Networking Insight

Five Relationship Building Activities for Labor Day

The holidays are a great opportunity to spend time with family and friends. At the same time, it is a good time to catch up on some personal branding activiites.

Below are five relationship building acitivies that you can do on Labor Day:

1. Get to Know Family and Friends Better - Take the time to hang out with family and friends. Ask them questions to get to know more about their professional lives. Also, you can share with them about what you do. You may be able to find ways to assist one another.

2. Meet New People - By hanging out with family and friends, they may invite new people to join your party. Get to know these people. You never know what new relationships could develop.

3. Catch Up on Emails - Since most people have slowed down work during the holiday, this is a good time for you to respond to some emails. Focus more on responding to people in your network.

4. Set Up Meetings or Lunches - Take the time to email some people and invite them to lunch or to have a meeting. When they come back into the swing of work, they can respond. It is good to be proactive so you can further build your relationships.

5. Participate in Online Networking / Social Media- If you have the extra time, then visit online networking / social media tools more often to stay in front of your network. Send tweets, endorse people or post a group comment on LinkedIn. Make yourself visible.

What other activities come to mind?

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Focus on Building Quality Relationships

Building business relationships is an important aspect of anyone's career. Many opportunities exist to meet new people at events, through referrals, online, etc. Focusing on the right relationships will go a long way.

Some people want to meet as many people as they can. You can find some of these people on LinkedIn. They call themselves "LION", which stands for LinkedIn Open Networker. For most people, quality versus quantity is more important.

By focusing on building less relationships, you will be able to really get to know these people. You will have more time to provide your own value and assist one another.

In reality, we each only need a few "power networkers" who have access to other's who we would iike to meet. As long as you build quality relationships with power networkers, they should have no problem making an introduction when needed.

Spend more time seeking out a few quaility relationships. Or spend the time nurturing some of the relationships that you already have in your network.

Over time you will build a high quaility network that you can leverage for all of your business needs. When this happens, people will seek you out and want you to be one of their high quality relationships.

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Founder Night Out in Chicago - 9/9

The Founder Night Out is a fun, social event where you can meet local entrepreneurs and technology CEOs, and share your business ideas and aspirations with like-minded peers. Meet the local Director as well as Mentors and Graduates. Join us for drinks and some startup networking! 

Sponsors

DESIGNATION - Full-time, full-immersion, full-stack design bootcamp. Over 18 weeks, students learn digital design, front-end development and user experience (UX), and build their portfolios by working with live clients on real world projects.

Early Growth Financial Services - Provides a complete suite of outsourced financial services, from high-level financial strategy to day-to-day accounting, taxes, and valuation.

mLevel - Casual learning platform that represents a new paradigm in enterprise learning and skills mastery: fun and engaging games that can be played anytime, anywhere and from nearly any device.

Event Details

Date: September 9, 2014

Time: 6:00-9:00PM

Location: DESIGNATION, 1440 N Dayton St, #203, Chicago

For more details and to register, go to http://fi.co/e/24411

Book Review: Breakthrough by David C. M. Carter

 

Breakthrough was written by David C. M. Carter who is widely regarded as one of the world's leading mentors. His select group of clients include CEO's of major companies to entrepreneurs, celebrities, and philanthropists.

In this book, the author draws open his successes and failures that has allowed him to become a better "version" of himself. He shares his most effective breakthrough secrets in this practical guide to becoming the that you can be.

The author discusses 20 breakthrough strategies throughout the book. Each chapter is dedicated to one of these breakthroughs.

Here is a sample of the chapters:

Breakthrough #1 - Finding Your Own Unique North Star

Breakthrough #4 - Only Do What Only You Can Do

Breakthrough #6 - Always Do The Right Thing and Do it the Right Way

Breakthrough #8 - Know Your Self

Breakthrough #10 - From WillPower and WayPower...to WavePower

Breakthrough #14 - Gratitude Generates Greatness...Your Spiritual Spoke

Breakthrough #20 - Get a Mentor - Be a Mentor

The strategies that the author shares were previously only accessible to his list of exclusive clients.  By following his strategies, you will learn how to identify and clarify your goals. Once you achieve your goals, you will enhance every area of your life.

