So, you have a good network, you’re starting a business and you’re looking for clients, who do you contact first? VPs and CEOs or the people that worked directly with (or under) you?

When I first started my business, I contacted everyone I knew. I expected all my big cheese contacts to throw contracts my way but, almost everything I got came from smaller cheeses (sorry).

Why?

  • Maybe because their help is less frequently solicited
  • They have more to gain by helping you
  • They generally know you more

Don’t take bets on contact potential, it’s not always the people you’d come to expect that will help you out. Be kind to everyone and network from the bottom-up, you don’t know who your contacts know or where they’ll be in a year or two.