Network Marketing: It’s Who You Know—Not How Many

Quality over quantity.

Would you rather know one Warren Buffet or ten Bernie Madoffs?

All it takes is one Warren Buffet to earn millions. And one Bernie Madoff to lose it all.

One quality person in your network can open thousands of doors. So target and spend most of your effort on them.
How do you recognize them? 

A Large Sphere of Influence

Quality contacts have a large sphere of influence.

In other words, they know a lot of people. People in power. People who can get things done. People other people look up to and want to emulate.
Governmental office holders are quality contacts. So are CEOs of large companies. Even the most well-liked teacher at the local high school.
These people have the power and influence to touch a lot of lives.

Let’s hope they use it for good.

Superhero or Bad Guy?

Back to the Bernie Madoff example. He was an extremely influential person. Based on the size of his client list—and the size of investment accounts gone down the drain.

So, is he a quality contact? Heck no.

Trust me, you don’t want to have any association whatsoever with anything shady. Even borderline shady. It reflects on you and your brand.
Look for those who don’t have hints or whispers of scandal lingering around. Look for those who have a long history of doing good things. Not everyone might agree with their opinions, but they can agree that, yes, these are good men and women.

Now just by being associated with such a person, you will benefit.

Getting to Know Quality Contacts

It’s not easy to get in with quality contacts.

They have gatekeepers and walls and sometimes—rightfully so—a general distrust of the motives of people whom they don’t know.
The best way is to be introduced by someone else. Or find a way to get your name in front of them without pushing.

Like a news article. Or a friend of a friend who talks about one of your posts. Or through the social marketing sites. 

Failing that, try finding out what events they will be attending. Be there. But be patient, it may take more than one attempt to get an audience with them.

What to Do When You Meet Them

Number one: Don’t get star struck.

It helps if you know what your goal is before you get there.

But at the same time don’t get thrown off track if it doesn’t go the way you want it to. You don’t want to look rigid or intense. Relaxed and quietly confident is how you want to appear.
 
Have something to say that will intrigue the person. But don’t push.

A good approach is to offer acknowledgement of how powerful a person is—a compliment to stroke the ego. (Everyone’s got one).
Say: “It’s an honor to meet you. That was a great speech. I’ve admired your career for years.”
That’s it. Don’t go on and on.

Let them respond. Most people—who aren’t too self-involved—will soon ask about what you do.

“It’s funny you ask that,” you say, “I do x. And I tell you, I’m always looking for feedback from people I admire.”
 
Next, offer them a sample of your products for free. Tell them their opinion is very important to you. People love to give their opinions.
If they agree, tell them you’ll send it to their office. That gets you their card. Make sure to give yours when you send the product.
Then, you’re free to follow up with an email, making sure the product arrived and asking for their opinion.

Now this is just one an example.

Other suggestions: Get involved in charity work, even become involved on the board. Board members are usually quality contacts.
If you like the direct approach, somehow obtain their email address and send one to them. You can also try friending or following them on social networking sites if you’re really bold.

Again, you need to come with a value proposition for them. Otherwise you will be ignored.

Feel free to come up with your own original way to approach quality contacts.

Just remember: Be humble. Stroke their ego. Don’t push.

Finally, be patient. Cultivating quality contacts can take some time—but it’s definitely worth it in the long run.