Networking Insight

Re-Cap of Holiday Networking Tips for 2006

About a month ago, I shared the below holiday networking tips in my newsletter, "Network Your Way to Success".  Take a moment to read what I have written below and think about how many of these techniques you utilized during the holidays.  While many of these are common sense, you would be surprised at how many people forget some of these things during the holidays.

For those of you that will read this post before your NYE party tonight, keep some of these in mind.  I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year and thank you for reading Networking Insight. I look forward to a great 2007!

Tip #1- Host Your Own Party
While many businesses will hold parties during the holidays, people may want a nice break from the corporate parties. Therefore, host your own holiday party either at your house, a restaurant, or a bar. Hosting your own party is a great way to reconnect and keep yourself in front of individuals.

Tip #2 - Send Holiday Greetings
During the relationship building process, it is important to find ways to continually connect with others. The holidays are a great way to reach out to people by sending a holiday greeting. By sending a greeting, you are showing individuals in your network that you are thinking about them.

Tip #3 - Accept Hospitality
People will be in a more festive mood this time of the year so they may offer you sweets or other holiday staples. Like any time of the year, accept people’s hospitality. By accepting people’s generosity, you are showing them respect and will make them feel like they are doing something nice.

Tip #4 - Don’t Drink Too Much
With festivities comes drinking and good times. It is okay to enjoy yourself but only in moderation. Treat the holidays like any other time of the year by showing good behavior. Don’t go overboard with drinks because you still need to maintain your professionalism and composure.

Tip #5 - Don’t Always Talk About Business
During any conversation, don't constantly talk about business because you want get to know people on a personal level as well. In order to build relationships, you need to know various aspects about peoples’ lives. The holidays are a great time of year to get to know people more on a personal level.

Set Goals for 2007

With the New Year upon us, it is important to set some networking goals.  Each year businesses set goals so treat your networking this way as well.  By setting some goals, you will have an end game in mind for some of your networking activities. 

Think of what you would like to accomplish in 2007. Do you want to expand your network?  Do you want to try new techniques?  Do you want to get involved in a business organization?  Whatever you decide, take it serious and work on achieving these milestones.

One important networking technique that I believe in is branding yourself as a subject matter expert.  Take the time to think of a topic that excites you and one that you can comfortably write and speak about.  Once you pick a topic, start to brand yourself.   As I have mentioned in previous posts, I have branded myself around "business networking" by creating Jacobsohn.com and my newsletter, "Network Your Way to Success". My latest technique is my "Networking Insight" blog. If you don't already brand yourself, then make 2007 the year that you pick a subject and make yourself an expert.  By branding yourself, people will remember you and eventually it will lead to more business sales.

Other goals to consider are the following;

• Attend new networking events - try events not in your industry and out of your comfort zone
• Get involved with an organization - take a leadership role
• Give more, take less - focus more on helping others before asking for help
• Utilize technology to connect - create a Website, newsletter, or blog
• Don't eat alone - take a new person out to coffee or lunch each week

You don't have to set a lot of goals. Whatever you do set, make sure that they are goals that you can achieve.  Otherwise, it will be another year of broken wishes.

Enjoy the New Year and make 2007 the year that you take your networking to the next level.

Reach Out to Old Contacts

Over time, it can be a challenge to keep in touch with everyone that you meet.  With some people, it will not take any effort; with others, you will have to manage the relationship more closely.  All of us have some people in our lives that we may speak to or see once or twice a year.  While these relationships are okay to have, they are not always the most effective ones to leverage.  With these relationships, you generally know what to expect.

At the same time, we all have contacts that we just lost in touch with for whatever reason.  We have heard all of the excuses as to why the relationship died such as too busy, moved away, had children, don't have time for more friends, etc.  As you think back about your prior relationships with some of these individuals, you probably realize that some of them were very important in your life in the past.  Well, I am here to tell you that there is no reason why they shouldn't still be in your life.

You can take it slow but start to reach out to these individuals.  Take the time to call or email whomever you would like to reconnect with.  For some of you, you may want to wait until holidays or birthdays to reconnect so you have a reason to talk.  For others, you may want to wait until you hear some good (or bad) news about these individuals.

If you have any friends or acquaintances in common, then ask them if they can share with you some news about any of these people. That way, you will be armed with a reason to call and something to talk about.  Also, as I said before, people will appreciate that you show an interest. 

