Appreciation Marketing – Check Your Ego At The Door

We all must believe in ourselves. We must believe that we are unique, different from everyone else that does what we do. Are we better in some way than anyone else in our industry? We must know what makes us the person with whom others want to engage in business or to whom others refer their networking partners.

When we are promoting ourselves or just networking with others, we must “check our ego at the door” of whatever meeting venue where we are present. We must not let our image of ourselves overwhelm the others that we meet and with whom we converse. We must dial our egos down to not be rude or obnoxious.

This is a very fine line that we must learn to walk in our relationships. We must believe in ourselves, but we must never make our networking partners, or anyone else, feel that we are so impressed with ourselves that we are too good to help someone else.

We must be approachable; we must be the person with whom others want to engage in either a business relationship or a networking partnership. People do business with those whom they know, like, and trust. They refer business to those whom they know, like, and trust. These are not status levels that come easily, and they are not reached if others believe you are too “full of yourself” to form partnerships.

Networking partnerships are the most important aspect of your business. They should be the objective of all of your marketing. If you do your marketing well, sales will fall into your lap. If you do your marketing well, networking partnerships will come to you easily, and partnerships will provide you the opportunities for your business to succeed.

I personally know people who are very good at what they do. Some of them will tell you so at every opportunity. Others will ask you how you are, discover what you need, and see if they can help you discover the solution to those needs, no matter what they are or who can provide the solutions. They may not be able to provide what you need, but you will not forget what they did for you, and you will recommend them to others.

At the same time you will remember those people whose egos prevented them from discovering what you need, or how that need can be solved. You will remember how they told you that what they have to offer is just what you need no matter what would help you. Their advice may not always be the best or even the worse, but their demeanor will prevent you from wanting them as partners.

Marketing is everything that you do, everything that you say, and every behavior that others see or cannot see. If your ego is overwhelming, your best talents may never be known by others since you have given them the impression that you don’t care about anyone except yourself.

When you attend a networking event and then meet someone one-on-one, discover what the other person needs and how you can help them solve their needs. Can you form a networking partnership with them? Can you come to know, like, and trust them, and can they do the same with you? Checking your ego at the meeting doorway will help accomplish these objectives.

Please leave me your comments, or email me at Jim@JimTeasley.com, or call me at 360-314-8691. Let’s build partnerships and succeed.