In addition to his outlined breakthroughs, the author shares how-to tools. By following his tips and tools, you will be positioned to live your life to the fullest.

The book is written in a conversational style that draws upon examples from the author's mentoring. As a result, it is easier to understand each strategy in a practical manner.

If you want to learn how to change your life for the better, then Breakthrough may be worth a read.

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Three Awkward Business Relationship Building Moments

 
Building business relationships can be challenging for some people. For others, it is natural and ingrained in their everyday process. Over time, it becomes easier and you start to see the value.

We all have experienced awkward moments when trying to build business relationships. Below are three scenarios that you may have encountered. Hopefully, you have learned from them.

1. Make an In Person Introduction but Forget Person's Name - It can be tough to remember someone's name if you just met the person or have not seen the person in awhile. So, when you are not sure of one person's name, let each person introduce themselves. Put them together and let them make it happen.

2. Discuss Controversial Topics - From time to time, people bring up hot but controversial topics such as religion and politics. While these are everyday topics, it is not always appropriate in a business environment because people have strong views. In fact, sports can also have this impact. So, try to stay away from these topics. If someone else brings them up, then try to change the subject or move on from the conversation.

3. Other Person Talks Too Much - It is important to let others speak when having a conversation. That way, you get to know people and can find ways to assist them. However, some times people speak too much so you are not able to get a word in. When this happens, find a time to break into the conversation. If you have to politely interrupt, then do this so you can let the other person know more about you.

What other awkward moments have you encountered?

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Founder Institute Chicago - Early Bird Application Deadline Extended to 8/17

The Founder Institute is world’s largest entrepreneur training and startup launch program, helping aspiring founders across the globe build enduring technology companies. We are now accepting applications for the Chicago Autumn 2014 semester!

We have already successfully graduated four classes of founders in Chicago. We are excited to have a new class kick off this autumn. Mentors for our upcoming semester include founders of Priceline, iExplore, crowdSPRING, Signal, RECSOLU, and Power2Switch.

Who should apply? Anybody who is passionate about building a technology company is welcome to apply: idea or no idea, full-time job or unemployed, young or old, male or female, experienced in business or straight out of school.

The early application deadline has been extended to 8/17/14. Also, one female applicant has the chance the win the Female Founder Fellowship. For more details and to apply, go to http://fi.co/join

Making the Leap from Employee to Entrepreneur Event in Chicago - 8/13

The Founder Institute is the world’s largest entrepreneur training and startup launch program, helping aspiring founders across the globe build enduring technology companies. Join us in partnership with Flank 5 Academy for an opportunity to find out what it takes to make the leap from employee to entrepreneur. Do you want to start your own technology company, but don't know where to get started? You are not alone. Every day millions of people got to jobs they don't enjoy, but few do something about it. At the “Employee to Entrepreneur” event, you can hear the stories, tips, and best practices of those who left their jobs to pursue their own startup company. Listen to the experiences of people just like you that have made the transition, and discuss any questions or concerns that you have. How do you know if you have a good idea? What are the first steps in an entrepreneurial journey? Join us for a fun evening!

Panelists include Founder Institute mentors Lou Morales (Co-Founder, Optyn) and Seyi Fabode (Co-Founder, Power2Switch) and graduates Reva Minkoff (Founder, DigitaGroundUp) and Chris Motley (Co-Founder, Better Weekdays). Facilitator is Todd Connor who is the Co-Founder of Flank 5 Academy, which is a complete, step-by-step, 10 week Professional Transformation Incubator that brings together business strategy and cutting-edge psychology to help people launch new businesses and new careers. In addition, Todd is the CEO of The Bunker Incubator, which assists veteran entrepreneurs. Sponsors are Grind and Jenner & Block.

Event Details

August 13, 2014

5:30-9:00PM

Grind, 2 North LaSalle Street, 14th Floor, Chicago

For more details and to register http://fi.co/e/17931