For me, I have recently reconnected with a prior acquaintance who moved out of Chicago. Through a mutual friend, I found out that he just had a baby.  Because of this great news, I had a reason to call.  After all, who wouldn't want to talk about positive news?

Leverage Your Personal Network to Find Service Providers

Whenever you need to find a service provider such as an attorney, real estate agent, insurance agent, or financial adviser, it is advisable that you ask your friends for referrals.  Since others have already done the work to pre-qualify these individuals, why take the extra time and start from scratch?  However, you should still spend some upfront time making sure that these service providers are right for you.  The fact that your friends referred you to these professionals should give you a good feeling because of the extra layer of due diligence.

Throughout my life, the only provider that I didn't get a referral from was my insurance agent. When I moved to Chicago, I didn't know many people and needed to find renter's insurance.  In the mail, I received some information from an insurance agent at a reputable firm.  I decided to sign up with this agent without even meeting him.  While this is not the smartest move, everything has turned out great.  I have been his client for 10 years and have signed up for other insurance policies with him.  So, you can get lucky by randomly finding a service provider.  However, I advise that this is not the way to go.  All of the other service providers that I have utilized have come from good referrals.  I feel more comfortable this way because I can get testimonials from my friends who have used these individuals. 

If your friends can't give you good referrals, then reach out to your professional network.  People will be more than happy to share with you any good referrals.  Just like in business, it is important to get an introduction from people whom you know to add credibility. 

Take an Interest in Others - Show That You Care

In order for relationship building to work, you need to take a genuine interest in others.  After you get to know people, make an effort to keep in touch and ask them to update you on their lives. People will gladly tell you about themselves because you care.  After all, individuals enjoy talking about themselves so give them the opportunity.  At the same time, people will reciprocate and ask about your life. By sharing information with each other, you will form a stronger bond and get to know each other even better.  Make it a regular habit to contact people to get an update.

This week, I had a good meeting with someone in my network.  It had been awhile since we had spoken so we both made an effort to get together and update each other on our lives.  He was excited to share with me his new office space and his firm's new business model.  I was able to share in his excitement and provide some feedback.  Both of us found out that we each had kids within the last couple of years.  Over the last couple of years, we did communicate about business but not as much about our personal lives.  So, I am glad that we had our meeting because it made our relationship stronger.  We now know each other better.

You don't have to get together with people every time to show that you care. Rather, make a quick call or send an email. Whatever you do, make sure that it is genuine and most importantly, make sure that you really do care.

Follow-Up After Referrals

Recently, I was reminded of how important it is to let others know whenever an introduction was helpful.  A couple of weeks ago, I referred an individual to another person who I knew could use his expertise to help him build his company.  As a result, this individual just notified me that he connected with the other person and will be talking about a consulting engagement. The fact that I was kept in the loop as to what happened makes me feel good because I was helpful.  In the future, I am now more inclined to help this person because he had the common courtesy to let me know.

As another example, one of my good friends told me a story a couple of months ago about how one of his introductions helped an individual sell billions.  Unfortunately, my friend didn't hear about it until many years later by someone else, not the individual he helped.  Because of this lack of common courtesy, my friend was hurt and will now be more careful in who he helps.

I can't tell you how many times that I help others but never hear about what happened. To a certain point, I feel used and abused because once people initially get what they want, they don't have a need for me anymore.  However, I have no idea if they got any further because they stopped communicating with me.

So, whenever people introduce you to others, it is important to keep them in the loop as to what happened no matter if a positive or negative outcome occurred.  You will not only stand out as a great relationship builder, but also people will respect you for sharing information.  It is common courtesy to let people know. 

Blogging Can Help Extend Your Personal Brand

In order to stand out among your peers, you need to find ways to brand yourself. Think about what you would like people to know you for and then work hard to build some credibility around your chosen topic. You should choose to brand yourself on one of your skills, something that you are an expert on, or a topic that you have a lot of knowledge about. Whatever you decide, make sure that you have a lot of passion for the subject and enjoy sharing your knowledge with others. For example, if you are an expert on Internet marketing, then you should spend time branding yourself with techniques such as creating a Website, writing articles, speaking, and developing a newsletter.

