Last week, the Four Points Business Association's (4PBA) hosted Dr. Richard Hansen. He spoke about how to get the most out of networking and referral groups. There were about 15 4PBA members and visitors there to learn from Dr. Hansen.

First, Dr. Hansen spoke of the benefits of belonging to a networking/referral group. He compared other forms of obtaining business - advertising, direct selling and publicity. All of these forms are fairly impersonal - both advertising and direct selling is asking for business from people you do not really know. Publicity is nice, because it brings in a third party endorsement or validation. However, Dr. Hansen believes that referrals are key to growing your business. Referrals are much more personal; therefore, are more likely to result in helping your business grow.

A common phrase is "people do business with people they know", which Dr. Hansen validated by comparing the benefits of joining a referral group to advertising, direct sales and publicity. Dr. Hansen also discussed how most networking groups are only at 10-20% of their referral capacity. Next post will discuss Dr. Hansen's tips on how to increase networking effectiveness.