Understand, Practice and Master the skills of relationship building is key to speed up and expand your business networks. The following are steps that I use to build up people networks:

1. Namecard

In any events networking, the first step to get people to know you is by introducing your namecard. The namecard introduces your business name, what type of business it does, your company website, your name, email, contact and address. This first lead can serve as a lead generator and can introduce more leads to you.

2. Website

If a prospect will like to know more about you and your business, the next step he/she will most likely do is to visit your website. The design of your website is very important because it can either attract the prospect to explore more or it can piss off the customers and never visit your website again. Of course beside the appearance of your website, the products or services that can meet the needs of your customers and the pricing are equally important as well.

3. Contacts

If your products or services are what the prospect is looking for, then the next step he/she will do is to contact you by email or phone.

Alternatively, you can establish a live chat from your website or facebook to help your prospect e.g. what are their enquiry? What are their requirements? What problems they facing? The purpose is to understand what is holding your prospect back from selecting or buying from you. After gathering the feedbacks from your customers, you can use them to improve your business.

4. Exchange

Once you have reached this level, you have actually establish a better relationship with your prospect and some can even become your friends, your affiliates or even your partners. Depending on the degree of your relationship with that person, you can benefit from the following advantages:

a. work exchange without money (called bartering) e.g. you may be strong in internet marketing but weak in design. Your friend whom has expertise in design can support you in that area. And vice versa you return the good favour to him/her. This way both party wins.

b. lesiure exchange e.g. if some of them become your friends, you can have more people to play team sports games, or go travelling or wine tasting or card playing or online games challenges.

c. network exchange e.g. more contacts from facebook, team building, entrepreneurship community. You can learn from them in their specialization like coaching, marketing, trading, investing etc as well as other criticial soft skills like street-smart instinct, creativity, innovations and so on.

So you see, the power of social networking can really expand your world and open out more doors for you than you can imagine.

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