Developing relationships

Sorry for not posting for a while!

I was talking to a colleague about developing business relationships. I thought I would list my initial ideas for the real world....

• talk don't email - not easy sometimes, but relationships are built from trust and hiding behind an email persona is not going to build a trusted relationship
• network - link up with as many relevant people as you are able - maybe electronically at first (Ecademy, LinkedIn etc). You need to know people and be able to support relationships with introductions and information
• market - depending on the degree of transience that you expect business relationships to have, there is nothing wrong with advertising - it is how you turn the responses into long-term relationships if that is your goal
• join - clubs, professional organisations, rotary etc
• sponsor - put some money up for a 'good cause', business event or publications - particularly good where you need brand awareness in a reasonably small market place

That's enough for now.