While the above techniques are all important, one more that has exploded over the last few years is blogging.  For those of you that aren't as familiar with blogs, they are essentially a way to share your thoughts online in a journal format for the public to view. Interested people can subscribe to your posts as well as comment on what you have written. Essentially, blogs have created online communities, which allow you to brand yourself with a wide variety of people.

As you know, I am a recent entrant into the blogosphere. Up until recently, I only engaged in the branding techniques that I listed above around business networking.  While those techniques are still important to me, I was looking for another way to connect with individuals. After talking with several people and reading "Naked Conversations" by Robert Scoble and Shel Israel, I decided that creating a blog was my next move.

If you are considering starting a blog, then read "Naked Conversations" before you start. By reading this book, you will have a better understanding of why you should start a blog and the power of blogging if done correctly. The authors of the book do an excellent job of explaining blogging and sharing best practices from dozen of bloggers. After reading their book, I was even more motivated to start a blog.

So, blogging is an excellent way to share your brand to virtually the world. Take the time to think of a subject of interest, read other blogs, and get to know the blogosphere before you start. Blogging does require a commitment so make sure that you devote adequate time.

Good luck and let me know about your blog.

The Pursuit of Happyness - A Lesson in Relationship Building

Yesterday, I watched Will Smith's new movie, The Pursuit of Happyness, which is a true story about Chris Gardner, a man down on his luck who takes over care of his son while pursuing a new career as a stockbroker. Throughout the movie, Will's character struggles to survive, living in and out of homelessness, but with perseverance and hard work, he is able to slowly turn his situation around.

Without giving away the movie, one lesson that stands out is how Chris Gardner turned his situation around. While interning at a brokerage firm, Chris needed to land some new accounts in order to survive in his very competitive job. While the movie portrayed the interns as just dialing for dollars, Chris, was able to start to build a relationship with an executive who took him to a football game. While at the game, he was able to get to know several of this executive's friends and colleagues. By building these relationships first, he was able to eventually land them as clients.

The lesson here is that you should get to know people first before you sell to them. You need to build trust and credibility with people before they are comfortable doing business with you. By doing business this way, you will be able build long term relationships with people, which will be important for business going forward. These are the types of clients and professionals that you need to have in your network.

Learn from Reading

Fellow blogger, David Dalka, reminded me on his post, Last Minute Gift Ideas, about an excellent book, Never Eat Alone, by Keith Ferrazzi. David also recommended that I read this book, which was an excellent decision.  I have never been big on reading networking books, however, Keith's book, was well worth the read.  Networking is something that you learn from others and from trial and error.  You need to find out what works for you because not every method will work for everyone.

Up until recently, I didn't think that reading books on networking would be helpful.  However, I was wrong because Keith does an excellent job of sharing his techniques with his readers.  Many of Keith's recommendations not only reinforced some of my techniques, but also I learned some new techniques.

What is great about Keith's book is that he shares his experiences and results so you can understand how successful some of his methods have been. So, I recommend that you read this book as well as read the Never Eat Alone Blog.

Whether by talking with someone or reading a book, seek out the successful networkers and learn from them. Ask them about what works and what doesn't work. Then, try out some of their techniques until you find out what works well for you.

Going forward, I will seek out other networking books to read. If you have suggestions about good books, then please let me know.

Re-Connect During the Holiday Season

You are probably wondering why I have been writing a lot lately about the holidays. Well, it is because this time of the year is so important for relationship building so it requires the extra attention. During the holidays, families and friends come together so you will have the chance to re-connect with people. Tonight, I had the chance to have dinner with some friends that I hadn't seen in a couple of years. They were in Chicago for the holidays because their families live in the area.

We had a chance to catch up and learn about each other's lives. I am thankful for this time of the year because you have the opportunity to see people that you might not otherwise see. Be proactive and make sure that you schedule time to see people. In a couple of more days, I will be traveling to Milwaukee to see my parents but also to see some more friends that I haven't seen in awhile.

The holidays are a great time to re-establish and build relationships. It is less about meeting new people and more about maintaining your existing relationships from high school or college. Treat these relationships very serious because they are likely to be with you for a very long time. Having these deep relationships can open up doors because there is already strong trust and credibility. So, your friends should have no problem helping you out when you need the assistance.

Once again, have fun and enjoy reminiscing about the good times together with more to come.