? Don’t be bland. Provide helpful information that your readers will actually look forward to receiving.
3. Be personal. You don’t have to disclose personal details about your life, but it’s helpful to have a more personal conversation. Pretend you’re putting this newsletter together for your friend. Think about a particular (preferably your ideal) client as you compose your articles. Act like you’re having a face-to-face conversation with him or her.
4. Take an interest. If you’re not in the mood to put together a newsletter, don’t do it, or at least step back and check your attitude before you begin. Remember that people actually subscribe to it and may even look forward to it. Remember that this will help your business and help you build better connections with your followers. Take an active interest in providing a high-quality newsletter with each and every issue.
5. Don’t be too “sales-y.” While you definitely want to take the opportunity to let them know about your products and services or any special promotions you’re running, you don’t want to go overboard.Keep a balance between content and promoting yourself. Think in terms of ratios, maybe 80 percent content to 20 percent promotion.
6. Be a resource. Provide links to other articles, videos and podcasts that are relevant to your audience. Devote an entire section to resources that might help them in their businesses.
7. Don’t make it too long. Try to limit your newsletters to no more than five or six articles. Otherwise, your readers will likely skip around and not read every section.
8. Provide a consistent format. Think about regular columns or sections you could provide in each issue of your newsletter. The more consistent you are with your format, the more likely that your subscribers will start to anticipate it and look for those sections, kind of like their favorite magazine columns or newsletter sections.
9. Try to get them to act. Be sure to provide some special discount or offer to your readers that encourages them to take action, whether that’s to refer a friend or make a purchase.
10. Ask for feedback. Every once in a while, ask readers how you’re doing. See if there’s any way you could improve the newsletter so that it’s more helpful to them. Remember that comments and replies are a good way of gauging the effectiveness of your message as well.
11. Be consistent. Stick to a regular schedule. I like to send my newsletters on the third Wednesday of each month. That way, I know there’s no chance the date will fall on a weekend (like if I did them on the 1st of each month, for instance), I provide myself a few weekdays’ cushion to get it done (and it’s not on a Friday, when I’m wanting to get out the door), and it’s easy for me and my readers to remember.

Newsletters can be an effective way to maintain and build relationships with your customers and prospects. You just have to be consistent in providing valuable content on a very regular basis. If you do, you’re guaranteed to get quality face time with people who want to hear your message and are already interested in doing business with you.

How do you ensure that you maintain a high-quality newsletter? What regular features do you include to keep readers interested?

Image from Flickr by by Jolante

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I act quite differently in my car than I do when I meet strangers in a store. I’m much more likely to be aggressive while driving, whereas in a store, I’m generally very courteous and tend to go out of my way to hold doors open for people, and that sort of thing.

It’s strange, really. I’m “in a rush” when I’m on the road and don’t have time for niceties, but after parking my car and walking into a store five minutes later, I can take the time to be polite. It made me wonder if medium influences behavior.

I was talking recently with another entrepreneur about how people can be rude and even intentionally hurtful when posting comments online. We wondered if those same people would act differently in person. We agreed that the Internet has a tendency to evoke rudeness where it otherwise wouldn’t exist. For example, I came across a Twitter reply a few days ago that, while not necessarily overtly rude, seemed snippy and maybe a little arrogant. It gave me a bad first impression of the company and its team, something that is now hard for them to repair.

All of these instances made me realize how important it is to be polite and courteous in every environment. A simple tweet or blog comment might very well damage a reputation that you’ve worked hard to establish, when all that was really needed was a little consideration for another person.

How observant are you about how you behave in different environments? If you knew your customers could see you, would you act the same?

Image from Flickr by Jacob Bøtter

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But how do you tap into this invaluable resource? It can be intimidating to go to others for help and can be perceived as pushy and self-serving if approached the wrong way. Here are a few tips to help others help you.

1. Embrace the idea of “paying it forward.”

People really do want to help you, which usually stems from them wanting to help everyone in their network. They ask what you do and immediately think, “Oh, you should meet [fill in the blank]!” Likewise, when you mention that you have a particular need, they mention several people you might consider and offer to connect you with them.

