Richard Branson: 'There's No Shortcut or Magic Recipe to Success'

Q: Are there any quick ways to succeed in business without spending a huge amount of money on marketing? -- Geraldo Kandonga Fillipus, Geraldo Financial Solutions, Namibia

Unfortunately there’s no shortcut or magic recipe to success -- or if there is, I haven’t found it yet. Creating a successful and profitable business takes time, since you build your reputation as customers learn to trust and rely on you, one by one.

Also, there’s no guarantee that spending a huge amount of money on marketing will slingshot your business forward. If you spend your time looking for shortcuts, you will find one -- right out of business.

While there are no set rules for succeeding in business, over my 40 years as an entrepreneur I have embraced some rough guidelines that can be very helpful:

1. CREATE A USEFUL PRODUCT OR SERVICE

Above all else, you should not go into business purely for financial reasons. Running a company involves long hours and hard decisions; if you don’t have a better reason than money to keep going, your business will more than likely fail, as many new businesses do.

So it’s important to create something of use that is going to benefit society as a whole. If you do something you truly care about, you will be in a much better position to find customers, connect with them, and keep them coming back.

Once you have decided on the type of product or service that interests you, focus on how to do things differently from the competition: Do your research, find a gap or an area ripe for innovation, and position your business in a way that sets it apart.

2. SIMPLIFY YOUR MESSAGE

Customers don’t just shop for a brand and its products, but also identify with its core values. Ask yourself, why did I start my business? Be honest -- this will help you establish an authentic value and voice. Then distill your message into something simple.

At Virgin, we stand for great customer service, good value and innovative alternatives to our competitors’ offerings. Most importantly, we view business as a force for good. Knowing who we are and what we stand for ensures that we don’t waste time or money on messaging that doesn’t represent us or resonate with our customers.

3. MARKET YOURSELF

Marketing is a powerful tool, but it doesn’t have to be expensive. My mentor, Sir Freddie Laker, a man who had started a company to challenge British Airways on their home turf, gave me some invaluable advice when I was starting up Virgin Atlantic Airways. Knowing that we couldn’t match the more established airlines in terms of marketing budget, he encouraged me to drive the publicity myself: “Use yourself. Make a fool of yourself. Otherwise you won’t survive.”

I took his advice and I’ve been thinking up fun ways to stand out from the crowd and draw the media’s attention to our company ever since, from breaking world records to pulling pranks.

While I’ve always been interested in sports and physical challenges, that might not be the route for you. Find your tone, know your brand, do things your own way, and create waves. The free advertising will follow.

4. EMBRACE SOCIAL MEDIA

Tools like Twitter and Facebook are wonderful ways to get your message out to a wide audience. Social media is not only more cost-efficient than advertising, but it also offers great opportunities for innovative engagement with your customers. Use it to your advantage.

Remember that there is a difference between selling and marketing. In my experience, selling a product through social media doesn’t work -- it’s better to simply communicate with your customers in an authentic way and have fun. As you build an online profile that people can identify with and trust, you’ll find that they will soon become customers.

The feedback you receive on social media can be invaluable, especially when your business is just starting out. Listen to your customers’ comments about your company’s offerings to gain an understanding of what you are doing right and wrong. You can also use this feedback to sharpen your social campaigns and measure the effectiveness of your calls to action.

5. KEEP ON ENJOYING WHAT YOU DO

If you genuinely love and believe in what you do, others will take notice and share your enthusiasm. Geraldo, in your case, this might prompt people to take out a loan with your company instead of another provider, or encourage them to recommend your company to a friend.

If you find your interest flagging, it’s time to make a change -- switch from operations to management, move on, expand into new territories, anything that interests you. To find success, you need to be fully committed or your work will show it.

Good luck!

From Entrepreneur

One Entrepreneur's System for Getting the Same Amount Done in Half the Time

A formerly frazzled founder claims he managed to squeeze 40-plus hours of work into just 16.7. Could his system work for you?

What if I told you there's a way to get exactly the same amount of work you're now accomplishing done in less than half the time? You'd probably respond that you have some amazing magic beans you'd like to sell me or ask for directions to the unicorn stable.

