If you haven’t already noticed, I’m a big fan of analogies. Not sure what prompted this one (high gas prices in Austin?), but I think you’ll enjoy it. This particular analogy can be used quite broadly, but for this example I’m going to focus on networking and/or marketing to grow a business.   Think of your business as your vehicle. The speed you’re traveling represents revenue or profits, the higher the MPH the larger the dollars coming in. The gas pedal is your personal marketing and networking efforts.   When you start from a dead stop you have to apply more pressure to the accelerator just to get moving. At first the progress is slow and your engine has to work hard. Once you’ve applied consistent pressure you’re able to build speed fairly consistently until you finally reach a comfortable (legal?) speed you’d like to maintain. Fortunately in the business world there are no speed limits!   Here’s the important point. Once you’ve reached your desired speed you must continue to apply pressure to the accelerator just to maintain your speed.   If you spend a lot of time an energy building a network and then take your foot off the gas you will begin to slow down, and eventually stop! You’ll get the best results for your business if you are consistent over a long period of time. In networking there is no cruise control. You have to personally exert the effort; you can’t just set it and forget it.   In order to maintain a constant speed you must keep your foot on the Accelerator!   Happy networking!   Scott Ingram NetworkInAustin.com

Scott Ingram and Randall PinkettFor those of you who came out to support me at BiG Austin's Big Idea Awards ceremony last week... Thank you! It was a tremendous event. For those of you who are members of NetworkInAustin.com... Thank you!!! This award and NetworkInAustin.com would not be possible without you. Thanks for your ongoing support and referrals. You're the reason I constantly work to make NetworkInAustin bigger, better and more valuable for everyone. Rookie of the Year: Scott Ingram – NetworkInAustin.com Most Creative: Melinda Maine Garvey – Austin Women Magazine Best Transition: Sharon Mays – Baby Greens BiG Alumnus: Ryan and Austin Borders – All American Recycling Co. DBA Borders Brothers Each of the winners will receive a 1 year enhanced membership on NetworkInAustin.com. Congratulations to you all! Happy networking! Scott IngramNetworkInAustin.com

Whether you're attending a brand new networking event you've never attended before, or you're a long time member of a well established group you can benefit by bringing someone with you. Walking into a new networking group where you don't know anyone can be really uncomfortable. Even after all the networking I've done I still get a little nervous in a big group of total strangers. You can help yourself and one of your customers by bringing them along. I'm not saying the two of you should go to the event and just talk to each other. Instead use each other to get to know new people. By introducing each other to every new person you meet you can become walking testimonials for each other. It'll make you feel more at ease since you can just worry about promoting your customer. You'll also be a little bit more credible in the eyes of the new folks that you meet since you'll have someone right next to you who will vouch for your work. This works equally as well if you're very established in a group. Invite a friend or colleague to visit the group with you. You can then take them around and introduce them to the key people that they should know. Your guest will be extremely grateful for your efforts, and the other members of your organization will appreciate your help in bringing new people to the group. Pick up the phone and invite one of your customers to your favorite networking group, or call a friend who'd also be interested in a networking group you'll be visiting for the first time. It'll be a lot easier than going alone, and you'll both win. Happy networking! Scott IngramNetworkInAustin.com

Having a relationship with your competitors is much more likely to help you than it is to hurt you. I’ve written about competition a few times on this blog (see the competition category), and I often speak about it as well. There is so much good that can come out of being on good terms with your competitor. Something recently happened here in town that showed me yet another benefit of this type of relationship that I hadn’t thought of before. I’m going to tell this story and leave the names of the individuals and companies out to protect the innocent (and the guilty). Company A had 2 local sales reps who were both excellent networkers. They both spent nearly 2 years building a very strong client base. During that time they both had a good relationship with one of the sales reps from Company B. Recently Company A had some major problems and couldn’t fulfill their promises to their customers. The 2 reps from Company A quickly saw what was happening. They both have a lot of integrity and quickly left the company to pursue other opportunities.  Both of these reps had spent a substantial amount of time building relationships through networking, and valued the relationships they’d developed with their customers. Because they wanted their customers to be taken care of they spoke with the sales rep they knew from Company B. They both knew that this former competitor could take care of their customers so they referred ALL of their former clients to the sales rep that worked for Company B. Can you imagine having one of your competitors giving you ALL of the business they had spent the last 2 years developing? It gets better. Company B has over a dozen local sales reps. Only this one individual knew BOTH of the sales reps from Company A since they invested time networking and the other sales reps at Company B did not. Because they went out and networked and built relationships with their competitors they received ALL of the business from the former Company A sales reps. Pick up the phone. Call one of your competitors today and find a time that you can get together for lunch. You’ll find that they’re people too, and you never know where that relationship might lead.  Happy networking! Scott IngramNetworkInAustin.com