The most important thing to remember is that networking is all about adding value. The more you find ways to help those around you, the more opportunities will inevitably come your way.

2. Make it easy.

In an article on Techcrunch, Michael Arrington said “Those of us in a position to help entrepreneurs need to do more of it…But this is a two way street. Budding entrepreneurs trying to break down the walls need to grow up. Most of the time people don’t have the time to help you, and you shouldn’t aim hate at them for it. Instead, try a different angle or a different person.” This quote made me think of two things. Firstly, it’s important to remember that people are busy, so you need to make it so easy for them to help you that they can do it quickly and without too many steps.

For example, Betsy Talbot of Married with Luggage emailed people in her network recently asking for promotional help. She made it insanely easy by including links, as well as short and specific instructions for what to do with each of the links. She even included copy so that we didn’t have to come up with it ourselves.

3. Don’t be self-serving.

The second thing about Arrington’s quote that struck me was about trying a different angle. It’s easy to come at things from the wrong angle, and when promoting a business, that’s usually followed by rejection. If you always think of it as, “How can I get people talking about me or my business?,” then that means (a) you have to introduce yourself to someone without sounding like you’re selling something and (b) you have to somehow get them to feel compelled to mention you to others. If you think of it this way, it can seem purely self-serving.

Instead, find a way to help them, and of course, you have to always be sincere with your help. Maybe ask to interview the person for your blog or podcast, or if the person has written a book recently, offer to review it. By reaching out in this way, the person will actually look forward to learning more about you and your business, and if they enjoy talking with you, they may take the time to mention you to people in their own network.

The main thing to remember is that people are more than willing to help you. Most entrepreneurs are acutely aware of the value of networking, and successful ones understand that networking is all about helping others. Just remember, as Arrington said, it’s a two-way street.

What have been your biggest lessons in networking and helping others help you with your business? How do you make sure that you’re not perceived as self-serving?

Image from Flickr by crschmidt

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By its very nature, Gist compiles a sometimes overwhelming amount of information about your contacts so I was a bit skeptical about it being possible to reduce it down for the mobile interface. Gist combats this by really focusing on your most important people: those who you are meeting with next.

The Initial views on the app work on the assumption that you are either on your way to your meeting or taking a few minutes prior to prepare. Gist displays the meeting attendees and provides quick links to zip off an update email or pull up a map. It also provides easy access to the dossiers of your meeting attendees so you can grab some quick info prior to your event.

Beyond that, you do have the same views to your data as on the web app, your dashboard, events, people and companies — all distilled into consumable pieces that fit into the time that you have.

The Gist iPhone app is being released for no charge as part of the open beta program and is available through the Apple iTunes App Store. UPDATE: According to Robert Pease, VP Marketing, Gist, the App will now be launched next week.

How will mobile access to your Gist data help you keep in tune with your contacts?

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Who Do You Consider a Colleague?

Especially for freelance web workers, defining a “colleague” can be a complicated matter. Is your stakeholder a colleague? How about the project sponsor for the contract you’re working on? More likely, you consider people doing similar work in similar fields to you colleagues, over and above people that you work with directly, who are responsible for entirely different aspects of a given project.

Expanding your definition of who you count as a colleague is not just a petty semantics game. It will help shape the way you interact with people, and could lead to more meaningful relationships where none would otherwise exist. Treating a PR contact as a colleague, instead of passively receiving information from them, for instance, could get you priority access to advance information down the road.

You might also consider people who perform the same function as you in different industries colleagues if you don’t already, and try to reach out and connect with them. A business writer has a lot to learn from a technical writer, for instance, and vice-versa. Having colleagues in other industry spaces also has the advantage of giving you lots of “bench depth” in terms of recommending other contractors to clients with needs beyond your skill set.

Have Conversations Beyond Your Purview

Being the expert on something feels good. So good, in fact, that many will opt to maintain that feeling as long as possible rather than risk wading into unfamiliar territory, and possibly looking like a bit of a fool. But by sticking to familiar ground you’re only doing yourself a disservice in the end.