The idea that some miraculous wrinkle in the time-space continuum exists that can instantly compress your workweek into a more humane duration seems too fabulous to be believed, but entrepreneur Chris Winfield insists that the idea is fact, not fantasy. In a recent post on his site, he relates how he's developed a system for cramming 40 hours of work into just under 20 hours (a startlingly precise 16.7 hours, to be exact) using nothing fancier than a kitchen timer and his phone's airplane mode.

He laid out the whole system in detail in a recent post that also explains the genesis of his new approach. If you're seriously considering giving the system a try, it's well worth a read in full to get all the finer points, but here's a basic rundown.

Employ the Pomodoro technique.

There's nothing radical to Winfield's first suggestion--the Pomodoro technique, which is simply a fancy term for setting a timer to work in 25-minute sprints of single-minded focus (no Facebook, no popping over to your inbox quickly, etc.) followed by 5 minutes of rest. It has been around (and much recommended) for ages. After every four intervals, called Pomodoros, you're supposed to take a longer 15-minute break.

It sounds incredibly basic, but Winfield insists that after much monkeying around to find the perfect number of Pomodoros to shoot for in a week, the simple technique radically increased his productivity and his sanity.

"My goal was eight Pomodoros each weekday, for a total of 40 per week. This worked, sort of, but as they say, life happens. Some days I had so many meetings to attend, or my daughter had a recital at school that I didn't want to miss, and I just couldn't find fit in eight Pomodoros. It became clear that 40 was my magic weekly number, but I needed to be less rigid with how I approached my workweek," he says (which also explains the oddly exact time he allots for work in this system: "40 Pomodoros = 1,000 minutes of work (plus 350 minutes of breaks) each week. This averages out to about 16.7 hours of work each week.")

Choose your tasks wisely. 

The second half of Winfield's approach, as the quote above suggests, is all about flexibility. To manage to get to his goal of 40 Pomodoros, he found he had to choose his tasks wisely each day, taking into account his mood, physical energy levels, and degree of mental focus.

"The reality is that I'm a human being, living in a world full of other humans. I have emotions I don't control, and I often get tired. Some tasks I simply don't feel like doing, even though I know they're important, and possibly urgent. To make this work long-term, I had to face these things and learn to accept them, working with rather than against them," he writes. In order to stop fighting his moods, he learned to survey his mental state and find jobs to do that would reverse whatever was ailing him--on low energy days, he'd find tasks that made him feel healthier; if he was sad, he looked for work that would cheer him up.

Truly forget the nine to five.

The last step for Winfield was jettisoning old ideas of when he should work and when he should unwind, so he could better utilize all the hours of the day, not just the ones falling within "normal" work hours.

"The final piece to my puzzle was moving from a five-day work-week, where I had to stop by 5 p.m., to a seven-day work-week, where I could work when it suited me. This took me from 40 to 45 hours available to get my 40 Pomodoros in, to having 168 hours each week. Since I only need 16.7 hours net, that means I only work 10% of my time. What a difference." he says.

A note for the skeptics

Taken together, these three simple changes meant that Winfield went from working a frazzled 40-plus hour week to getting just as much done in half the time, he claims. Though there is a pretty hefty caveat: He doesn't count meetings and calls within those 16.7 hours of work.

His bottom line: "I 'work' 35 to 40 hours a week, but I spend at least 20 to 25 of those hours on calls, meetings, networking online and offline, and other less-focused tasks. These are important, but I don't count them as work time. I truly work 16.7 hours each week, and I get about five times more done in those few hours than in the other 25 hours."

So that incredible 16.7 hour number does take a little word-choice wizardry to make a reality, but whether the final tally of hours worked is a little tarted up or not, Winfield insists he's a far saner man for his system--having whittled an overwhelming 60-hour workweek down to a healthier and more manageable schedule.

Do you believe that Winfield's system would have a serious impact on your own schedule?

From Inc.

