Networking Insight

The Art of Networking

Networking expert and friend, Lillian Bjorseth of Duoforce Enterprises, was quoted in a recent article, The art of networking, in a Dubai newspaper. Here are some excerpts:

"Schmoozing, building relationships, getting to know clients, whatever you call it, it's all to do with networking and in business that is often the key to success.

Put simply networking is developing mutually beneficial relationships with others – be they personally, professionally, or a combination of both. It is the art of meeting people, expanding contacts through creating and nurturing partnerships.

Lillian Bjorseth, President of Duoforce Enterprises, author of Breakthrough Networking: Building Relationships That Last and known by many as the "networking expert" states: "Networking is so much more than schmoozing or exchanging business cards.

"It's knowing what to do strategically before an event, how to work it and what to do afterwards. To be successful at the art and science of building relationships, you need to have a logical, planned approach that will lead to strategic results.

"Networking does produce results. The more people know about you and your business, and the more they trust you, the greater the likelihood they will either work with you or refer someone else to you." Bjorseth explains that the "thawing or warming up" process of networking takes time as it is a long-term solution or a series of long-term solutions, depending on the quality of relationships you build.

To read the entire article, go to The art of networking.

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MySpace Still Largest Social Network

According to Hitwise, MySpace still has the largest marketshare, 67.5%, in the U.S. While Facebook is growing fast at 20%, it is still far behind MySpace. Over the last year, MySpace did lose about 10% of its marketshare, however, with the launch of MySpace Music, it may regain some of those percentage points back.

Do you think that Facebook will ever catch MySpace?

For more information, go to Hitwise: Facebook growing fast, MySpace still on top.

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Four Musts When Attending an Event

As a follow up to my post, 10 Rules to Follow When Meeting People at Events, here are four more ideas to think about when attending events:

1. Arrive early – Arrive early at an event so you can eat before others get there. Also, you can greet people as they come in.

2. Act as a host – As you meet several people, start introducing them to others. Part of the reason for arriving early is so that you can meet most of the people who attend.

3. Don’t eat and drink at the same time – Don't have both hands full with drinks and food. You need to have a hand free at all times for shaking hands with others. Also, as stated above, arrive early so you can have the food part taken care of already. Or eat before you attend the event.

4. Don’t over drink – It is okay to drink alcohol but don't drink in excess. You need to act professional at all times. Don't let people see you buzzed or drunk.

Can you think of any other musts?

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The Power of Email to Stay in Touch

Email is a wonderful tool to keep in touch with people. As you know, email is the primary communication mode for business professionals. While you don’t want to lose the personal touch with face-to-face interaction, this post will only focus on the power of email.

Reach Out to Multiple People at Once

One of the great aspects of email is that you can keep in touch with many people at once.  You can send a message that reaches as many people as you want by the click of a button. What other tool allows you do this? 

Send and Reply on Your Own Time

Email is great because you can send and reply to messages on your own time.  You are giving people the option of responding when they are ready as well. In a world of fast paced business, it is good to be less intrusive and give people more space and control.

Leverage Newsletters

Email newsletters are an amazing way to regularly provide value to your network.  My newsletter, “Networking Your Way to Success”, is a great tool that I send out monthly to keep in touch with my contacts.

You need to always find ways to stay in front of people so create a newsletter that provides valuable information. Don’t oversell your company in the newsletter. Always provide valuable information first.

Share Valuable Information

Email allows you to share important information with others such as a Website link or attached document.  With the ease of sending data, email is a quick and easy way to send information to individuals. People will appreciate that you are thinking about them and following through on what you said.

Acknowledge Others

When you want to send off a quick acknowledgment to thank someone or wish a Happy Birthday, email is an excellent tool.  Similar to sending valuable information, people will appreciate your thoughts about them.

What other ways do you leverage email to keep in touch?

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LinkedIn Launches Advertisting Network

LinkedIn, which is one of the few networking sites to generate revenue, has launched a new advertising network. With this new source of revenue, LinkedIn will be able to capitalize on its desirous audience: "influential and affluent professionals across hundreds of high-quality brand-name publishers."

"The message we hear from advertisers is simple: They want mass reach against specific segments of decision-making professionals, and they want their ads to appear in quality environments," said Steve Patrizi, LinkedIn's director of advertising sales. "The LinkedIn Audience Network offers advertisers one of the most accurate audience data sets available on the Web, along with the confidence of knowing that their brands will only appear on sites with high editorial standards."

For more information, check out LinkedIn Launches Its Own Advertising Network.

Do you think that LinkedIn users will be receptive to this advertising?

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How Do You Follow Up?

  It is amazing to me how many people who I meet never follow-up with me. When I connect with someone, I make the effort and follow-up. If I waited for other people to follow up, then I would not be building nearly as many new relationships.

So, the next time you meet someone who you want to get to know, be proactive and make the first move.  You will stand out as someone who takes relationship building serious. Most importantly, the other person will appreciate that you took the initiative to take the relationship to the next level.

Every once in awhile, someone will follow-up with me first, which is great and a surprise. I am impressed with these folks because they get it.  Chances are very good that I will build a relationship with these people.

It is important that if you do the following up that you do it within a couple of days.  If you wait any longer, then you may be forgotten and it may show that you aren’t very serious about building a relationship.

So, what is your method for follow up? 

Email

Email is a very quick and non-intrusive way to reach out to people. A great aspect of email is that you can attach a document, include a Website link, or make an introduction. Also, the other person can read and respond at his/her convenience.  Email is by far the preferred method for keeping in touch with people these days. However, email is not as warm as a phone call or as easy to send a gift or article such as regular mail.

