When I moved to San Diego in 2009, I started going to business networking meetings. In pretty much any U.S. city (and I presume abroad as well), you will find groups of business people looking to meet other business people on a regular basis to develop mutually beneficial relationships. I’m not the kind of guy who generally likes walking into a large room of strangers, but I was new in town and figured it was something I could do to help establish my practice in Rolfing® Structural Integration (SI). Once I got into the swing of things, the experience turned out quite positively, and I learned a valuable lesson that is useful not just for these kinds of networking meetings but also for your practice as a whole.

Now, let’s say you’ve taken the plunge, and you’re at one of these meetings, and you’ve found a friendly face. She’s an insurance broker, and you tell her you’re a Rolfer (though this is generally not an optimal way to introduce yourself). You politely chuckle through the customary jokes about vomiting, and then your acquaintance asks: “So who are Rolfing sessions good for?”

What is your answer? Think about it for second. Maybe you didn’t need a second? In your head, were you screaming “Everyone!”? That’s great. It means you’re enthusiastic! However it’s the worst answer you can give. What kind of image does “everyone” bring to this friendly insurance broker’s mind? A huge anonymous mass of people, or maybe just a mass of nothing. Neither image is particularly helpful. You’re at a networking event. She’s asking you because she wants to understand your business and how she can refer people to you. You want a more useful answer – one that helps her to help you. Your response should make her think of someone you would actually want to work with. This clarity makes it easy for her to refer people to you. If she’s thinking of anonymous masses because of your answer, your answer isn’t doing its job.

Now, how about this answer: “Rolfing SI is great for golfers who have chronic back pain and want to improve their stroke mechanics.” What is the friendly insurance broker visualizing now? Her grumpy husband who spent the whole weekend complaining about his back and how high his handicap is getting lately? Her coworker who is always fidgeting in his chair and popping ibuprofen? Those are two real people that she wants to help (hopefully), and now the solution is standing in front of her (you!). That’s a win-win situation for both of you, and that’s what business networking is about. Even if she can’t think of anyone at that moment, she has in her head that you are someone who can help golfers in pain. She may be meeting with a golfer later that afternoon with a limp and guess who will come to mind?

You don’t always have to be this precise, but you do have to be more specific than “everyone.” You can always tweak your answer based on your audience and the situation, and it’s probably a good idea to work out a few ideas in your head to use whenever you’re out and about. Just make sure you don’t get too specific for your geographic and demographic area (e.g., “Rolfing SI is good for Hungarian homeopathic dentists with gouty right toes” would be a terrible answer for my area, though perhaps great for the right dental convention.).

Being specific is also important for your general marketing materials. Don’t waste time and money targeting “everyone.” Billboard ads along a freeway would be a huge waste for most Rolfers, but some well-placed postcards at a yoga studio, a well-optimized website, and a few referrals from a business networking group can go a long way towards launching your practice to the next level.

If you’re interested in finding a networking group in your area, try looking up a Business Networking International chapter or a business-oriented Meetup Group on Meetup.com. You may worry that being specific limits your reach, but a few actual clients are better than lots of potential clients who still have the vague and unsettling notion that you throw up on people with back pain. Remember, clarity makes action easier.

Matt Hsu is a Certified Rolfer™ with a love-hate relationship with technology. He runs the blog at www.websites4rolfers.com where he shares technology-based practice-building tips for Rolfers. He is a co-teacher for Seeing Made Easy, a body-reading class for structural integrators, and has been certified as an NASM Corrective Exercise Specialist and an Egoscue Posture Alignment Specialist. In his free time, he enjoys exploring and expanding his movement abilities by having pucks shot at and around him.Be More Specific and Get More Clients[:]