Networking Insight

How to Unleash Your Existence Into the World

In order to build quality and sustainable relationships, you need to be a person who others want to know. You need to brand yourself so you stand out as an expert in your field.  What this means is that you have to take the time and effort to let the world know that you exist.  Without being proactive in this area, it will be much harder to grow your network.

Make Yourself Known in the Online World

Before you can become known in the online world, you need to become a subject matter expert.  Brand yourself around a particular topic so whatever you do online, you are demonstrating your expertise.  For example, if you are an Internet marketing expert, then make sure that your activities reflect this fact.

Once you become an expert, take the time to let the online world know. One great way to do this is to start a blog. Blogging was a great strategy for me, which allows me to share with more people my perspective on relationship building.  Blogging is becoming such an important medium that I highly recommend you start one soon. Before you do, I suggest that you read the book Naked Conversations. Also, read my prior post Enhance Your Relationship Building Through Power of Blogs.

Another effective strategy is write articles for an online publication. Spend some time researching the appropriate places to write and then contact the editor.  Offer to write pro-bono, which will give you great practice and exposure.  You need to start somewhere so don’t expect to get paid at first.  My Tech Connect column at MidwestBusiness.com is a result of this strategy.  It is a great credibility builder for me and allows me to share my thoughts with a new audience.

In addition, think about creating a Website that houses everything about you such as your bio, articles, and experience. At the same time, focus on providing additional resources so people keep on coming back. For instance, my Website Jacobsohn.com serves this purpose.  Not only am I sharing networking resources for Chicago professionals, but also I am sharing my articles, press releases, and bio.

Lastly, you need to develop an online personality so sign up for social networking sites such as LinkedIn or Facebook.  On these sites, you can brand yourself as a subject matter expert as well as interact with various people. As people get to know you, your network will grow.

Make Yourself Known in the Offline World

Equally important, if not more, is let people know that you exist in the face-to-face world.  Much like the online world, you need to also brand yourself as a subject matter expert.

A great strategy to get in front of people is to speak before a group. Whether you speak for an industry association, corporation, or host your own seminar, you have the perfect opportunity to let others know about you.  I can’t think of many better ways to demonstrate your expertise.

In addition to speaking, you need to find other ways to get in front of people so spend time attending events each month.  It is important to continuously put yourself in situations to meet people.  Make it a point to attend several events a month such as industry events, socials, professional development seminars, alumni events.  As you meet people, you can share your expertise.

Further, as your network grows, think about hosting your own events.  Your events don’t have to be real complicated so organize happy hours or lunches. You can even think about bringing in a speaker or speaking yourself.  The point is that you have the opportunity to reach out to your network, bring people together, and stay top of mind.

As you start to build your network through your various activities, make sure that you maintain these relationships by getting together face-to-face with individuals on a regular basis.  Ask people out to coffee, lunch, or drinks so you can get to know each other better.  I am firm believer in developing quality relationships so get to know people intimately.  You will form a bond that will be invaluable for personal and business.

Make Sure Your Message is Consistent

As you let the world know that you exist, make sure that all of your activities are consistent and persistent with your message about who you are.  Don’t fall in the trap of going strong for awhile and then slowing down too much that you lose some of your momentum. It is a continual process that you shouldn’t stop if you truly want to stand out and build long lasting relationships.

With that said, choose activities that you can comfortably sustain. For example, many people start blogs and then let them die. It is a big commitment and you need to stay focused. I truly believe that if you stick with it, you will notice a difference in your life and will stay ahead of your peers. Not that this is a competition but it is a tough world out there and you need to stand apart.

What do Sex Offenders and Social Networking Have in Common?

Sex offenders and social networking are the subject of new proposed bill that would "mandate that registered sex offenders' e-mail addresses and screen names be reported to social networking sites like MySpace.com." In essence, this would discourage sex offenders from using these sites. Of course, this is assuming that they provide the correct information.

For more details about this bill, go to Bill eyes sex offenders, social networking sites. My belief is that this is a good idea because we already monitor these offenders in the offline world. Why should they be able to hide in the online world?

Monitoring social networking activity can be a touchy subject for some people. However, with the right issue, I believe that it should be done.

What do you think?

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Personal Branding Magazine - Featuring Founders of Google

You are among the first to know that the 3rd issue of Personal Branding Magazine will be available on February 1. The magazine is the creation of personal branding expert, Dan  Schawbel of Personal Branding Blog.

In addition to the cover story about Larry Page and Sergi Brin of Google, Dan was able to interview six of the top web influencers and include 25 articles from contributing authors.   Here are the people who Dan interviewed:

Om Malik, Founder, GigaOm.com

Matt Mullenweg, Founder, Wordpress 

Gina Bianchini, Co-Founder/CEO, Ning

Mark Frauenfelder, Co-Founder, Boing Boing

Gina Trapani, Founder, Lifehacker

David Weekly, CEO, PBwiki.com

I am happy to tell you that I was fortunate enough to be a contributing author for this issue.  My article is titled: Expand Your Network by Reaching Out to the "Power Connectors".