Phone Call

Phone calls are not only a quick way to connect with people, but also a way to show emotions.  By talking to someone live, you can get a sense of someone’s character by verbal cues, which is a great way to really connect with others. However, with phone calls you may have a difficult time connecting so you may leave several voicemails. In addition, someone may not have the time talk very long on the phone so your call may be intrusive of time.

Regular Mail

Sending a follow up via snail mail is not very widely used these days.  While that may be the case, it is actually the most personalized way to follow up because you can write handwritten notes.  Personalized notes have definitely been lost somewhat with the advent of email. It is always nice when I receive a handwritten note in the mail. I regular send these out and now use Send Out Cards, which automates the process for me.  The main problem with regular mail is that your message will not get to the other person as quick as you may want.

Text Messaging, Twitter, Etc.

More recently, technologies such as text messaging and Twitter have allowed people to instantly follow up and keep in touch with others.  These forms of communication are mobile and concise so you can get your points out quick.   The problem with these tools is that they are not as professional as the above methods. Use these techniques only if you know that people will respond favorably.

Regardless of your follow up technique, use the method that is most comfortable for you appropriate for others.  Also, make sure that you are timely in your follow up. Lastly, use several of these techniques because it is good to try new things. You never know what method will help you to build a new relationship.

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IBM Announces Center for Social Software

IBM just announced that it is opening up the Center for Social Software.

"Most likely Big Blue intends the new center to be a focal point for developing software tailored to help companies build social networking tools onto the sites. More importantly, the center could help IBM tailor consulting packages from IBM Global Services."

IBM was a big player with Web 1.0 software (e-commerce and publishing) so it makes sense for the firm to become a player in Web 2.0.  It will be interesting to see what happens. Even though IBM is late to the game with social software, it will probably still make a dent because of its size and influence.

What do you think?

For more information, go to IBM putting social networking under a microscope.

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Reasons to Leverage Your Relationships to Your Advantage

One of the most important reasons for continuously building relationships is so you can leverage them when the time is right. Of course, you should always help others first. If you do this and people are happy with you, then you will have no problem reaching out and asking for help.

Keep in mind that you should never selfishly build relationships. Don’t keep it one sided by only careing about what people can do for you. That is the wrong approach and it won’t get you anywhere. Below are some ways that you can leverage your network to your advantage:

• Find new clients in your network
• Receive referrals for client prospects
• Receive referrals for potential partners
• Get introduced to new quality contacts
• Find potential employees
• Find investment capital
• Find out about industry resources
• Demonstrate your expertise
• Ask for guidance or resources
• Connect people together

What other ways can you leverage your network?

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Social Networking Sites Can Expose Your Life

You need to be careful what information you include on your social networking profiles. We all here of stories of college kids posting pictures of them at parties or other information that should be kept private. Once you post information online, you are exposing yourself to the world. Much of this information will stay permanently out there. 

Employers are now looking at these sites to find out what they can about you. Be smart about what you post. Check out the following article that provides some stories of what people have posted and how easy it is to find this information: Faceless no more: Social networking comes with a price.

Do you have any good stories to share about information found on social networking sites?

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10 Rules to Follow When Meeting People at Events

Whenever you attend an event, you should have the goal of meeting new people. Don’t spend your entire time talking with people whom you know.  In order to start building relationships at these events, you must follow certain protocols. Without taking the time to effectively and efficiently meet people, you will have a difficult time building new relationships.

1. Smile – When approaching people and talking to them, smile at them, which shows that you are approachable, positive, and likeable. If you have a cold presence, then people won’t want to talk to you.

2. Firm Handshake – When introducing yourself to others, give a firm handshake, which shows confidence and assertiveness. You don’t want others to think that you are unsure of yourself.

3. Don’t Interrupt – During a conversation, don’t interrupt people who are talking to you. By interrupting you are being rude and showing that you don’t care about what they are saying. Wait for pauses or other appropriate times before you start speaking.

4. Ask Questions – Show that you are engaged and interested in what is said by asking good and insightful questions. People will appreciate your interest.

5. Don’t Over Sell Your Firm – When meeting people, you need to focus on getting to know others first before you sell your firm’s products or services. Nothing turns off people more than when you are trying selling hard at a networking event. If you build a relationship, then over time, it is okay and natural to talk more about your firm.

6. Don’t Shove Your Business Card into Someone’s Hand – It is important that you don’t give out your business card unless some asks for it. You want someone to show an interest in you, otherwise, your card will probably be thrown away. Many people have a tendency to give out business cards in the beginning of a conversation. Wait until the conversation is over and for someone to ask for it.

7. Wear Your Nametag in Correct Position – Many people don’t know the proper location to wear a nametag. The correct position is high and to the right because as you shake with your right hand, your name is in the line of sight.  Executives generally know this so it looks good if you understand this as well.  Of course, this doesn’t work with a lanyard nametag. One suggestion is to create your own nametag that you take with you to events.

8. Don’t Talk Too Long – It is recommended that you don’t spend more than 10 minutes with each person who you meet. After all, you are attending an event to meet multiple people. Also, don’t spend much time talking to people whom you already know. It is okay to catch up and reconnect but don’t let it take all of your time.

9. Don’t Be Confrontational – Be polite in all of your conversations. You don’t want people to feel uncomfortable with you so try to talk about neutral topics.  Try to stay away from politics and religion, which can be tricky topics.

10. Say Goodbye to People – On your way out of the event, try to find the people who you intend to follow-up with and tell them goodbye. Most people don’t do this so it will help you stand out and become more memorable. Plus, it is a good gesture.

What other rules can you share?

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