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The key to making your business grow may be in your back pocket. Check the names in your PDA, Blackberry, cell phone or address book. All those friends, relatives and associates could lead you to more business opportunities than you can handle.

As you look through the list of people you know, you may be surprised by just how many there are: business associates, accountants, lawyers, insurance brokers, friends and relatives. And the list doesn't include only the people you speak with in your day-to-day life. What about the people who aren't listed, like your next door neighbor, mail carrier, barber, electrician or plumber? The number of names you can come up with is longer than you ever thought possible.

In fact, it is estimated that most people could come up with 250 names. And that number will increase at an increasing rate as you begin to make contact with your personal sphere of influence. Everyone on your list also knows 250 people, meaning that once you get to know a person and he or she becomes part of your network, you're also gaining access to the 250 people in that person's network.

An aspect of human nature is that people would rather do business with someone they know and trust than with a stranger. The proof lies in the fact that most people use the same accountant, car repair shop and doctor again and again.

The same can hold true for you. The same 250 people who make up your personal sphere of influence—the people who know you and like you—automatically comprise a network that represents the strongest base of potential customers for your business. They are not only potential new clients, but also potential referral sources.

START EXPANDING YOUR SPHERE NOW

While 250 is the typical size of most people's sphere of influence, there is no need to limit it to that number. Each one of us meets new people every day. We encounter new faces when visiting clients, while attending social gatherings, and even waiting in line for a cup of coffee.

It is mandatory to always have your business card with you. You may also want to carry a notebook or tape recorder wherever you go so you can write down names and contact information of newcomers to your sphere of influence. You'll be astonished by how quickly it grows—and by how many new business opportunities arise out of cultivating your existing, ever-expanding referral group.

Of course, once you're building a business relationship with someone from your sphere of influence, it's critical that you provide the highest level of service. Otherwise, you stand a strong chance of losing their business, which could mean losing the other 250 members of their sphere of influence, as well.

Therefore, it's critical to be consistent, which is the best and only way of building a strong reputation. All it takes is one bad experience for a customer to find a new lawn service or irrigation contractor, even though he has been loyal for years.

CREATING A LEAD-GENERATING MACHINE

Getting started with contacting your sphere of influence is always a bit difficult because it's easy to make up reasons why you don't have the time. That's why I recommend that you break your spheres into sub-spheres.