Networking Insight

Understand Your Networking Roots and Influencers

Let’s face it that you probably didn’t decide to start networking on our own. Someone you know or aspire to be was probably the catalyst to get you in the networking frame of mind. Was it your older sibling, celebrity, successful business person, or parent that inspired you to become a relationship builder?

Think back in your life to the first time that you joined a business association or went to your first networking event. Did someone encourage you to get involved? Whatever the case, below are some questions to ask yourself to help you find the roots to your networking.  After you go through these questions, you will better understand your style and influencers.

1. Did your parent work in the business community?
2. Did entrepreneurs exist in your family?
3. Did your parent have a leadership role within an industry association?
4. Did your parent attend a lot of events?
5. Did your sibling belong to any networking groups in college?
6. Did your sibling guide you through your career?
7. Did you have a mentor?
8. Did you look up to a successful business person?
9. Did you listen to someone speak about networking?
10. Did a friend invite you to a networking event?
11. Did you read a book about networking?
12. Did you read a blog about networking?
13. Did you watch a movie that demonstrated networking in action?
14. Did you always like to meet new people?
15. Did you lose a job and realize that you need to start networking?

What did you discover about yourself? Let me know by leaving a comment.

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Reactivating Relationships Online by Liz Lynch

A good friend of mine, who is now starting to investigate LinkedIn as a connection tool, asked me the other day if it's worth adding former colleagues who aren't particularly relevant to her business. She's made a shift in her consulting company to focus more on social enterprises, so she wondered if it was worth inviting old contacts who are still toiling away in the corporate world into her online network.

The answer is, "Absolutely!"

First of all, if you haven't been in touch in a while, you really don't know if someone is relevant to your current goals or not, so you shouldn't make any assumptions. But here are 6 additional reasons why linking with former colleagues online is a smart move:

1) While they may not be relevant to you, then may know someone who is. We often forget that even when we're connecting one-on-one, the power of networking is in the other relationships that both parties can access through one another. Perhaps their future father-in-law is a senior executive at one of your target companies, or their best friend just received $20 million in venture capital to get more help to expand her product line.

2) They could be relevant right now to someone in your network. When we network, we're not just networking for ourselves. Effective networkers are always on the lookout for ways they can help the people they know. A client of yours might be in need of a great copywriter, and the one you used to work with may be itching to jump to a smaller firm. Putting those two in touch will put you in good stead with both.

3) They could become more relevant to you in the near future. You never know what career changes people are considering, or where they might be moving to next. That guy you knew in the IT department might be working on a start up venture on the side that could be the perfect complement to the services you provide.

4) Connecting online is a low-pressure way to re-establish the relationship. LinkedIn and Facebook are less intrusive than traditional outreach tools like email or phone. When you send someone an invitation to connect, you can (and should!) include a short note to re-establish the relationship, and they can acknowledge their desire to connect with you with one simple click. If they feel like replying back with their own short note, they can certainly do that, but they don't need to.

5) You can keep up with each other unobtrusively. I spoke with a contact today who I haven't seen in almost four years, but because we are connected on Facebook as well as on Twitter, and I update my status frequently, I'm able to stay on her radar screen and she's up to speed on the major things I'm working on.

6) The connection is more permanent. People change jobs and email addresses, but as long as you're both active members of the service, you can reach out to one another any time. In effect, you're connected forever.

So many of us spend the majority of our networking time trying to meet new people and expand our networks. While you should never stop adding new connections, the ones you've already made can be a rich resource. Extending your relationship online will allow you both to tap into each other when the need arises.

Liz Lynch is a business networking expert whose products, programs and seminars help entrepreneurs and professionals get clients, build their businesses, and reach their goals through networking.   If you're ready to start networking smarter, get your F R.E*E business networking tips now at www.NetworkingExcellence.com.

Top Tips for Building Relationships with Bloggers

Darren Rowse of ProBlogger wrote a great post about building relationships with bloggers. He provides the below 12 techniques:

1. Commenting on Other’s Blogs
2. Emailing Other Bloggers
3. Guest Posts
4. Story Tips
5. Link Out
6. Instant Messaging
7. Social Networking
8. Social Bookmarking
9. Interviews
10. Forums and Discussion Groups
11. Pick up the Phone/Skype it
12. Real Life Networking Events

This is a great list. You should especially pay attention to #12.  Face to face interaction with people is very important that it sometimes gets lost because of technology. Don't underestimate the importance of meeting people in person.

To read the entire blog post, go to 12 Tools and Techniques for Building Relationships with Other Bloggers.

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Would You Like to Guest Blog at Networking Insight?

In the past, I have featured guest bloggers who have written about relationship building. Check out my past guest blog posts at Guest Bloggers Archive. I am looking for more guest bloggers. If you would like to write an article for Networking Insight, then let me know.

The article needs to be about relationship building/networking.  Send an email to [email protected] with your topic so I can let you know if your idea is appropriate.

I look forward to featuring your articles and providing you more exposure to the Networking Insight readers.

Why it is Important to be on Your Game at All Times

Building relationships is an activity that happens every day so take it serious. Every day, you are interacting with other people so you want to make a good impression. Don’t discount any situation as not important because you never know who you are going to meet.

So, it is necessary that you are at the top of your game at all times. Obviously, exceptions do occur in certain situations and with certain people. For example, if you are out with your good buddies and not around other people, then you can let your guard down a bit. However, be cognizant that if you are in a public place, you may run into people who you know or meet new people.

