Stop being a Cave Dweller
IN THE WORLD OF NETWORKING, a “cave dweller” is defined as “someone who remains in one of several confined spaces for the duration of an entire business day, day after day’.”
The problem is, networking is a contact spoil. You have to get out of that cave and make contact with people.
Cave dwellers will always remain in the 71 % of the population who are unsuccessful networkers because they become prisoners of their routine.
They receive very little social stimulation. Many rarely leave the confines of their offices, except for the occasional lunch with the same group of co-workers at the same corner of the restaurant, seeing the same waiter, and ( for some) eating the same food.
As far as networking goes, they have successfully created what we call a “closed network”.
For someone who wants to grow and network a business, a closed network is a recipe for disaster. It limits your connections to a small, unchanging group of people — unlike an open network, which broadens your connections to a practically unlimited number of individuals.
ARE YOU A CAVE DWELLER?
If you are, your task this week is to venture outside your cave at least once.
1) Talk to your best clients. Find out what networking events they all attend, and ask them to take you along as their guest.
2) Ask your word-of-mouth marketing team the same questions.
3) Search online and in your local business paper for other community networking opportunities.
Venture outside of your cave.
Source:The 29% Solution
by
Dr Ivan Misner & Michelle Donovan
Posted: December 2nd, 2008 under Education.
Tags: BNI, cave dweller, closed network, Networking, open network, Word-of-mouth