Getting a New Referral Is a Done Deal . . . True or False?
When one of your business contacts passes you a new referral, does that mean the prospect is ready to hear a presentation on your product or service? Repeat after me . . . NO. Assume nothing. When an...
View Article8 Questions to Ask Yourself When Considering a Sponsorship Opportunity
Local communities and organizations–be they service clubs or professional groups–depend on sponsorships to make ends meet at some of their events. This is also true for association trade shows and...
View ArticleWhat Does It Take to Achieve Success through Word of Mouth?
In order to run a successful word-of-mouth campaign, you need to build an arsenal of credibility-enhancing materials. You should always have these at your disposal to make the most of every networking...
View ArticleHow to Get People to Refer Business to You
Over the years, I’ve run into countless people who believe that joining groups and organizations and becoming active by volunteering, taking on responsibilities and working side-by-side with other...
View ArticleWhat Makes Someone Referrable?
I had a great conversation a while back with my business partner in the Referral Institute, Mike Macedonio (pictured to the right). He was explaining why he feels there are only a few criteria that...
View ArticleUnexpected Referral Sources
Sometimes good referrals come from sources that you least expect. Many business people I meet want to network exclusively with CEOs and corporate presidents. They tell me they don’t want to join most...
View ArticleWhat to Do If You Get a Bad Referral
The best way to avoid bad referrals is to tell people when they’ve given you one. Tell them tactfully, but tell them! If you don’t, you’ll keep getting bad referrals and, to be brutally honest,...
View ArticleUsing Your Unique Selling Proposition
One of the biggest issues I see or hear when it comes to networking and word-of-mouth marketing strategies comes from the individual businessperson’s mindset. So often, people believe that in order to...
View ArticleCounting Your Referrals
Referrals are the backbone of word-of-mouth networking, am I right? So if you reach out 100 people with a referral and ten reach back, did you give 100 or ten referrals? Many would immediately assume...
View ArticleIs Ignorance on Fire Ever a Good Thing?
The following video is part of my new “Ivanism” Garage to Global series, hosted by Entrepreneur.com, where I expand on catch phrases I have used frequently over the years. I know, it’s a strange...
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