THE 5 MOST COMMON NEGOTIATING MISTAKES

SOME PEOPLE POSSESS NATURAL NEGOTIATION CHOPS. THE REST OF US JUST NEED PRACTICE.

Negotiating can be uncomfortable: standing up for yourself, asking for what you want, and trying to get a better price, terms, and condition often feels confrontational--and most of us avoid confrontation.

“You have to go out and learn to negotiate--it’s not a natural skill,” says Eldonna Lewis-Fernandez, author of Think Like a Negotiator. “It’s like playing baseball; you have to do it to get good at it.”

Lewis-Fernandez has a lot of experience; she negotiated contracts for the government for 23 years. While she honed her skills on the job, she says anyone can become a good negotiator, at work or in life. The way to get comfortable with the process is to have the right mindset.

“There’s usually fear in beginning,” she says. “There’s no way to eliminate the fear, no switch to flip that makes you an immediate expert. You have to take the time and work through it. The power is in the work.”

The best place to practice negotiating skills is at a yard sale where the stakes are low, says Lewis-Fernandez. “It’s a great place for training,” she says. “Nobody expects to get what they ask for things; they expect negotiation. Drill your skills by turning a purchase into a game.”

WHEN YOU THINK LIKE A NEGOTIATOR, EVERYTHING IS NEGOTIABLE.

For example, if someone is asking $6 for a teapot and $6 for a tray, ask if you can have both items for $10. Multiple purchases will often increase your negotiating leverage. Or have the other person start the price-lowering process by asking if the price marked is the lowest they’ll go. Sometimes they’ll suggest a price that’s less than what you would have offered.

Once you become comfortable with asking, take your skills to larger arenas--anything from calling your phone carrier and asking for a lower rate to settling a multi-million-dollar contract. The most effective deals are a win-win proposition for all parties rather than a winner-loser result, says Lewis-Fernandez.

In the beginning, Lewis-Fernandez says inexperienced negotiators will have missteps. She shares the five most common mistakes that are made during negotiations and how you can avoid them:

1. LACKING CONFIDENCE.

Some people think it takes a bold or brazen personality to negotiate a deal, and others think experience is required. Instead, Lewis-Fernandez says negotiations takes tenacity and preparation.

“Before you start the process, make sure you’ve identified mutually desirable terms, anticipated possible objections, and determined what motivators or ‘hot buttons’ will resonate with your opponent,” she says. “Projecting confidence also means having a heart, which is often endearing and gives the opposition a less defensive stance.”

2. ASSUMING THAT SOMETHING IS NON-NEGOTIABLE.

When you think like a negotiator, everything is negotiable, says Lewis-Fernandez, who says one of her best negotiations was getting her sister to get out of a contract to purchase a car.

“When you decide that the terms for anything can be changed in your favor, a world of opportunity presents,” she says. “Rules can be modified if you simply propose an ethical, viable, and mutually beneficial alternative solution. Powerful negotiators are rule breakers.”

3. NOT BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS FIRST.

One of the biggest mistakes individuals make in negotiations is not getting to know their opponent. Slow down and make connections with people and you’ll glean useful information that can be used to identify what they value in life, what motivates them, 

and what annoys them.

“You might be surprised how well you can leverage what you learn through a genuine conversation with someone,” says Lewis-Fernandez.

4. NOT ASKING.

It sounds simple, but the key to successful negotiations is asking for what you want. Fear of rejection or the fear of looking greedy can get in the way. But know that rejection will happen.

“Rejection is never personal,” says Lewis-Fernandez. “It’s merely a reflection that you did not present a viable argument substantiating why you should get what you want. Your offer was rejected, not you.”

When you get a no, it means the other person needs more information. “Take heart in knowing that people say no an average of three times before they say yes,” says Lewis-Fernandez. “The only way to master the art of rejection is to get rejected and keep asking.”

5. TALKING TOO MUCH.

Talking too much is a sure-fire way to kill a deal. In fact, Lewis-Fernandez says it’s not unusual for a salesperson to talk so much about a product or service that they talk you right out of the purchase.