Click here for a free sample teaser of the magazine before its Feburary 1 release.

Check out the following promotional video for this issue.

Jealous Mistress Arrested for Advertising on Craigslist

Check out the following article, which is an interesting and stupid use of Craigslist: Jealous mistress arrested for advertising on social networking site for hitman to kill her lover's wife.

"A jealous mistress has been arrested after advertising on the internet for a hitman to kill her lover's wife. Mother-of-two Ann Marie Linscott posted the message on the popular Craigslist social networking and advertising site.  The 49-year-old had requested someone to perform a "freelance" job.

How dumb do you have to be to use Craigslist this way?  Also, this article mentions that Craigslist is a social networking tool. I don't agree with this description.  Craigslist is a classified ads site that doesn't integrate any of the elements of social networking.

Regardless of the online system, you shouldn't take advantage of these tools to do something illegal and immoral.  Check out my previous post about another wrong use of social networking software:  Sad Story about Cyber-bullying on MySpace.

Do you have any stories to share about bad judgment and social networking tools?

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5 Reasons Why You Should Trust Others

In order to build quality and lasting relationships, you need to trust others. Trust doesn’t necessarily happen right away.  In fact, it usually happens after you get to know people. With that said, you also need to go with your gut and give people a chance if you feel good about the situation. I am not suggesting that you put complete trust in someone after a first encounter.  Take the time to get to know people before you trust them.  At some point in any relationship, you need to put trust in others.

Below are 5 reasons why you should trust others, which will help accelerate your networking efforts:

1. People Will Like You – One of the most important aspects of relationship building is that people need to like you to want to be a part of your network.  As you get to know people and show your trust in them, your bond will grow stronger.

2. You Will Like Yourself Better – As you build stronger bonds with people, you will feel good about yourself.  Having a strong network of trustworthy people is a great feeling and important for networking success.

3. More Referrals – As you get to know people and they get to know you, more referrals will come your way.  In relationship building, receiving (and giving out) referrals is very important for business and personal success. Why do you think that BNI was created?

4. Natural Human Reaction – Most of us naturally (or at least me) trust other people when initially meeting and getting to know them.   As long as nothing bad happens, we generally give people the benefit of the doubt. Why fight against the natural instinct?

5. Opportunities Present Themselves – If you are guarded and don’t trust people, then you will be losing out on potential opportunities. With most situations and people, keep an open mind because you never know what it could lead to.

What are some other reasons why you should trust people?

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Number One Reason Relationships Never Get Off the Ground

Think about how many people you meet over the course of a day, week, month, year, and lifetime?  It is staggering because most of us interact with new people each and every day. But how many of these people actually become a part of your inner circle or network?  Not many.

For some of us, we choose which people to integrate into our respective networks. For others, you may just have a difficult time connecting with people.  It is a time commitment and challenging process sometimes to build and maintain relationships.

So, what is the number one reason that relationships never get started?  From my perspective, it is “lack of genuineness”. I wrote about this in my previous post, The Secret to Building Great Relationships.

You need to be yourself when meeting people. If you are fake or don’t care, then it will come across in any conversation.  A genuine person also tries to help others, which is very important for building valuable and sustainable relationships. Go out of your way to help others and to take an interest in other people.

As long as you are a good person, just be yourself. Maintain your composure and you will be able to build wonderful relationships.  Don’t force yourself or your product/service on people.  Get to know people and let them get to know you before anything is pitched. 

With a genuine composure, your network will sky rocket, which can ultimately generate some new business.

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LinkedIn Founder, Reid Hoffman, Leverages Relationships to Find Investments

Reid Hoffman, Founder of LinkedIn, has an amazing track record of investments in early stage technology companies. He has leveraged his network to find the following opportunitiies: Paypal (bought by eBay), Facebook (will file for an IPO), Flickr (bought by Yahoo), Last.fm (bought by CBS Corp), and IronPort Systems (bought by Cisco).

Interesting enough is that "Hoffman's connections and investments frequently have ties to PayPal, where he accumulated stock as a director and then as a top executive." This shows that you need to keep in touch with former co-workers and never burn any bridges.

Check out the article, LinkedIn Founder Has Golden Touch, to read more about Reid's story. It is worth taking the time.

