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by Michel Fortin

I truly hate networking. Really, I do! I hate it because, in my experience, it hasn't brought me anything substantial in return. But wait a minute, hear me out. Networking isn't a bad concept; far from it. In today's world of hyper-competitiveness, networking -- especially on the Internet -- can be a fantastic marketing tool. Referral-sources can and should bring you an incredible amount of business.

However, here's the problem. Having a network and having a networking system are two entirely separate things. When you're only networking, for instance, more often than not people will want something in return or else they will either stop sending you clients or simply lose interest -- if you don't take the time to recognize their efforts (and, if you're like me, that's if you have any time left at all). So, how can you reward your network? Better yet, how can you turn your network into a networking system? The answer is by developing and establishing a network of STRATEGIC ALLIANCES.

I'm sure you have heard of or read about many ways to set up strategic alliances in some form or another. Essentially, there are as many different forms of systematized networking opportunities out there as there are Web sites, and I strongly encourage you to vigorously seek them out. But in my experience, I have found that they mainly fall into 3 major categories. The first is what I call the info-network, the second the auto-network, and the third one the intra-network. Let's take a look at each of these systems and how you can apply them to your online marketing efforts.

INFO-NETWORKING
The information-based network is one in which a strategic alliance is created where information is exchanged in some form or another between parties. Basically, that information includes qualified leads that both you and your alliance share, or information about each other that is promoted to each party's market. As long as your strategic alliance logically shares a same target market without directly competing with you, there is an immense potential there for you to consider.

For instance, there is a tremendous power behind free reports and especially ezines. Advertising space can be sold at a nominal cost in order to pay for the distribution and maintenance of your newsletter, or it can be offered to alliances that might be happily interested in being directly promoted to your market. In turn, you should seek out advertising spaces in ezines, Web sites, Web directories (especially ezine directories -- there are tons of them on the Web), corporate e-mail, or off-line Internet marketing processes of potentially mutually beneficial alliances.

Info-networking also refers to mailing lists where you can swap each other's prospect or client lists. For example, many Web sites and ezine publishers have opt-in lists that range from 100 to 100,000 subscribers. Many cross-market their lists, such as ezine publishers who offer "solo" ads mailed to their subscriber-base -- of course, at a cost. But if you publish your own ezine or maintain your own opt-in lists, the obvious advantage is that you can swap "solo" ad space with each other.

Now, mailing lists aside, you can seek out strategic alliances and ask, rent, or buy their list of prospects and clients. They include clients lists from other companies and Web sites. Most of them will approve especially when you trade your list of clients or prospects with them. But if you have to rent or buy their list, the cost will definitely be far less than that of one coming from a broker -- they're not cheap! And most strategic alliances are not accustomed to the idea of peddling their lists out and will therefore be happy with just a few bucks.

AUTO-NETWORKING
Auto-networking is the process of creating referral-sources that automatically supply you with good quality leads without having to lift a finger. However, it doesn't mean to give out cards or literature to a possible referral-source (or adding your link on a "free-for-all" links directory) and then hoping it will produce something in return. It means setting up a system between both of you where, since you are catering to a same market, you have made an arrangement to automatically and constantly supply each other with materials, support, and information.

An example is a dry-cleaner who discovered that the largest clientele of a busy restaurant near  its location was mostly made up of executives having "power lunches." The dry-cleaner, knowing that her greatest clientele is also made up of executives who bring their shirts or dresses to have cleaned, saw it as an opportunity.

Coupons were made up and handed out by the restaurant's waiters and waitresses along with their clients' food tabs. They offered a 5% percent discount on dry-cleaning services and the coupons could be accumulated up to a maximum of 25% -- of course, they were valid for a limited time only. In return, the dry-cleaner handed out coupons (clipped to the garment bags of their clients' dry-cleaning) offering a free appetizer or desert at that particular restaurant -- good for one per person per lunch -- with every load of $30 worth of dry-cleaning.

