One of my favorite horror movies of all time is The Exorcist. For those who may not have seen it, there is a very memorable scene where a priest is interacting with this little girl who is possessed by a demon, and her face is all gnarly and gross.
Anyway, the priest is talking with the devil-girl, and she projectile vomits at him, spewing green slime right in his face. It’s kinda gross, kinda funny, and downright freaky in the context of the entire movie.
By now you may be wondering what any of this has to do with marketing or networking. Quite a bit, actually.
I was recently at a networking event, one that I had never attended before. Except for the person who invited me, I knew nobody in the room. I went and worked the room, meeting people, asking them about their businesses, etc. Normal networking stuff.
Then a woman approached me. She smiled, I smiled back, and she thrust a business card into my hand. Uh oh.
Then, before I could protect myself, Bleeeaaaaaarrrrgh!, the networking equivalent of spewing green slime. She begins telling me all about the business opportunity her MLM offers, about what a great product they have, blah blah blah blah BLAH!
I could go into numerous reasons why this is a huge turn-off, but I will narrow it down to three points.
#1 - I have a business already.
At the networking event, I clearly told the group about my business. For you to try to thrust another business upon me is slightly insulting. Just because your plan A didn’t work and you needed an alternative doesn’t mean I need a new plan.
#2 - Why would we want to team up?
This person seemed nice enough, but really. I just met her a short time ago. As an entrepreneur attending a networking event, she could probably assume (rightly so) that I already know plenty of people who have home businesses who would absolutely love for me to team up with them. Why would I choose someone I just met? As far as I know, most people do not become business partners with someone they know nothing about.
Likewise, why would you want to team up with me, if you know nothing about me? I could be a serial killer who is out to make a quick buck off of you and your contacts, and then be on my merry way to leech off the next eager entrepreneur. Would you really want to invest your time and energy in someone like that? And if you are not planning to invest time and energy into me, then we are back to the question of why I would want to team up with you.
#3 - Enthusiasm can only take you so far.
I totally understand what it is like to have a new business, or a new group of people to share your business ideas with. Many people are out of work, or their Plan A is not getting them to their goals. So they start a home business and are excited to share it.
Enthusiasm is one of the best selling tools out there. When you are enthusiastic about your product, others can’t help but catch that enthusiasm.
But you have to be careful. Such enthusiasm can be perceived (correctly or mistakenly) as desperation. And if I perceive you as being desperate, regardless if I am correct or not in that perception, it sends up warning signals. Why are you so desperate? If I join you, will I end up in a similar desperate situation? It certainly doesn’t inspire confidence.
The solution is simple.
So many times, we do business like a big-game hunter. We are after that big trophy person that may join our business or become a customer and show us the money.
But the truth is that we should not be hunters. We should be farmers. We plant a seed, nurture that seed into a relationship with trust, and then when the time is right, we harvest. Some of those crops we nurture will yield nothing, but in the end, we will reap a bountiful reward from these relationships we have developed.
Instead of pouncing on me, get to know me. Let me get to know you. Nurture the relationship and someday I may see how successful you are and all of the others who have joined you. Then I may be interested in getting on board with you, as I have seen what you can do and have come to like and trust you.
I usually do such planting and nurturing. I love meeting new people, even if they may never do business with me. I love to have a vast network of people I can refer, so that my friends and associates know that if they need anyone in any type of business, I am the go-to guy who can connect them. It makes me look good, and it makes those I refer look good.
But right now, after our first meeting, I am afraid to farm in your field. There is just too much danger of that seed being washed away in a flood of green slime.