“Never underestimate the power of silence,” she says. “There’s an old adage: ‘He or she who speaks next loses.’ When discussing a deal, if you simply stop talking and get comfortable with the awkwardness of silence, your ability to win your argument, sell the product, or a get concession in the negotiation increases significantly.”

From Fast Company

7 must-know tips from successful entrepreneurs

Small business owners share hard-learned lessons from the trenches.

Did you know that, according to the Small Business Administration, only a third of new businesses survive 10 years or more? What can you do to make your small business one of the thrivers? To find out, we asked entrepreneurs who have succeeded.

1. Love what you do.

The road to success is a hard one. But, according to Lisa King, owner of Brownie Points Inc., which sells gourmet brownies and holiday gift baskets, it's a lot easier if you're passionate about your business's purpose. "If you don't [love what you do], it's hard to be successful," she says. She adds that this helps you stay positive: "You need to maintain your optimism. Once it's gone, you're done."

2. Build a team immersed in your vision.

"For me, it's more than just hiring experienced people. It's important to demonstrate the type of organization we want to be," says Mike Mondello, president of SeaBear, which supplies fresh and smoked wild salmon directly to consumers. To bring to life the vision of building a seafood brand based on world-class, sustainable wild salmon, Mondello used a team meeting to showcase a fisherman whose way of catching fish resulted in a better end product.

3. Come up with innovative ways to solve problems.

Necessity really is the mother of invention. Just ask Robin Brocklesby of Creative Coverings, which rents specialty linens for formal events. When customers were having difficulty returning the linens they had rented, Brocklesby turned to UPS for a creative solution. The result was out-of-the box innovation: Return the linens in specially designed bags (with an estimated life span of 300 uses) rather than larger boxes.

4. Create a delightful customer experience.

Several components come together to win customers, and everyone at the company needs to know their own role in retaining customers. "It's mission critical that everyone on our team understands how they fit into the brand and what they bring to the value chain that delivers a successful customer experience," Mondello says.

King notes that shipping plays a vital role in her customers' experience, particularly since Brownie Points provides a perishable product. "You need to know that you're partnering with someone who can manage your shipments and make sure your packages arrive on time," she says.

5. Quickly learn from your mistakes.

Mistakes are inevitable. The key is to learn from them – fast. A decade ago during the holidays, SeaBear outsourced its call center. Customer orders were soon riddled with errors. "When a customer had a need outside the norm, the call center couldn't handle it with the customer care our own professionals could," Mondello recalls. The solution? SeaBear immediately stopped outsourcing and personally contacted all the customers who were negatively affected. Also, the company has learned to test any new process during a quiet time of the year.

6. Rely on people smarter than you.

You can't know and do everything. You must rely on others. "Surround yourself with people who know more than you do," King advises. "I was a schoolteacher [prior to going into business] and there were a lot of things I had to learn," she recalls. To fill in the gap, King selected vendors or has hired people who had the knowledge or skills she lacked.

7. Never sacrifice quality.

"The key to the success of any business is to establish a philosophy and have everyone in the business buy into it," says Larry Sweet, founder and president of Save-A-Load Inc. The company manufacturers load bars for truckers and delivery companies for the cargo area to hold items in place during transport. Sweet's philosophy of putting quality first has resulted in double-digit revenue growth since the company's founding in 1993. The manufacturer stands behind its product quality by providing a lifetime warranty and relying on UPS to deliver its best-in-class product to customers worldwide.

Have your own tips? Share them below.


From Compass

10 Things All Entrepreneurs Must Do Before Quitting Their Day Job

Before running a business full time, many entrepreneurs toggle between their day job and a dedicated side hustle. So how do you know when it's time to take the leap and leave your steadier gig behind? If you can check these items off your list, consider your decision made and exit your current job on a positive and graceful note. And for four more indispensable startup tips, check out the video above. 

