Imagine a business where you have really great referral partners and ideal clients. You have clients seeking you out and referral partners who believe in what you do and really want to share your work with their friends and communities.

The question is… how do you go about finding these ideal clients and partners?

The answer is to connect effectively with a broad assortment of people.

Business is all about people and all about creating relationships. We all do business with those that we feel connected to. Some of those relationships can be cultivated online and others need to be nurtured in person. Regardless of your method you have to put yourself out in the world and give yourself the opportunity to connect effectively, meaningfully, and authentically.

A few years ago I was involved in direct sales and my first “homework” assignment was to create a list of everyone I knew from high school friends, to past co-workers, to neighbors to relatives. The plan was to contact them, rekindle the relationship and see if they would either become involved in my business or connect me to someone who would.

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