I had to chuckle a week or so ago when I was talking with a couple friends and one admitted that she had been asked by a mutual friend just “what exactly” I do. She admitted she was at a loss for words and couldn’t really figure out how to explain it. It seemed funny to me because I realized that I couldn’t really tell someone exactly what she does either—she works for the government in a cubicle and I think I know the general whereabouts of her office but that is about it. Here I write about the importance of networking and relationships and the fact is, many of us have no idea what those people closest to us actually do for a living!
I suppose the only solution to this social/business ignorance is for us to make sure that we explain our home businesses and share information about what we do with our closest friends and family. I think some of us are reluctant to “talk business” for fear that our friends will get annoyed or our family will think that we are trying to push our business on them. There are other times when we are turning to our closest friends to get AWAY from work and the last thing we want to do is talk business. We might also be afraid we will be boring, or invite feedback or criticism that we might not really want.
There is no law that says that we have to share our home businesses with those friends and family who are closest to us, but it can be true that our best referrals and business leads come from those who know us best so it might be worth it to take the time to make sure everyone knows exactly what we do and what our businesses are all about.
Also: Ask for and Nurture Referrals