The business community is small so don’t make a bad impression with anyone. That is way you should try be composed at all times. The last thing you want is your reputation or brand to suffer for something that you could have easily prevented.

Have you experienced an embarrassing or negative situation because you were not on your game?

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Can the Ban of Social Networking in the Office Result in Losing Employees?

In the recent article, Business Managers Who Ban Social Networking May Lose Staff, the author mentions that people will refuse a job if a firm bans social networking.

"Social networking has become increasingly popular in the last few years, with an especial attraction for young users. As this young demographic enters the workforce, their social networking habits raise eyebrows among potential employers.

The issue has prompted a debate over the value of social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace in the workplace. Some companies believe that allowing access to social networking sites can boost the employees’ professional connections and reinforce trust between workers and higher-ups."

The above article reminds me of when the Internet was starting to get big in the late 90's. My boss didn't want us to use the Interest because I believe she was not convinced of the value that it brought to the company and individuals. At the time, she thought the Internet was a luxury and not a necessity. Times have obviously changed. I see a similar argument happening with social networking.

What do you think?

How Women Leverage the Old Gals Network

The article, Time to Begin Nurturing That Ol' Gals Network, discusses how yong women can advance their careers through good old fashioned networking. The following questions are answered:

1. What do you recommend most as a career strategy for women starting out?

2. How should they network?

3. Men keep it casual like that, right?

4. What should young women not do?

5. What other things tend to get in women's way?

6. What will make people take notice of you?

7. Do women you work with feel that it's harder to get ahead than it is for men?

8. What happens when you encounter bias against you because you're a woman?

Make sure to read the entire article so you can read the answers to the above questions.

 

Ten Social Networking Annoyances

Scott Spanbauer of Resellernews has written an interesting article, The top-10 social networking annoyances. Here is the list that he put together:

10. MySpace Kitsch
9. The Worms Crawl In
8. LinkedIn Is UpTight
7. Mobile Social Networking Still Kinda Weak
6. Ning: Too Much Porn
5. Do I Know You?
4. Thanks for the Add! Here's Some Spam
3. Breaking Up Is Hard to Do (Too Hard)
2. Zombies, Pirates, and Other Pointless Facebook Applications
1. Multiple Social Network Syndrome (MSNS)

Make sure to read the entire article, The top-10 social networking annoyances, to get more details on each of these annoyances.

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Nine Signs That You Better Find New Business Relationships

As you build more and more relationships, you will realize which ones are working and which ones are not working.  You only have so much bandwidth so you should focus your efforts on the ones that really matter and frankly, the ones that don’t suck the life out of you.  Below are 10 signs that you should start to distance yourself from the negative energy that certain people generate.  Don’t burn any bridges so gracefully remove yourself from these individuals.

1. Talks too much – It is okay to let people talk about themselves, however, when they don’t show any interest in you, then that can be a problem. You want to build relationships with people who have a genuine interest in you as well.

2. Destructive personality – Some people are walking time bombs. You never know when they could say something to embarrass you or themselves. You need to be careful when bringing these individuals around your network.

3. Negative outlook – It can be difficult to be around people who are negative about everything. These people are downers and can start get you down if you hang around them too much.

4. Lack of respect – It is no fun being around people who don’t respect you.  It is okay if people differ from your views, however, they shouldn’t discount what you say. Also, they need to treat you with respect around others. You know these people when you see them.

5. Only cares about “me” – Good relationships should be about both sides. However, some people only care about themselves and what you can do for them. You can only put up with this for so long.

6. Poor follow through – If you want relationships to be sustainable and meaningful, then you need to follow up when you promise you will do something.  How many people do you come across that never follow through with what they say? This happens to me all of the time.  It is hard to count on these people.

7. Liar – You can only give people the benefit of the doubt for so long. Once you start to see through people and realize that they are misleading or lie about certain things, you should distance yourself from these people.  Associating yourself with these people can potentially harm you because others may associate you with these untrustworthy individuals.

8. Warped sense of reality – Sometimes people are clueless with what is happening around them both professionally and personally.  It can be awkward to be around these people and you usually don’t want to bring them around others as well.

9. Arrogant – It is okay to be confident, but if people are too arrogant, it can be uncomfortable and destructive.  Arrogant people generally have strong personalities and think that they are right most of the time.  These people can bring you and others down.

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How Networking Can Enrich Your Life

Networking is not always about business. In fact, if done right, then the personal side of relationship building should come before the business side.  Getting to know people on a personal level will help you to build a better bond, which can translate easier into business.

Build Friendships

One of the joys of meeting people is that you can develop some new friendships.  By getting to know the personal side of others, you have a greater chance to connect because you may find common interests.  Connecting with individuals on this deeper level is the basis for building new friendships.  You will have varying degrees of friends, some that you bring around your family and some that you enjoy spending time with at events. The point is that you will develop many friendships that go beyond business, which can make your life more interesting when interacting in the business world. It is good to have people by your side.

Feel Good About Helping Others

Another one of the joys of networking is helping others. As you get to know people, it is a good idea to support them in a way that you can provide meaningful assistance. As you have been told time and time again, you should offer to help others before you ask for help.  In fact, you shouldn’t expect anything in return. Over time, your good gestures will come back in unexpected ways.  It feels good to help people so make it a point to be a giver, not a taker.

Become More Successful

As you build up your social capital, you will be in a position to leverage your relationships and achieve personal and business success.  As I mentioned above, as long as you are helping others, the time will come for others to help you, which will contribute to your success. Take relationship building serious because for many careers your social capital is what sets you apart.

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