1. Research. Do the requisite market research, talk to potential customers and scope out your competition. 
2. Legal. Engage an attorney to trademark your ideas and incorporate the business.
3. Web presence. Buy a domain and build a dynamic website.  Make sure customers have a way to get in touch with you and your team.
4. Money. Open a bank account specifically for your business
5. Social media. Find the platforms that work for you and start building the support of your customers.
6. Identity. Develop a consistent brand from your logo to your voice on social media.
7. Team building. Work with like-minded co-founders and assemble a support network of investors and advisors. 
8. Business plan. Can't take action without one.
9. Budget. Make sure you have clear, separate books for both your business and personal expenses.
10. Presentation. You're going to have to share your vision with many people as you get the company off the ground.  Get your business proposal presentation in top shape.  

From Entrepreneur

15 Signs You're an Entrepreneur

Pressed to describe the stereotypical entrepreneur, which words would you use? Passionate? Dedicated? Optimistic? Sure, those apply. But insecure and troublemaker are more accurate, according to 'treps who know a success when they see one. Do the following traits, characteristics and quirks describe you? Well then, you might be an entrepreneur (at heart, if not yet in practice).

1. You take action.

Barbara Corcoran, founder of The Corcoran Group, co-star of TV's Shark Tank and author of Shark Tales: How I Turned $1,000 into a Billion Dollar Business, says people who have a concept but not necessarily a detailed strategy are more likely to have that entrepreneurial je ne sais quoi. "I hate entrepreneurs with beautiful business plans," she says.

Barbara Corcoran

Image credit: Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com

Corcoran's recommendation? "Invent as [you] go," rather than spending time writing a plan at your desk. In fact, she believes that people with life experience have an active problem-solving ability and think-on-your-feet resourcefulness that can be more valuable than book smarts alone. Those who study business may be prone to overanalyzing situations rather than taking action.

2. You're Insecure.

"Many entrepreneurs judged as ambitious are really insecure underneath," Corcoran says. When evaluating potential investments, she adds, "I want someone who is scared to death." Those who are nervous about failing can become hyperfocused and willing to do whatever it takes to succeed. If you feel insecure, use that emotion to drive you to achieve your business goals.

3. You're Crafty.

"One of my favorite TV shows growing up was MacGyver," confides Tony Hsieh, CEO of Las Vegas-based Zappos, "because he never had exactly the resources he needed but would somehow figure out how to make everything work out."

Always resourceful: Zappos chief Tony Hsieh.

Image credit: Flickr/Delivering Happiness Book

A lifelong entrepreneur, Hsieh has done everything from starting a worm farm to making buttons and selling pizzas, so he admires MacGyver's "combination of creativity, optimism and street smarts. Ultimately, I think that's what being an entrepreneur is all about--playing MacGyver, but for business." It's not about having enough resources, he explains, but being resourceful with what you do have.

4. You're Obsessed With Cash Flow.

Before founding Brainshark, a Waltham, Mass.-based developer of technology for business presentations, Joe Gustafson bootstrapped a venture called Relational Courseware. "All I ever thought about was cash flow and liquidity," he says, admitting, "there were seven times in [the company's] eight-year history when I was days or hours away from payroll and didn't have enough cash to make it."

How did he respond? "In the early days, you could step up and put expenses on your personal credit card, but that can only go so far," he says. "You need cash--even if you have the best company and the best receivables in the world--to fight the battle one more day." Other strategies he recommends include working with a partner who can provide cash advances on projects and maintaining close communication with suppliers.

5. You get into hot water.

Stephane Bourque, founder and CEO of Vancouver, British Columbia-based Incognito Software, says true entrepreneurial types are more likely to ask for forgiveness than permission, forging ahead to address the opportunities or issues they recognize, even without approval from higher-ups.

"Entrepreneurs are never satisfied with the status quo," says Bourque, who discovered he was not destined for the corporate world when he kept coming up with new and better ways of doing things--ideas that were not necessarily appreciated by his bosses and often were interpreted as unwanted criticism. Now, he says, "I wish my employees would get into more trouble," because it shows they are on the lookout for opportunities to improve themselves or company operations.

