How To Keep Your Friends While Building Your Business - By: Chris Makell

Small business owners, entrepreneurs and solopreneurs spend a lot of time, hours and energy building, marketing and “being” in their business. It can become your second family, friend and sometimes your life. But there are those friends whose faces flash before your eyes when you’re staring at your computer screen late at night, or whose names pop into your head when you’re reading or writing that email to a client or vendor.

You know it’s important to maintain those relationships that “shore you up” when things are slow or when it’s time to celebrate winning that big client or account. So with all that you have to do in your business every day, how do you maintain these key relationships?

Social networking isn’t just for attracting business, you know! Staying in touch with friends and family may take, maybe, another 20 minutes in your schedule. (and yes, I know that’s a LOT of time…but once a week it’s worth it!) So make sure you are connected with those friends and family members who are on the different sites like Twitter, Facebook, etc. Carve out the time to check in, by sending a brief message to let them know they aren’t forgotten in a sea of emails, websites, clients and numbers! You can designate a “friends and family” day in your calendar to connect with and maintain those key relationships. This will also give you a needed break from the day-to-day business, without the guilt.

You can invest in stay-in-touch techniques and tools like “SendOutCards™, e-card sites like Hallmark or American Greetings or picking up some note cards or funny cards to send when you have some “down time”. It’s a great use of the layovers when you’re at the airport. Jot a quick note to a friend to say hi or to ask how things are going.

If you read an article about a sport or hobby online, or in a magazine, why not jot a quick – “I was thinking of you when I read this” note and slip it and the article in the mail to a friend.

Back in the airport, if you’ve picked up a good book or finished one, let your friends know! Maybe pass it on to a friend to save them the expense of purchasing it themselves. Saving friends money is really memorable!

As you meet business associates, you may find they have a hobby or interest that your friends have. Would it make sense to connect them? Expanding their network expands yours. Good for your friends and you!

These tips are just a few of the ways you can stay in touch with friends and maintain those important relationships, while building your business. I’m not saying you have a lot of time to invest in these strategies. I, too, know the commitment of the small business owner to creating a successful and profitable business. But what I am saying is that your “friends” will give you the support you need when you grow tired and need a laugh. They will be there to distract you and remind you of life, as you knew it, when it all gets to be too much. So nurture those relationships because in the end, they are what give you the energy to take on another day!

About the Author

Chris Makell helps coaches, consultants, and other solopreneurs create profitable businesses by showing them what to do and how to do it, using proven marketing strategies. To learn how to make more money doing what you love, visit http://www.RadianceMarketing.com to claim your free special report, "7 Surefire Ways to Get the Most out of Your Time and Marketing Dollar."

Article Directory Source: http://www.articlerich.com/profile/Chris-Makell/47031

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