1. You’re not going to get many referrals if you don’t ask for them. Mention to friends and family that you have the space to take on a few more clients/accounts. Send out a letter to 100 people you know letting them know exactly what you do and how you might be able to help friends of theirs. Enclose five business cards for them to pass along.
2. Send referrals to others. If you haven’t already, create a rolodex of great product and service providers and become a reliable resource for great talent. What goes around comes around.
3. Make a big deal of someone when they send you a referral. Send a hand-written thank you note with a gift card to Starbucks, Barnes & Noble, or The Container Store. A tin of homemade cookies or box of fudge brownies works well too.
4. Focus on becoming viewed as an authority. Write articles and submit them to article submission sites, offer a signature talk for local events or make friends with a few of your local media and become a valued resource.
5. Stay active within a non-profit or organization that means something to you. Take on a volunteer or leadership role and show up at events each month.
6. Now that you are building your tribe of people who know, like and trust you, make sure you stay in touch with them on a regular basis. Write a bi-weekly newsletter, send birthday cards and quarterly mailings and never eat lunch alone.
In other words, take care of your tribe and your tribe will take care of you.
©Liz Dennery Sanders 2009
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