Networking 101 - Some Great Collaborative Opportunities

Networking 101 - Some Great Collaborative Opportunities

By Nikki Viljoen of N Viljoen Consulting (Pty) Ltd

I am seriously excited about what is happening at the moment!  Seriously excited. Uh huh, I can hear all of you sigh as you roll your eyes heavenwards.  Yip – I know that you have all heard me say these words at some point or another, but you know what – I really don’t care, I am still seriously excited.  This is why.

All these years that I have been networking is now starting to pay off in a huge way.  I have been contacted by, not one, but several institutions with thousands and thousands of members to collaborate.

What does this mean for me?  Quite simply this -  I am going to be running my workshops all over Africa, not just using my data base but also tapping into the data bases of the various institutions that I am now collaborating with.  How cool is that?

Not only am I going to be running my workshop all over the continent, but I have also done some really cool JV’s with some other institutions.  These are institutions that have software that is either free (with upgrades that cost a nominal fee) or free for a month and then cost a nominal fee.  The links to this data is on my website. The links to these institutions has been imbedded with a code that directly identifies me and I then get a residual income from it – now that is way cool!

So now do you understand my excitement?

How did I get all of this right?  Simple really, I Networked!  I didn’t try and make a sale at the first meeting, instead I strove to build a relationship slowly and carefully, one step at a time.

Here’s a real ‘kicker’.  One of the ladies who I am collaborating with is in Kenya and I have never met Kenya!  Yes that’s right, we have yet to meet!  On the strength of someone else’s ‘say so’, we have connected and now we all stand to make quite a bit of money and at the same time, we will all be touching the lives of many, many people who need help with starting their businesses.

So, do you still think that Networking is not for you?

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za  or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za