Networking Insight

Be Yourself to Build Your Personal Brand

It is important to be yourself when interacting with others. You want them to see the real you. Your personality should be transparent in any situation. As a result, your personal brand will be associated with your personality. Your personal brand is your networking identity so take it very serious.

Ideally, you want the most positive parts of your personality to be associated with your brand. However, the negative will still be there but hopefully the positive outweighs anything negative. Regardless, you want people to see you for who you are.

When building relationships, you should want to get to know others for their true colors. That way, you know what to expect and there is less of a chance for a surprise later. Trust comes with transparency so the more you are comfortable with someone the better for building relationships.

Your credibility is on the line as well. So the more you are yourself, the better you will be. People end up doing business with those who they like and trust. Focus on building those types of relationships.

Building longer term relationships should be the goal for many of your pre-existing relationships. In order to do this, you need to get know people on a personal level as well. So, by being yourself, you are able to do so.

What else should you be yourself?

Seven Strategies for Building Relationships During Spring

With spring in full swing and summer just around the corner, take the time to maximize relationship building before the summer craziness gets underway. Spring in an in between time of year where the temperature can be both cold and warm. Summer activities still need to start including sports and vacations. So, take the time during spring to grow your relationships.

Here are seven relationship building strategies during spring.

1.  Meet for Coffee or Lunch - Since the weather is iffy, take the time to meet people during the week for coffee or lunch. It is easier this time of the year to stay indoors.

2.  Host your own events - Take the time to organize events in which you bring people to you. Have a panel discussion, keynote, or happy hour.

3. Connect on LinkedIn - Focus on meeting new people on LinkedIn. Get introductions from your network or reach out to people who are two degrees away via InMail. You will be surprised as to who you can meet on LinkedIn.

4. Ask for Introductions - Reach out to people in your network and let them know who you want to meet. Ask them for introductions to these types of people. Most people are happy to make introductions.

5. Attend Events - Make an effort to attend a few events per month. Diversify which types of events you attend. You can meet some interesting people who will become part of your network.

6. Share Resources - Whenever you find an article or a resource that you know will benefit some people, send it their way. They will appreciate you thinking about them. You should always try to add value to those in your network.

7. Make Introductions - As you meet new people, connect them to those already in your network. By doing so, you are finding another way to add value to people in your network.

What other strategies do you suggest?

What Does Networking Mean to You?

Business networking has various meaning and impact for people. For some, it is a means to an end. For others, it may be a natural part of every day life. Regardless of the meaning, we can admit that is an important aspect of doing business.

So, what does networking mean to you? Why do you take part in this activity? Do you even realize that you are networking? Let's take a deeper dive into what networking is according to Wikipedia:

Networking is a socioeconomic business activity by which businesspeople and entrepreneurs meet to form business relationships and to recognize, create, or act upon business opportunities, share information and seek potential partners for ventures.

Let's break this apart further:

Networking is a socioeconomic business activity - We can agree that networking is a social activity with people talking to one another. Also, it often takes places in a business environment whether physical or virtual.

Businesspeople and entrepreneurs meet - Often networking is associated with the business world so professionals, which include entrepreneurs often interact on a regular basis as part of doing business.

Recognize, create, or action upon business opportunities, share information, and seek potential partners for ventures - The reason that businesspeople interact with another is for a reason. They want to make something happen to move their career or companies forward. Many times there is an action step that needs to be taken after talking with someone. When this happens, then networking starts becoming relationship building.

So, why do you network? Are you looking for a particular result?  

 

Top Reasons to Apply to Founder Institute Chicago (Summer 2017 Semester)

The Founder Institute Chicago's Summer 2017 Semester is now accepting applications at www.fi.co/join. The finale application deadline is April 30, 2017.

- World’s Largest Startup Launch Program - Become part of the world's largest global startup network with the assistance of our company-building curriculum, expert feedback, and peer support. The Founder Institute has graduated 2,100 companies and 2,500 founders across 150 cities across six continents.

 

- Anybody Can 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. We also support a wide range of technology industries: including digital media, software, biotech, cleantech, ecommerce, advertising, consumer electronics, and more.
 
- Keep Your Day Job - Through a part-time four month program, existing and prospective founders can launch their dream company with expert training, feedback, and support from experienced startup CEOs - while still keeping their day job.
 
- Graduate Liquidity Pool - Our unique Graduate Liquidity Pool enables graduates and mentors to share in the equity upside of each class, creating local, teamwork-based ecosystems where great new businesses can flourish.
 
- Learn from Seasoned Mentors – The backbone of the Founder Institute is its mentors who lead the weekly training sessions. The mentors assist founders by sharing their experience, outlining the latest tactics, and providing critical feedback. You can see some of our program mentors at www.fi.co/mentors.
 
- Service Provider Discounts - We leverage our global scale to secure free and discounted services from leading law firms, hosting companies, technology providers, and over 200 other vendors.
 
- Prestige - The growing success of Graduates, combined with the difficulty in completing the program and the credibility of the Mentors, make graduation a prestigious accomplishment to help you secure investment, close partnership deals, find co-founders, and ultimately build a meaningful and enduring business.