Cheryl Baumgartner   Medical...
What the heck is a sphere of influence?  Why do we need to know and understand what
they are?  Because they can make you or
break you, that?s why.

You probably heard the theory about six degrees of
separation.  Okay great now forget about
it.  Who cares if you are only separated
by six ?steps? from an Eskimo living in the North Pole if you are trying to
sell bikini bathing suits.  Is that Eskimo
going to be a sale for you?  No, so who
cares.  We are all connected to every
last person somehow, so be it.

I really don?t care about the connection the connection is
not important, it is the sphere of influence around that connection that matters.  So  let
me explain a sphere of influence.  Think
of the solar system.  At the center is
the sun, and orbiting around the sun are planets and moons.  Now put yourself in the center as the sun and
all around you are friends and acquaintances.  Your ?solar system? is a sphere
of influence.  And you are the sun it all revolves around.

There are all sorts of different ?people? in your solar
system.  Bet somewhere in your system is
a doctor or dentist, am I right?  Now let
me explain to you why you need to understand spheres of influence with an easy
to follow example.  Let?s say I go to Dr
John every year for my annual check up. 
Dr John is my personal physician. 
He is a part of my sphere.  So one
day Dr John mentions that his son is going to need braces.  Well I also go to Dr Joe twice a year to get
my Dental check up.  So I tell Dr John to
call Dr Joe.  Dr Joe refers Dr John to an
orthodontist he works with named Dr Brace. 
Dr Brace just got a new patient, 
and it was all due to spheres of influence.

Dr John?s son and myself as a patient are both a part of Dr
John?s sphere of influence.  Dr John?s
son is not connected to me in anyway. 
But I did introduce Dr John and Dr Joe. 
Until I introduced them, they were not a part of each other?s sphere.  Just as I was in no way connected to Dr Brace.  Yet a young man Dr Brace did not even know
existed is now getting outfitted for braces by him.

This is the power of networking.  Networking is not about getting everyone to
join your biz op or sell your products to your network.  It?s about spheres of influence.  It?s about extending your exposure through
others.  When you market the intention is
to make a sale, why do you think it?s called marketing? So you make that sale
now what?  You approached me on a network
with the intention of selling me something, now that I have bought where do you
go?  Nowhere, game over.

But if you choose to approach me differently, to get to know
me and let me get to know you then you are networking.  If I like you and think that you are a
business professional I will open my sphere to you.  When someone I know needs what you can
provide guess who I will tell them to contact? 
And who knows I might just need what you have one day myself, and who
will I buy it from.

But it doesn?t stop there. 
To use our example of Dr Brace and Dr John.  If Dr Brace does a good job with young Master
John?s braces, who will Dr John now refer him to?  For that matter since I was the one the
connected to two doctors by opening my sphere of influence, who will they refer
me to?  If you network correctly and stop
trying to sell, your network will bring you customers primed to buy instead of
sales you have to convince. 
Sep 18th 2010 15:37