Networking to Land Contracts

Work is love made visible. – Kahlil Gibran

As I get more experienced in my work, I’m seeing the value of dominating a “niche” service.

What is niche? Niche is what you do absolutely the best. For example, there may be 100 restaurants in a 5-square block area in New York City, but there’s only one, original and best falafel place.

What are you the best at? What is your business or company be the best at?

In my case, there may be 40 respondents to an open Request for Proposals for a project in my field, but I’m confident that mine is the only company with a specific skill and experience level, ability to communicate, focus on that topic area, and samples of similar solutions for other similar clients. We might not fit everybody, but we do fit our target market.

In your case, there may be thousands, or millions of other women who do what you do. So, what do you do best? Identify what your best and most highest aspiration is for your business. Drive that and refine it and you’ll find yourself to be the “go-to” expert in that particular niche.

As you go for bigger, better, and more refined, you’ll want to build up your team of people who are also the best at what they do and who complement and support your own efforts. You can find many of these people through your natural networking (groups and organizations you belong to, recommendations, people you work with).

For example, natural pairings include:
realtor and mortgage officer
attorney and tax advisor
publicist, agent, and editor
blogger and ad sales
public relations specialist, campaign manager, and fundraiser
wine, crackers, and cheese (my point being you don’t have to overlap what someone else does, you just need to cover your part and complement what others offer).

In my case, I’m a natural networker and work very well with other people who are also networked.

As a sample of networking in action, because of an e-mail sent to my former boss, I received a nice thank you note the other day saying “Don’t ever take for granted those emails about RFPs you forward on to colleagues…in this case, you have contributed to the employment of 8 people, and of course helped the City get the very best minds helping them shape their children and youth programs…We got the contract!!!!!!!!!!!!”

This for a large contract that will put my former boss’s company on the map, all because of a forwarded e-mail and the level of trust implicit in sending that e-mail.

Who are you networked with?
Can you expand and increase your ability to make your presence valuable?
Are you the absolute best at what you do?
If so, you’ll naturally meet others who are also the best at what they do: then you may all recommend and refer one another to fulfill the work at hand.

If you don’t yet know what you’re the best at, there is always something: each of us has a unique skill or talent that is our responsibility to identify, cultivate, and share.

If you’re working on identifying your skillset and building your network, I encourage you to:
1) Continue Reading advice from other women on business at this blog
2) Come up with an overall plan and goals (my goals list)
3) Maintain a portfolio like a blog, photo gallery, or website
4) Keep yourself accountable to your mission, vision and values on a weekly basis
5) Stay centered over time by eating well, sleeping, and prioritizing your life.

Here’s to your success, and I encourage you to connect with me (introduce yourself with a brief note) http://www.linkedin.com/in/monicaflores

Monica S Flores

Monica S. Flores leads large-scale web development projects in refactoring, redesign/redevelopment, digital platform buildout, & new product launches. She works with US-based & international associations, non-profits, public agencies, & startups on how to reach their communities online. Her focus is to build community, foster connectedness, & use her technology & management skills to make a better world. She believes each of us has an ability/obligation to use our knowledge, ideas, & talents to advance fairness, justice, safety, health, sustainability, & wellbeing. Find her books at Amazon or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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