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Book Review: The Legal Alien’s Guide by Tatiana Sorokina

The Legal Alien's Guide: Building a Career and Life in Chicago, Illinois was written by Chicago networker Tatiana Sorokina.  I met her through the blogosphere and was excited to learn about her book.  She also writes a blog, which complements her book. Originally from Russia, she eventually wound up in Chicago and felt like an outsider because her friends, family, and professional ambitions were left behind.

So, what was she to do to get her bearings in this new country?  Fortunately, she did know a career counselor in Chicago who told her about the importance of networking and provided her with an initial list of networking organizations. It took her awhile to build the courage and start meeting people. Once she started, she hasn’t looked back. I can say the same thing is true for me. Once I experienced the power of relationships, I became addicted to wanting to meet and help people. 

What did Tatiana learn about networking in the U.S.?

Tatiana was used to sticking with her friends at networking events so she didn't have to talk to new people. Well, all that changed when she moved to the U.S. because she didn't know anyone.  In the beginning, Tatiana felt uncomfortable attending events. Over time, she learned how to network by having answers to the following questions:

• Where are you going in your career?
• What can you expect from the event?
• What is the structure and atmosphere of the event?
• What are the advantages of attending the event?
• Who are you going to meet?

Why did she write this book?

Tatiana wrote this book to share her experience of transitioning to the American professional life.  She wants to make it easier for anyone moving to Chicago, from abroad and from other U.S. cities.

What content is in the book?

Tatiana spent over a year researching, analyzing, and filtering data about various Chicago networking organizations.  The book is a result of her hard work, which is a comprehensive list of networking resources in Chicago.

The book discusses the following networking resources.  What is nice about each section is that Tatiana provides her perspectives as to why each type of organization is good for networking.

• Churches
• Country-Specific Groups
• International Organizations
• Local Organizations
• Minority Organizations
• For All Ages
• Professional Organizations
• For Those in Career Transition
• For Entrepreneurs
• Educational Resources
• Job Clubs in Illinois

So, what do I think about the book?

As an avid Chicago networker, I haven’t come across a book like this before. While it is a comprehensive list of resources, it does not include all of the organizations in Chicago.   It is impossible to list every one, which Tatiana knows.  While her book is a good beginning point for someone just getting started, you shouldn’t only rely on this book. Spend time researching groups online and by talking to people. In fact, I have put together a fairly comprehensive list at Jacobsohn.com.  With these two resources, the beginner and experienced networker will have more knowledge to what is out there in Chicago. Even if you don't live in Chicago, use this as a guide to find the various networking organizations in your city.

I always enjoy reading about successful networking stories.  In fact, I am a big believer in people sharing what they learned so The Legal Alien's Guide: Building a Career and Life in Chicago, Illinois is an interesting read from that standpoint.

Key Distinction Between Online and Face-to-Face Networking

Dr. Ivan Misner's recent blog post, Business Networking Trends: Online Vs. Face-to-Face, discusses that building relationships are the key driver to successful networking.  Whether you network online or face-to-face, you need to focus on building relationships.  With online networks, the relationship component can sometimes get lost.  That is why face-to-face time is still an important aspect of networking.

I truly believe that face time is so important that I focus more of my energy on getting to know people in this way. Don't get me wrong. I still think that online networking is very important.  I just will never let it replace in person connecting.

Here is what Dr. Ivan Misner has to say:

"Online networking works, but relationships must still be part of the process. Using the internet to exchange ideas, share knowledge and increase your visibility will be imperative in the coming years. Virtual networking is catching on in many circles. Some people involved in face-to-face networking feel threatened, as if online networking were going to replace their tried-and-true system."

What do you think? Do you think that online networking will replace face-to-face networking?

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What is Your Networking Mindset?

In order to be an effective networker, you need to have the right mindset.  The right mindset varies depending on your style and networking goals.  The below mindsets are focused on attending events.  What is your networking mindset?

Let Me At ‘Em

These types of people are very proactive and put themselves in various situations to meet people.  They are not afraid to talk to anyone and make an effort to connect. Sometimes these people can be too aggressive but they understand that in order for networking to work, you need to make things happen.  For the most part, they understand the value of networking.

I Like People But…

These types of people understand what networking is but are not comfortable talking to people who they don’t know.  From time to time, they will come out of their comfort zone and start conversations. These people generally need help in meeting people so introductions are always appreciated.

Why Should I Try so Hard?

These types of individuals generally don’t attend networking events because they don’t believe in the value. If they do attend an event, then they don’t usually start conversations. They would rather let people come to them either directly or through an introduction.

I Don’t Care

These types of individuals don’t really care about the networking process. Therefore, they never attend events or try to meet new people. Also, they don’t have much of a process in place to keep in touch with their existing network, which may be small.  For some of these people, they still can build a network because of referrals and people who they meet on the job.

For all of the above mindsets, these individuals are still able to build relationships but in different capacities. 

What other mindsets can you think of?

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