 Hey there, it's Brett Chittum with Lawrence Systems, and I'm here with Tom and I guess we're gonna call this coffee talk with Tom and Brett and We're here to talk about Where and how To meet other business owners. Well, the goal today is to keep it short. So where are you gonna be at 9 o'clock? Oh I'm gonna be at a board meeting With a theater company where the other people on that board are actually business owners And that's what we want to talk about is it's not just going to professional service organizations and not just doing You know this marketing and sending out some emails because everyone loves an email saying would you like to switch your IT services? But you have to kind of create a whole friends circle of other business owners It takes time to curate all of the connections because people always start with I don't know anyone How am I supposed to start a business if I don't know anyone? How'd you get to know people Brett? You go out and you meet people you got to start to increase your sphere of influence. There's a lot of things Are you a part of a chamber? Are you actually on some board somewhere? That that has got other people that have more influence It's about that sphere of influence and creating a larger sphere of influence. You hang out with your old high school Buddies, right? We talked about this brief brief You hang out with your old high school buddies. What are they doing? Are they are they people that are gonna be able to buy from you? Are they people that are going to need your product or want your product? Yeah, and this is all those awkward entrepreneurial things where you got to kind of you know Focus your time focus in your friend circle and hey It's cool that still have some of those other friends but you do have to dedicate some time to building a business relationship network and a lot of that is going to Just all the events I also serve on actually some charity boards as well not as a marketing thing But it's all more things I can do to belt both contribute back to society Hey and get around a bunch of like-minded people, right? It serves on board of a theater I'm on the board of an education Institute I've been on several boards of different educational institutes and you know This is me wanting to give back to the community But it's also how do they even get on a board of an education Institute? Well, I started at the Chamber of Commerce I went to meet people there you go to the business networking events and it's never about pitching them And we almost wanted to jokingly title this like what the marketers won't tell you because a lot of people think of marketing and I my favorite term I'm or who said it, but you know more than half of my money on marketing is wasted. I just don't know which half There's not like some secret leads out there that these only the marketing people know that they're oh no pay us X dollars per month and we'll send you these really good leads. Those leads are very limited Even when you talk about pay for click advertising and things like that now. I'm a business owner What do I I'm just not in the market for tech, but what do I Google? Well, I don't know a plumber I'll Google, you know, who's gonna fix this sink. I might Google something basic But when you talk about my business relationships, and if you're talking about being IT business You know that type of not just fix one computer But take over an entire network that takes building trust report with people and I'll use accounting as an example How do I know all the different accounting firms? How did I choose an accounting firm because I don't really want to turn my books over to just anyone? I didn't want to just go Google search and call some company. That's just a lead gen company that goes I'll find you the best accounting. I want to know, you know, I know my accountant personally me and him have gone out to lunch several times I personally know them because over time I met them through events through Interactions I said that person seems to just have a good grasp the same works for you as your IT company Right because you don't you know, that's a great thing when you're thinking about you don't want to be that guy You you mentioned it just a second ago about going out there and and not pushing your product and not You don't ever want to be that guy in an event that you're just trying to sell to everybody in the room I think what happens is there's some some there's some good thoughts on having some Mystery involved in what what you are and who you are when people know what you do They will come to you if they know you're good at it And if you've built a relationship with that person, you're like you said Tom with your with your account You know him you work with them. You've gone to lunch with them What are you doing with your with if you're serving on a board or if you aren't at a networking group? Are you actually? spending time with them outside of that group as well building that sphere yeah, and when you're in these Different groups these different events and things that you work on. There's also you're contributing back It takes time to do the different things me and Brett do and contribute back to these things and that's just part of being in a Functioning society of things you do that was actually oh man I think you're board meeting last night with the the chamber. Yes emergency board meeting to make some decisions type stuff I mean that is a well I guess is what I'm doing at 6 30 at night because that's what needs to be done and but Dedication you have to these things also comes through and that's what people see and they get to know you from it And they go that person's really got some smart ideas And it's just about having that time and that rapport building that you're doing with all the people This is years into making it doesn't like this any this happens overnight But over time you see and this is you know just a real solid way to increase that sphere of influence like Brett said This is a really big thing that matters It's one of the reasons it almost becomes easier because I've been in business for 17 18 years Brett already had quite well. How do I meet Brett? I heard him as a business consultant because I met him at the Chamber of Commerce and now he's Here like that came over time of man, he's really good at what he does He's really good at some ideas because we were both in the chamber together We both contributed ideas how we met and put together events like you know, I was on the board for the black tie event which Tom so doesn't wear a tie but So, you know understanding, you know, I was thinking about what you said the meeting I had last night Are that board has 45 members on it? 85% of those people have done business with us in some way shape or form and not because we pushed it But because they've come to us and and I think as you continue to meet people and and find the where the business owners are at And getting to know them will increase your business It's less on marketing because that works. It's proven through time that that will work Yeah, it's this is that problem like I said to me And we almost want to title this the what the marketers don't want to tell you is the marketers can't help you with this Sorry, this is not the marketers. Oh, I think you should title that We should definitely title it that because marketing is a great thing to talk about but What is it? It's very ambiguous, right? It's more I'm a marketer or we got to do marketing What is it you have to do you have to build relationships? That's what you have to do You have to get to know those business people and you have to get to know them well and and not on a surface level Well, but on a personal level. Yeah, I mean, don't get me wrong I'm not saying that to run any Google ads but from Other side of that coin if you're competing with the other people's Google ads It's now who has the best and prettiest ad hoping someone clicks on it And is a larger professional service organization like a law office or a medical office Are they gonna randomly trust all of their very critical infrastructure the same way I would trust my accounting? I didn't Google for an accountant and if I had a problem with my accountant I certainly wouldn't just Google for another one I would go back through and actually I know a few good account So my bigger challenge is I know a few good accountants that I really like Yeah, and it's hard to pick and choose to And not to say that you just deal with one But I mean on some aspects you have to be able to deal with one or the other Yeah, it's it's really about just that I got to go back to relationship Tom because you have that relationship with your accountant and it's important and the other thing 70% of Business will close when it's referred or a personal relationship. Yes 70% you can't buy that in marketing Right. It's it referrals is where it's one of those things Like I said, it's easier as you are in business longer It's gonna be when your biggest challenge is when you start a business It's gonna be killer. You're gonna have to really work hard to get to know people now It's also why you see some people started business and you see this skyrocketed success and you're like man They sometimes, you know, it is a combination of good product, but you'll find a lot of times Especially an IT services business. They had a really good network of people So even if they left and broke out on their own, they had this they knew everybody they had this contacts Those are critical to bill. I just want to reiterate that and it's the common Probably next to the pricing is one of the more common questions We get is when you get started is if you don't have a book of business, how do you get one? How do you build that clientele in this relationship building? We just want to reiterate that Absolutely, if if you're roll a dex today Doesn't have people that are gonna buy your product. You need to increase your roll the dex simple as that Alright, thank you very much for watching and we'll see you next time. 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