6. You're fearless.

Where most avoid risk, entrepreneurs see potential, says Robert Irvine, chef and host of Food Network's Restaurant: Impossible. True 'treps are not afraid to leverage their houses and run up their credit card balances in order to amass the funds they need to create a new venture. In some ways, he says, they are the ultimate optimists, because they operate under the belief that their investments of time and money will eventually pay off.

7. You can't sit still.

Entrepreneurs have unbridled energy that fuels them long past the time when their employees have gone home. They are eager, excited and energized about business in a way that makes them stand out. Irvine would know: He owns a restaurant in South Carolina, is opening another in the Pentagon and has a line of food and clothing products, on top of hosting his TV show.

8. You're malleable.

"If you have only one acceptable outcome in mind, your chances of making it are slim," cautions Rosemary Camposano, president and CEO of Silicon Valley chain Halo Blow Dry Bars. If you are willing to listen, your clients will show you which of your products or services provide the most value.

Her original vision for Halo was part blow-dry bar, part gift shop, "to help busy women multitask," she explains. But she quickly learned that the gift shop was causing confusion about the nature of her business, so she took it out, replaced it with an extra blow-dry chair, and things took off. Smart entrepreneurs constantly evolve, tweaking their business concepts in response to market feedback.

9. You enjoy navel gazing.

Without direct supervisors, entrepreneurs need to be comfortable with the process of evaluating their own performance, says Laura Novak Meyer, owner of Pennsylvania's Little Nest Portraits. That requires "a willingness to solicit feedback from those around you to self-improve," she says, as well as paying close attention to feedback you may not have asked for, such as customer complaints or being outpaced by competitors. Little Nest surveys every client to ask for opportunities for improvement, and Meyer has worked closely with a business coach for the past five years to identify personal areas where she needs to improve.

10. You're motivated by challenges.

When confronted by problems, many employees try to pass the buck or otherwise wash their hands of the situation. Entrepreneurs, on the other hand, rise to the occasion. "Challenges motivate them to work harder," says Jeff Platt, CEO of the Sky Zone Indoor Trampoline Park franchise. "An entrepreneur doesn't think anything is insurmountable … He looks adversity in the eye and keeps going."

Candace Nelson, founder of Sprinkles Cupcakes, agrees. Despite naysayers who questioned her idea for a bakery in the midst of the carb-fearing early-2000s, she persevered and now has locations in eight states. In fact, she was one of the first entrepreneurs in a business that became an ongoing craze, sparking numerous copycats.

11. You consider yourself an outsider.

Entrepreneurs aren't always accepted, says Vincent Petryk, founder of J.P. Licks, a Boston chain of ice-cream shops. They may be seen as opinionated, quirky and demanding--but that is not necessarily a bad thing. "They are often rejected for being different in some way, and that just makes them work harder," Petryk says. When his former boss didn't approve of his off-duty research into ice-cream quality, he went out on his own to develop a made-from-scratch dessert in bold flavors. Rather than copying what most other ice-cream shops were doing, including buying from the same well-known suppliers, Petryk forged his own path. His early competitors? All but one are no longer in business.

12 . You recover quickly.

It's a popular notion that successful entrepreneurs fail fast and fail often. For Corcoran, the trick is in the speed of recovery: If you fail, resist the urge to mope or feel sorry for yourself. Don't wallow; move on to the next big thing immediately.

13. You fulfill needs.

Many people recognize marketplace holes, but it is the true entrepreneur who takes them from cocktail napkin to reality, says Jennifer Dawn, partner in New York City-based Savor the Success, a business network for women. "Entrepreneurs think of a way to fix it and take steps to fix it. They are innovators." So when Savor's network of women began asking for advice and input from co-founder Angela Jia Kim, she and Dawn created a new product: Savor Circles. These mastermind groups connect four members who give each other tailored input and expertise; even better, they provide Savor the Success with a new revenue stream.

14. You surround yourself with advisors.

Actress Jessica Alba, co-founder and president of Santa Monica, Calif.-based The Honest Company, which sells baby, home and personal-care products, notes that "it's important to surround yourself with people smarter than you and to listen to ideas that aren't yours. I'm open to ideas that aren't mine and people that know what I don't, because I think success takes communication, collaboration and, sometimes, failure."

