Let's say that you have a passion for gardening. Now, let's narrow that down to vegetable gardening. Let's say that you have had a garden in your back yard every year for 10 years. What have you learned about it? When is best time to plant green beans? What are best conditions to help them thrive? What brand of seeds have you found to be best? What do you do to soil in winter to get it ready for planting? How can you grow a garden in a limited space--ie if you live in an apartment? As you can see, options are unlimited.

Let's say you enjoy making dolls. Where do you find materials that are reasonable, yet quality materials? How long does it take to complete a doll? Where & how do you market your dolls? What are easiest dolls to make? How much can you charge for dolls?

You see what I mean here. Once you decide what you want to do, sit down & ask yourself some questions about your project. These are things that you build your site around.

Mix affiliate programs into your site. For instance, if you chose doll site, partner with sites or companies that sell materials for dolls or doll bodies. You could even make up your own kits to make a doll and sell them. Ex--put in material needed to make doll, doll body, plus any accessories to go with outfit and sell them as kits.

If you choose a gardening site, you could partner with a seed company or a company that sells tools to work in garden with. These companies don't have to be on internet. Look in your yellow pages. Find a small business and send them a letter about your site and tell them that you would like to sell their product on your site because your site is related to their product and you feel that it would benefit both of you and why. Give them a phone number where they can reach you to discuss details. Keep a log of who you sent letters to--why and date they were sent. If they contact you, write down results. If you aren't contacted in a reasonable length of time, call company and ask to speak to owner, manager or anyone in charge. Ask them if they received your corespondence and if they have had a chance to review information? If not, explain your web site to them--"Briefly" and what you are proposing. Remember, they have a business to run. Be brief and to point. Write down response.

Remember: There is a market out there for everything and anything!

After you've figured out who you met and what you discussed, follow up and tell people how much you enjoyed talking to them. Let them know that you'd like to get to know them better, and to find out more about their product or service because you want to be certain you understand how you would recognize a good lead for them. React to any surprise or skepticism you might encounter by explaining that this is just normal operating procedure for you. Let them know that since such a large part of your business comes from referrals, you like to give out at least as many referrals as you get. Make sure they understand you're not looking for anything in return.

Set up a lunch date with your new contact and be true to your word. Learn more about them and never once try to promote yourself. Introduce them to others in your network with whom they might form strategic alliances. By being sincere and diligent in your efforts to send others business you'll develop a well-deserved reputation of being a business "matchmaker," someone "in know," and someone who cares about helping others. You'll be amazed at how quickly you, in turn, will become a referral magnet.

©1999, 2001 Leni Chauvin

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Leni Chauvin is a Certified Professional Coach and an expert in building business through strong referral networks. She works with individuals and groups who want to have outrageously successful careers AND equally phenomenal lives. Visit http://www.superstarnetworking.com to learn more and to subscribe to NETWORKING GAZETTE, Leni’s FREE e-mail newsletter. mailto:leni@superstarnetworking.com