I love to meet others in the area who do what I do. Marketing companies who do website design, dedicated Web professionals, programmers — I want to know who they all are. After all you’ve got to know the competition so you can beat them, right?
Well, for me, not so much.
The main reason I want to meet and get to know them is so I refer business to them. The more I know about them, their business and their perfect clients, the better I will be with those referals. After all, I certainly can’t do everything. I’m already frequently booked months in advance. What kind of networker would I be if I couldn’t point prospects to someone who can take care of their specific needs in a timely manner?
In a way, I guess I don’t have any competition. I’ve just got colleagues, subcontractors, and friends who make my life and business easier to run.
I hope you are as fortunate.
In our association we refer to this as "co-op atition". Cooperation + competition.
I certainly can't be everything to everybody all the time so I count on my competitors to cooperate with me. If I can refer people to someone who specializes in what they are looking for then I can be almost everything to everybody most of the time.
@Jacki, I like that! By being able to refer to the "competition" you are actually expanding your own capacity. Excellent!