very interesting article. I started my business a year ago as virtual assistant and everyday is a learning day for me. I really appreciate this topic as it will surely help me to develop my networking skills.

Learning to say no is huge when your education is a lot about how to please anyone! But it is really worth the effort.

Thanks
Marie

The hard part, is like you, I love to help people. But my time is limited, and living with cancer, I’ve decided to only do work that enriches my life. So while I’m always up for talking with other cancer survivors, it doesn’t feed my soul to give free business advice.

So I decided to do a workshop called, “Do You Have a Book in You?” with a very detailed Powerpoint presentation that I put on Slideshare. I did an actual workshop at my church and a webinar for a networking group I belong to. But now if someone asks me, I direct them to my SlideShare presentation. I’m in discussion with a fellow breast cancer blogger to find ways to monetize this and other “intellectual property” I’ve acquired through research and hard work.

Matthew – thank you for adding the paragraph about college students. As an adjunct, I encourage my students to reach out to professionals to learn more about the field they want to pursue. But, I also explain to them that if they aren’t willing to take the time to properly prepare for a meeting, then they have no business asking for one, primarily out of respect for others time.

Very interesting post! This topic is one I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about in my 13 years of solo consulting, and have written about from various angles over at my blog, http://www.ThatBrandingThing.com. Some thoughts:

1. As a consultant, your time is your only inventory, and needs to be managed accordingly. With this in mind, I track my time very carefully and specifically, and review it often to assess its productivity. (I strongly recommend this, if you’re not doing it already – I can guarantee you’ll be surprised, and not necessarily positively.) One thing I learned is that most networking events were a waste of time relative to my business objectives. It’s much better, for instance, to have the podium than to be in the audience, so I direct my energies accordingly. (I also understand that a different business, with different objectives, may find networking events to have a terrific ROI.)

2. Over the years, I’ve met with a number of people who only wanted to take advantage of my network. One guy – someone I’m almost certain you know from the Cincinnati agency community – actually pushed me a list of his target companies within 5 minutes of sitting down to lunch, asking me who I could help him reach. Uh… I can’t help you at all, sir; I don’t know you. After a number of such meetings, I began asking precisely the questions you’re asking.

3. My experience has been that those who want to “pick your brain” almost never bring you real work, either directly or indirectly. (Face it: If they were really considering hiring you, they would have opened with that.) And by giving them your expertise for free, you are effectively kicking your paying clients in the teeth. One simple (and very honest) line of defense: “No, I can’t offer my feedback on your logo/ad/marketing plan/business idea; I don’t know enough about your situation and objectives to comment intelligently.”

With all the above in mind, I stopped taking any networking meeting for which I couldn’t see a clear benefit. My business hasn’t suffered a bit. These days, I find it very easy to say no to such requests, knowing that I will almost certainly invest that time in a way that better serves my clients and my business.

One exception to my own rule: I will meet with any college student who asks. Though I’ve been disappointed by the lack of preparation or curiosity of some, most come prepared and ask very good questions, and I’ve been able to help a few of them out in their job searches.

Great topic!

Matthew Fenton

I really like #2!!

#5 makes a whole lot of sense – including the “follow up questions” component in a proposal sets equitable expectations. It puts a prospective client’s mind at ease and allows them to feel comfortable doing business with you when your proposal shows that you thought things through ahead of time as much as possible.

And that $27 membership program is a bargain if I ever saw one!

Great tips!