I can admit it – when I started out in a career in sales, I was that cheesy guy using every hard close in the book. There I was, 17 years old working at Future Shop, peddling cell phones and fax machines. I was using sales techniques with names like the columbo or the puppy dog close. What’s worse is that  because I was selling low priced goods, my techniques were mildly successful. This only fed my ego and further convinced me that I was on the right path, that I was brilliantly talented and that I could sell anything!

While I did have strong sales numbers, what I didn’t have was a strong relationship with my clients, or the potential for long term business partnerships. Thankfully, I learned quickly that if I didn’t want to be hustling the next buck, I had to change my approach. I was fortunate to have my father as an example in business. I’ve never seen anyone work harder for his family, friends, clients and staff. By taking the time and making that extra effort, he’s also become extremely successful and well liked by everyone.

It made me realize that the secret to his success was simply hard work - and not just for his own ends. He worked hard for everyone. If you needed a referral, a job, a few bucks to tide you over – he’s the guy you turned to. He’s even saved my butt on more than one occasion. Thanks Dad!

So, the question is, how can being like my dad make you better at networking, blogging and business?

1. Don’t be that cheesy guy. While it’s OK to sell yourself and your company, directly promoting your products or services should be a small percent of what you communicate. You can’t sell things to people who aren’t listening! Instead of focusing on selling, invest your time building real relationships. You’ll find you accomplish more than if you were to constantly spam out links saying BUY NOW!
2. If you have the expertise to help a friend, colleague or even a stranger, offer it with no strings attached.
3. Take the time to share content from bloggers you admire,  services you believe in and products you love. This not only helps spread the word about quality people, services and things, it also provides valuable information to your network.
4. Recommend people you believe in. If you know someone who is exceptional, let people know by recommending them – either the old fashioned way or on Linkedin. These recommendations are helpful so if you know someone worthy of praise, give it freely.
5. Connect new people. If you know that Johnny can help Jimmy get a new job, make a sale, build a business or whatever, introduce them! You never know when the person you helped in the past might be in a position to help you later down the road. Regardless of that, doesn’t it feel good to see someone that you like succeed?
6. Create value. In everything you do, you should be providing more value than you get back in return. If you’re selling services online, provide tons of free content to show the value of your work. Check out The Third Tribe for more on this.
7. Once you’ve established trust and earned the respect of your peers, don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it! It shouldn’t be expected as repayment for past favours, but it is OK to ask your network for help. You’ll find that when you actively go out of your way to help people, they are usually more than willing to go out of their way to help you too.

Take every opportunity to further relationships by offering your time, knowledge and effort and watch your success grow right along with your generosity.

As I finish this post, I realize that many of my thoughts and inspiration on business stem from reading these bloggers – Seth Godin, Chris Brogan, Brian Clark and Darren Rowse. They provide a goldmine of information on their sites so check them out to learn more on social media, business and building communities online. You can also find their books on Amazon so take a look there as well. I hope you find their work as inspiring and insightful as I do!

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