Identifying Your Sphere of Influence
To discover who will most likely be in your sphere of influence, spend some time brainstorming and make a list of everyone you know. Your family members and friends come first. Even include people you think may be the obvious, such as your mom and your cousins. Work your way through the people you know, from people you meet at school or the gym to colleagues from previous and current jobs and even the person who runs the dry cleaner. If you have already developed some client or customer relationships, place them in your sphere as well.
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The best results from brainstorming come when you let the names flow without stopping to eliminate anyone. You may eliminate people later, but putting everyone on the list keeps the brainstorming process moving.
Your holiday card list is a great place to start when compiling your list, and you can expand from there. It is easier to remember everyone you need or want to remember if you create a group of lists. Your groups may look something like this:
Parents
Siblings
Aunts and uncles
Cousins
Nieces and nephews
Grandparents
Spouse's relatives
Friends
Acquaintances
Previous work colleagues
Owners and employees of the businesses you frequent
School (look through the yearbooks)
Religious organization
Parents of your kid's friends
PTA
Neighbors
Service clubs and organizations
Gym or athletic pursuits (such as a bowling league or golf club)
Veterans group
Continue to add to the lists as you think of people. If you have an address, phone number, and e-mail address for anyone, add those too.
Once you have created a list of everyone, you will want to prioritize the list:
People you are comfortable calling and asking for their business.
People you are comfortable calling but are not ready to ask for their business.
People you are not ready to call but are comfortable writing to.
People you don't want to talk to or write to.