Take every advantage you can at trade conventions and other events (including purely social occasions like birthday parties) to pick the brain of professionals in various fields other than your own. As freelancers, we often focus so much on personal branding that we miss out on chances to pick up a little more knowledge of things beyond our walled garden.

Try Out Unusual Partnerships

If you happen to be successful at learning about things beyond your usual sphere, you may start to get ideas for strange and unusual projects that bridge disciplines or industries.

Resist the urge to dismiss these fantasies as unrealistic or unfeasible. In fact, try some of the more unrealistic ones out. It’s hard to embark on a project that doesn’t have a clearly defined value proposition, especially if you’re at a point at which you basically need to convert all of your working time into money. But as the old saying goes, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Accepting a little risk in exchange for the possibility of finding a partnership that could lead to new and exciting work is sometimes the only way to escape a work funk or a revenue plateau.

Pop the Bubble

At this point, with the technology available to us, there’s no excuse for having tunnel vision as a freelancer. Get out there, meet new people, and reevaluate your professional assumptions on a regular basis, and your business will reflect the positive change.

What steps have you taken to cultivate interdisciplinary relationships?

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Luckily, I had professional cause to engage with The Sims 3. And it was with strictly professional interests in mind that I devoted upwards of 14 hours over the past two days to EA’s wildly popular life-simulation franchise. Well, maybe that’s not strictly true, but there was work involved.

In-game, I was working, too. Specifically, I was pursuing Sim careers in both the music industry and professional sports. In doing so, I realized that I think of my job in exactly the same way a Sim would.  Here are the specific parallels I’ve drawn between my real-life and simulated experiences.

Build Relevant Skill Levels

In The Sims 3 (and every previous version), in order to advance your Sim’s chosen career, you have to build up relevant skill sets. So, for instance, if you want your Sim to be a writer, you “practice writing.” When your Sim “levels up,” its product is worth more. It’s a very simple premise: acquire more skill and earn more revenue.

That was exactly my guiding philosophy with regards to my real-life education, too. I picked classes believing that class “x” leads to the acquisition of skill “x,” and even decided which degrees to pursue based upon an assumed natural career progression that would result from said choices.

Even now, as a working professional, I look upon improvement as a simple process of writing more about a particular subject to become better at writing about it. In fact, if I think about it, I can almost picture my skill learning status bar filling up and approximate a percentage of completion. Never mind that gaining real-world experience is an analog (continual) process, not a digital (staged) one.

Thinking of real-world skills as things with definable, static levels of achievement is useful for a couple of reasons. First, even if it’s not technically true, it helps you set up milestones to track your progress. It’s much easier to strive for something if there are defined plateaus between slopes. Second, it helps communicate your comfort level with a particular subject. Everyone understands the concept of skill levels, and will understand approximations based on that concept far more easily and quickly than a narrative of your accumulated experience.

Befriending the Boss Will Help You Advance

In The Sims 3, a crucial new component of job advancement is knowing who your boss is so that you can become better friends with them and therefore advance your career. To be clear, I’m not just talking about kissing butt or being ingratiating, but forming genuine bonds.

In all the jobs I’ve held in the past, I was friendly with at least my immediate supervisor, and generally anyone who could conceivably have direct influence over my professional destiny. I wouldn’t say I always went out of my way to make certain this was the case, but it was definitely something I thought about. And my thoughts about relationship-building are similar to the multistaged approach of The Sims 3. Thinking of a supervisor or manager as an “Acquaintance, Friend, Good Friend, Best Friend, etc.” is a simple way of assessing what kind of action on your part would or wouldn’t be deemed appropriate.

A Successful Sim Does Not a Successful Person Make

I can talk all day about how the career metaphors found in The Sims 3 can be helpful in thinking about your real-life profession, but it doesn’t change the fact that my Pop Icon Sim had a far easier ride to success than I have. There is danger in drawing too close a parallel between EA’s amusing distraction, and the working life we engage in every waking day. Maybe most notably, I can “Save & Exit” The Sims 3 with relative ease. Not so with the daily grind.

Can you draw parallels between gaming experience and your professional life?

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