"Success takes communication, collaboration and, sometimes, failure."

--Jessica Alba, The Honest Company

In other words: True 'treps don't hire yes men; they talk to those with experience and conduct thorough research, gathering as much information as they can to make informed decisions rather than taking a shot in the dark.

15. You work and play hard.

"Entrepreneurs fall down and pick themselves up until they get it right," says Micha Kaufman, who snowboards and sails in addition to running Fiverr, the fast-growth online freelance marketplace he co-founded.

You know the type: Micha Kaufman of Fiverr.

Photography by Yanvi Edry

Like in sports, the key to success in business is staying super-focused, the CEO notes. During Fiverr's launch, instead of trying to deal with "an endless number of potential challenges," Kaufman and his team focused on "the single biggest challenge every marketplace has: building liquidity.

Without liquidity, there is no marketplace. It's like worrying about the skills needed for frontside-360 jumps before getting on a snowboard and learning the basics."

From Entrepreneur

8 Ways to Expand Your Network Today

The next time you’re standing at yet another industry happy hour, put down the Chardonnay and try these tips to start meeting people outside your niche. 

Networking is about building relationships, sharing information and finding sources of support. Often people play it safe, staying inside their industry walls— failing to pop that comfort-zone bubble and venture into new territory of new faces and new ideas. It’s time to go beyond the familiar to expand your network and knowledge and meet more contacts who could help get you that much closer to your goals. 

We asked eight entrepreneurs from the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) to give us their tips for mastering the art of meeting people beyond the boundaries of your business interests and connections:

1. Volunteer

Find an organization working on a cause you care about, and volunteer a few hours a month. It's great to step outside of your day-to-day work and contribute to a different mission, and you'll meet people who care about similar things but most likely work in different industries.

—Martina Welke, Zealyst

2. Find a Networking Wingperson 

For any networking event, it can be helpful to have a networking “wingperson.” Together, you can naturally draw others into your conversation. This is particularly true if your networking wingperson is knowledgeable about an industry you are unfamiliar with. If nothing else, the event will provide you with an opportunity to get to know your networking wingperson better. 

—Doug Bend, Bend Law Group, PC

3. Use Alumni Networks 

Alumni chapters are a great way to stay connected and network outside your own company and niche. They often include graduates from different majors, and it's a fun way to learn from people you don't normally interact with. You have a shared interest in your school, and it's an easy way to meet new people. 

—Andrew Thomas, SkyBell Technologies Inc.

4. Host Events 

Rather than attending events, where you are one of many and may be out of your niche, host events outside of your industry. As host, you and your space are a natural focal point. In addition to this added prominence, your shifted role—from attendee to host—makes conversation easier and removes the pressure of being at the event with a specific agenda or mission. 

—Brennan White, Watchtower

5. Just Start 

Honestly, all you need to do is get started. Don't even think about it, just get started. If you want to become influential at anything, start by reading everything out there. Then start networking with people in that niche. Then start going to events. Then start writing about it. Then start speaking about it. Then become the expert in that niche. This is a sure way to build your network! 

—John Rampton, Adogy

6. Approach a VC for Recommendations 

Ask the venture capitalists who you meet which entrepreneurs they really admire. They always have a wide portfolio of companies they work with, and they’ll be able to connect you with entrepreneurs at different companies and ventures who you might not otherwise meet. 

—Katrina Lake, Stitch Fix 

7. Become Active on Instagram and Pinterest 

We have been successful with Instagram and Pinterest for helping reach fans beyond our natural products niche. With beautiful photos, you can quickly up your following on both Instagram and Pinterest. Provide your audience with great content that they want to look at and the buzz will spread. 

—Emily Doubilet, Susty Party

8. Join a Business Organization 

Outside of your company and even your industry, you can build relationships and network by joining a business group like Vistage, which brings together leaders of businesses from diverse markets. It's a good mental exercise and helps you to get feedback on how your business is perceived by others outside of your industry. 

—Michael Seiman, CPXi 

From Success