Interviewed by NxBizSuccess.com - Networking

You may be a genius but you can’t do it on your own. If you’re a small business person you have to find a way to efficiently link up, connect, overlap, create an echo network, and find some way to have some kind of a system that you can be a part of. Maybe even administer and monitor to bring new energy into your life and down to the bottom line of your PNL. My name is Lynn Hinderaker with NxBixSuccess and I’m talking to Jim Hoing with WhettStone Business Solutions in Omaha Ne. He’s done a fabulous job at a technology firm so he has a little bit of an edge in terms of using technology to he’s that done but I want to thank you for coming to NxBixSuccess.

Tell us, you’ve enjoyed extraordinary success. What did you do to get the word out there? You didn’t spend a lot of money in advertising. What did you do to get a lot of people involved in your life and start getting referrals and new business?

Well, I think one of the key areas that is critical for us is that when we started out as a small new business, we didn’t have any money to spend on marketing and if I might share a quick story with you on how this happened. I started putting together a list of events and opportunities for myself so I had places to go and people to see every single day.

And there are a bunch of them that preliterate around every city.

The Chamber of Commerce, Business Associations, club what not.

So you kind of aggregated the events together.

I aggregated this list of events so that I could start networking and it became very successful for myself and it brought in some new business and it became a walking commercial. That’s how I would state it. I shared that list with a few people and someone came back to my partner and said you should make it into a newsletter. Well, we did. We kept adding events to it and the circulation kept growing to this newsletter through word of mouth only. We don’t really publicize it but it’s on our website, whettstone.com, you can sign up for it today. And today we have had over 500 people sign up for this newsletter. It has hundreds of events every month.

Now they are mostly local right?

I make people stretch out of their comfort zone every once in a while. I’ll add something that’s out of the metro, a little FYI information because if you are doing the same old things you’re seeing the same old people. I think you should try and network in a vast area but consistently network in other. Anyway, we have this newsletter, it’s very well accepted and it goes out and talks about networking events and in so doing, when you see this list of events you have places to go. I have people I recommend and recognize that I will introduce to opportunities and build new relationships and in doing that it comes back to me 10 folds.

Now, why was this successful? Was it the aggregation model, well this one thing comes and it is convenient and an easy place where I want to figure out to go for my networking, it was just all there, the simplicity of it?

That’s one of the compliments we get from people. It’s one place to go to see all of the events. They are not taking a bunch of time to go to 8 or 10 different websites; they get to see everything I know about. In doing that, it makes it convenient for them and they come back to my website which is a great marketing tool. It’s a networking newsletter, we own the technology company, it’s not directly related to technology but it is related to doing business and growing your business therefore it helps us, helps our friends, and builds relationships.

Now let’s take this to the next level. I know you have helped form events that you have actually invited me a couple of times to events. You’ve formed basically a network or maybe it’s a network of networks. Maybe that’s what it really is. I refer to it as an ecosystem or a bionetwork where people are interacting with each other or living off of each other’s referrals, references or revenues. Tell me how you see it.

I have a simple statement, “Givers Get”. I have customers, friends, clients, people I want to know. Anyone that comes to me with an idea or a need, I know somebody that can help them or I know somebody that knows somebody. That has all blossomed out of this networking persona that we have and in doing that, you become very popular in many ways. A resource for people and people, whether they are customers of mine or not remember the name. They remember it in a positive way. I bump into people all the time and say I think I know you. If you go to my website you just may know somebody who needs business that I can help you with.

Basically creating awareness and familiarity and then over time it becomes more like I may consider them if I need some technology or a website enhancement or whatever so there is a gradual evolution towards preference and of course purchasing the product.

Absolutely, there is a positive oar around it.

It’s like the cost of client acquisition plummets and really drops rapidly if you just attend to developing these networks.

Developing networks and developing more relationships. Let me tell you, networking is the key to developing relationships. There are too many people out there that are collecting business cards. Trying to make the fast buck and are not investing the time and developing relationships.

I want to ask you about that because time of course as a small business person is the rarest and most valuable commodity. If you’re answering questions and helping people and giving them advise and referring them to your buddy or friend something like that, even going into the personal life. Does it rob you of so much time that you are not productive in the office, managing your staff and getting work done?

Let me tell you, it takes a lot of energy. The first 2 years I did this, I won an award for networker of the year because I was known to be at every place all of the time. There is a big investment in time but the payback is 10 fold. It’s like planting seeds and waiting for them to germinate. It has helped and it has also helped to have the right team to support me.

Yes, so you can feel guilt free as you are moving around and shaking hands and exchanging cards.

Well, you put in the hours when you are not networking. Nights, weekends: as a small business you have to do that.

I just want to thank you for taking some time and really explaining in some detail. We all know what networking is for small business people but the idea of offering up usable and helpful information, spending your personal time pulling it together and serving acquaintances or distant prospects and over time they gravitate toward you and you find yourself in a great situation. It’s a great idea; it takes a lot of time and effort. Thank you for spending the time. I’ve been speaking with Jim Hoing of WhettStone Business Solutions in Omaha, NE. Learn how to create an ecosystem around you and your organization and most importantly as Jim said, “Give before you get”. My name is Lynn Hinderaker. Keep going and keep growing.