There are lots and lots of ways to promote your expertise, but when it comes to where to START, the answer is really quite simple ...

The old adage of 'someone who knows someone who knows someone' is alive and well. Just this morning ...

I was having a discussion with a delightful professional lady about the Age of Experience "How to Build Your SELF EMPLOYED CONSULTANT Business". She got really excited about what we're doing and within minutes, she was firing off suggestions on people we should talk to. "I would love you to meet such and such about this." ... and "And do you know such and such? I'll give you an introduction." ... "Oh, also there's also an expo coming up that you should be involved in. Let me introduce you to the organiser" ...

The same thing happened a week ago at a business event. A friend of mine invited me to mention to the people sitting around the table what we were doing with the Age of Experience Network, and again, business cards were pressed into my hand, with a "Call me" invitation. And that led to yet other introductions.

Both of these occasions were a demonstration of how the spread of a message can become 'viral' too. You see, the referrals were not just to individuals, but to people with access to dozens, or in one case, thousands of people in our 'marketplace'.

Human nature is like that. People love to help where they can. When they get interested in, or better yet, excited about what it is you do, they will enthusiastically refer you to others. And they won't be offended if you ask whether they know someone who'd benefit from knowing what you do.

But networking has to START with that initial conversation. If you're not prepared to go out and to network, your skills and expertise will remain a best kept secret. And bear in mind, you probably don't need to talk to 'thousands' to promote what you do. Having ten prospective clients referred to you may be all you ever need.

Don't be afraid to call people 'out of the blue' who may be able to help you either. Not to try to sell them on your services, but to ask their advice or help. A simple, "Thank you for taking my call. I wonder if you may be able to help me ..." often gets an immediate positive response. Over the years, I have helped many such callers 'out of the blue'. And if you've been in a position to do so, I suspect you have too.

Of course, there's a chance the person you call out of the blue will respond with "Not interested!" ... That's fine. Thank them for their time and call the next person. And the next. And make the commitment to go out and chat to people at industry events. You never know what opportunities you'll uncover until you get outside your comfort zone and do it.

This is not the only way to promote what you do. The ways to 'package', to 'market' and to 'position' yourself are many. And we teach our Age of Experience members exactly how to do those things. But networking PROACTIVELY is a very simple first step, wouldn't you agree?

If you're interested in developing your skills in creating work opportunities, you may want to consider enrolling in the Age of Experience Network online course: "How to Build Your SELF-EMPLOYED CONSULTANT Business"

One last thing. Do you know anyone who would benefit from knowing about the Age of Experience Network? Perhaps you could forward this article to them!

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