Everyone has a network that they influence. This makes them a person of influence (POI). But not everyone is a good POI for you. A good POI for you is someone with a high percentage of your target market inside their network. You and three other POIs can create a power network.
How Do You Create a Power Network?
You need to find four people to join your network. Start with your current clients. Tell them you are looking to expand your network. Tell them you really like them as a client and want more clients just like them. Tell them you trust their judgment and would love a list of their current vendors.
Find out what other services your clients are paying money for. These vendors are going after your client, so they probably have a target client like you. It can be their bookkeeper, their insurance company, or their landscaper. The services they offer don’t matter.
The more clients you do this with, the better a list you will have. Remember, you are looking for four people that are common among all of your clients. Look for a vendor that is showing up often across these people that you already do business with.
Once you find four perfect people who have a similar target client as you and are looking to improve their business, invite them to a monthly meeting. It can be lunch, coffee, a beer, or a Zoom call. Just get everyone together for two hours once a month.
What do you do at the meeting?
At the meeting, give each person 20 minutes to share the biggest successes and challenges they have had that month. Each person gets that time to get feedback and ideas about their business from the rest of the group. Talk about how you overcome your challenges and see how others have overcome theirs.
These sessions are magical. Every single time we meet, I get brand new strategies for my own business, and since all of us are going after the same type of client, we get to learn from each other what is working and what isn’t in our arena.
In our group, we send out a worksheet before the meeting so we can all be prepared once we arrive. Another way to look at these sessions is as a monthly mastermind session. This is the number one strategy I have used to build my businesses, and I highly recommend you use it.
I am the chairman of a large power networking group, LeTip of Country Club. I would love to have you join us. In fact, we will buy you lunch the first time you come by. Email me to see if we have an opening for your industry.