© 2009 Vinny Ribas
I have made a lot of bad decisions in my business life. Most of them came as a result of not having or seeking out someone to counsel with before making them. For a long time I didn’t have a solid roster of people from all walks of life, with a diversity of skills or with solid business knowledge and experience with whom I had built relationships with. Much of this time it was just Connie and I. I counted on our own abilities to do everything, handle every challenge, fix every problem and be the end-all to every customer and vendor. Needless to say, this resulted in several devastating failures.
The good news is that I learned my lesson. Starting my own company in the shaky music industry last year was not something that was done on a whim. Been there, done that, bought the tee shirt. It was a strategically thought out venture. I asked for a lot of input from my potential customers regarding their interest in what I was proposing to do. I received, and continue to receive coaching from financial, strategic planning, operational and industry experts. Much of the guesswork has been taken out of the equation. Everything is calculated now for maximum efficiency and ultimate profitability.
There are 5 important reasons why I was able to pull this kind of support team together, and have potential customers to survey in a very short amount of time:
§ I have built a sizeable and diverse network of business contacts and industry contacts in the 6 years that I have been in Nashville.
§ I also belong to an international CEO-to-CEO training and networking organization that expands my network around the globe.
§ I don’t just collect business cards. I try to get to know people and explore how I can help them.
§ I have learned how to successfully tap into the address books of the people in my personal network, extending my reach to hundreds of thousands of contacts.
§ I keep in touch with much of my network on a regular basis via my email newsletter.
What happens when you have this kind of a personal network? In a nutshell, you have access to just about anyone (and anything) that you need! In my case, if I have a marketing question, I know marketing specialists ranging from local experts to the Director of Marketing for 3M who I can call. If I have a legal question I know several local attorneys as well as senior partners in some of the largest law firms in the country. I think you get the idea. A large network and solid relationships are the key!
Have you built and kept up with your own network? Do you follow up with people that you meet so that you begin to cultivate relationships with them? If not, it’s never too late to start. Plus, thanks to online social networks like LinkedIn, Facebook, Classmates.com etc., it is possible to not only find lost contacts, but also to generate, develop and manage many new ones very quickly.
Start today to organize those business cards that you have in boxes in the corner of your office. Send a quick email reintroducing yourself to the ones who you had longer conversations with, and ask if there is any way that you can help them. Use a software program like FreeCRM.com (yes, it’s free) to create a searchable database of your contacts. You’ll be amazed at how many people you know, and how many resources you suddenly have access to!