On the Internet, this technique doesn't mean to simply swap banners or links but to create a systematized method of cross-promotion between you and your alliance. In other words, if you and your alliance do not compete with each other but share a similar target market, you can both create "additions" (in the form of products, services, or information) that complement each other's portfolio. For instance, your alliance sells a product online. They can add to that particular purchase additional bonuses from your own Web site or business, which may include a coupon for your services, your special offer, an extra product you sell that complements their own, or an entirely new and distinct package of products or services from both companies and sold from both sites.

Another form of auto-networking is, as the saying goes, "You can't teach an old dog a new trick but you can surely teach a new dog to cook you breakfast!" Potential referral-sources who are either approached by competitors or already implicated in other commitments may make it hard for you to create positive networking systems. So, what can you do? You get them while they're starting out!

Many potential referral-sources may have already been the target of a competitor, but referral-sources have to come from somewhere, don't they? So, if you can approach them while they are just about to become your competitors' potential targets, you can save yourself a lot of effort let alone grief. For example, I teach hair transplant doctors to get themselves known among the hairdressing community and possibly set up strategic alliances with them by, among other things, setting up brochure stands in their salons. However, many of these stylists may have been approached by other doctors or have a fixed idea in their minds of which doctor they would refer their clients to for cosmetic surgery.

In my consulting work, I help doctors set up special presentations as "guest lecturers" at local hairstyling and beauty schools. Schools love it since it's part of their curriculum to teach future hair stylists on the mechanics of hair and alternatives for hair-related problems. Some provinces or states also make it an essential part of their licensing requirements. By giving a lecture or presentation, the doctor not only gets his name inculcated into the minds of these future hair stylists, but he has also created an almost impenetrable barrier against competitors. By being part of their schooling, doctors naturally became a part of their minds!

This technique can be applied in almost every industry, with trade associations, trade schools, community colleges, government services, unemployment insurance subsidized courses, and so on. A government software programmer can give a small computer presentation during courses that the government provides to recently-hired purchasing agents. A wedding planning consultant can give small courses in concert with church groups offering prenuptial courses (often referred to as "marriage preparation courses"). An accountant specializing in corporate taxation can give small seminars to new entrepreneur workshops (most Chambers of Commerce offer this type of service). And don't forget online discussion groups, Internet focus groups, Web forums, and cyber-conferences.

INTRA-NETWORKING
Like "Intranet," an intra-networking system simply means two or more parts of a whole that are independent but at the same time interdependent. This is the old bartering system that goes back since the beginning of time. In the context of intra-networking, though, bartering is not a direct exchange of service for service or product for product but an exchange of a service or product for information, clients, or referrals.

For instance, a restaurant owner makes an arrangement with a local gas station to offer coupons to each client that comes to pump gas. They were given the permission to hang posters in the station, leave menus at the counter, and place fridge magnets on the pumps. In return, for every 10 coupons the restaurant received, the employees at the station were given a free meal at the restaurant. A freelance writer/editor writes articles in corporate ezines that target a same market (business-to-business sales). She will have her articles and personal advertisements published -- and have her banner or link on their site -- for free in exchange for editing their business correspondence let alone the newsletter itself.

What kind of product or service do you offer from which a potential (and potentially effective) referral-source may benefit? Think of ways of being able to offer your services for free in exchange for free promotion, pre-qualified leads, or, as mentioned in info-networking, client lists. Intra-networking can also become powerfully effective if you were lucky enough to stumble onto another Web site that offers products or services that complement your products or services well, while at the same time sharing costs as well as leads or clients. This can lead to an awesome joint venture where the both of you can create an entirely new product.

Altogether, info-networking, auto-networking, and intra-networking are powerful tools to help make you create good referral-sources that work and never stop working. The idea is nonetheless to network but to do so wisely as to be able to create as many leads and clients as possible with the least amount of effort. Don't network. Make your net work for you!