Referral Marketing: No Pain, No Gain

Since January, I've lost 10 pounds. I decided to hire a personal trainer to hold me accountable to my fitness goals. I stopped drinking Diet Coke ... well okay, I've had one or two since January, but it's gone from my routine. I've started jogging on the treadmill ... something I could never imagine myself doing EVER. I just yesterday, I jogged for 3 miles from my hotel room.

When I stop to think about it, I've made quite a few changes this year. All the good ... but none without some pain. Working out regularly is painful at times. Giving up some things and making better food choices is painful too. But when I look down at the scale and take pants to the Tailor to be taken in ... I definitely see the gain.

Referral marketing is not a quick fix to your business. It takes effort over a period of time to reap the benefits of your investment. Relationships take time to develop and are seldom without some pain along the way. If you provide the leadership and patience, referral marketing will reward you with potentially the greatest gain you will ever experience from any other form of marketing.

The progress I've made with my fitness has taken me some time, energy, and a personal commitment on my part. No one can do this for me. I have to lead my own results one workout at a time. You need to do the same with referral marketing ... one relationship at a time!

Referral Marketing: Owl Pellets

Finally, the weather has warmed enoughed for me to be outside working on my garden. I'm a happy camper. One of the things I've noticed all around my garden are the piles and piles of soil dotting my landscape. Moles ... moles ... and more moles. In my mind, I heard myself say, "Gee, I hope there's an owl or two around to take care of these moles!"

As it turns out ... there is ... or at least there WAS! I found evidence (an owl pellet) that an owl had been nearby. Now don't get too queazy on me! An owl pellet is a hardened ball of bones and fir that an owl tosses out to the ground after a good meal. In my younger days, I used to disect these pellets with school kids to teach them about the food chain, skeletons, and nature at it's best. Basically, the owl's body knows to discard all the parts of a mouse (or mole) that it can't use or digest.

In some crazy way, we need to do the same thing with our network and networking activities. Perhaps you network in places that are not a good use of your time. Toss it out of your schedule! Perhaps you're meeting with too many people who clearly are "takers" and only want to sell you something. Become more selective of who gets your "face" time and toss the other ones out. Maybe you're asking every client for referrals when it only makes sense to ask the RIGHT ones. Toss out your behaviors that are wasting your time and focus on those that produce real results!

We often get stuck in a rut of activity without every stopping to analyze the results. My guess is that you've already begun to think about your networking and referral activity differently. What do you honestly need to keep ... and what can you toss out like an owl pellet?