4 Steps for Effective Online Networking

A popular misconception is that networking is about getting a job or landing a client. In reality, networking is about establishing relationships that provide you with valuable feedback and allow you to make educated decisions.

Business networking is key to gaining information, increasing your visibility in your field, and establishing personal connections that will help you move forward in your career. The rise of social media hasn’t changed the fact that successful human beings get even further ahead based on the strength of their networks.  In fact, social media gives you the power to connect with people who you would never have the opportunity to converse with in the physical world.

Let’s look at some networking best practices, along with a few ways you can use the various social media sites to engage with previously inaccessible people and get the attention of those who are too busy to return your phone calls or e-mails.

1. Look for Ways to Expand Your Networks

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In an era where the average person will have more than a dozen jobs in their career, you need to ensure that you’re looking beyond your company and immediate circle so that your networking has lifelong continuity. To that end, seek out and join professional organizations that you have a genuine interest in and attend at least one activity a month. At the same time, habitually ask your contacts if they know anyone who might be a good person for you to meet. At its core, networking should be fun. If you seek out people who care about the same things you do, you’ll enjoy networking and won’t view it as a chore.

Social media sites — especially the big ones like Facebook and LinkedIn — are a networker’s dream. LinkedIn in particular allows you to establish a professional network consisting of your connections and your connections’ connections, automatically linking you to thousands of people in your industry and related ones. It’s a painless means to create new relationships and get introduced to advantageous contacts through people you already know.

Jason Alba, the author of I’m on LinkedIn — Now What??? recommends joining relevant LinkedIn groups to expand your search visibility, and complementing a LinkedIn group with a Google or Yahoo! group. He also suggests using the Answers feature to ask a question and invite your network to respond. Questions typically range from knowledge-based issues (e.g. Does anyone know a good web-based survey tool?), to help in finding a job (e.g. Do you know of firms that employ environmental engineers in the San Francisco area?). Asking a question once a month provides an opportunity to probe your contacts in a creative way. Choose the “best answer” to bolster the reputation of the person who provided it, and thank everyone personally who participated. In turn, if someone asks a question that you can answer intelligently, do so, as this increases your visibility in the broader LinkedIn community.

Whether you’re on LinkedIn or another social network in which you engage with professionals, make it easy for potential contacts to search for you by incorporating keywords into your profile (e.g. database programmer, Linuxexpert). Also, include a link to your professional profiles as part of your e-mail signature line so people can click on them and learn more about you. Within your profiles, include the URLs of articles you’ve written, organizations you belong to, and events where you’re speaking.

2. Know What You Want, and What You Can Offer

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Many people dislike networking because they think asking a veritable stranger for help is an imposition. As it’s human nature to want to help someone, I think you’ll find that most people will be receptive, provided you approach them the right way.

Whether you’re meeting people online or offline, you should prepare for networking conversations in advance by considering what you need from the contact. Make sure your planned request is reasonable, considering you barely know the person. Using an example from my own life, asking for 30 minutes of advice on the book publishing industry works a lot better than asking me to refer you to my agent.

Rachel Solar-Tuttle and Diane Danielson, the authors of Table Talk, say that because networking is a collaboration, every time you ask for something or meet with a potential contact, you should think about how you can help her in return. Follow your contacts’ work carefully so that you can glean insights about how you might assist them. One caveat for this step and the next one: Do not try to impress contacts by promising something you might not be able to deliver, such as a client engagement or an introduction to someone you might not be able to get a hold of.

High level individuals often use LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and their blogs to publicly express what they’re working on, and the business problems that are vexing them. Pay attention to the questions they’re asking and provide helpful resources and information in the form of comments or LinkedIn Answers. If they’re in the midst of launching a new product or initiative, help them spread the word. Giving freely of your own knowledge and support is the best way to launch a one-on-one relationship that will eventually pay major dividends.

3. Contact the Person Privately

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Once you’ve gotten to know the person a bit, it’s time to get more personal. Send a warm-up message to re-introduce yourself and cite recent activities of theirs that you may have followed. Try for a more intimate angle (for example, you can comment that you have a child who’s the same age, or that you also enjoy skiing and recently tried a terrific new resort in Colorado). I, for example, got the following DM on Twitter recently.

Legalbear must know that I’m a wanna-be environmentalist who adores the Caribbean.

When approaching a potential contact, be friendly, respectful and brief, and be very clear about your request. Always keep in mind that the person is doing you a favor. If you’re connecting online and he says he’s in the middle of something, ask if you can talk at another time, and be conscious of his time commitments. If your request involves a conversation and you’re located in the same geographic location, it can’t hurt to try for an in-person meeting. When you sit down with your contact, offer to pay any expenses associated with the meeting, and remember to send him a thank you note afterward.

Even if you feel like the relationship is going somewhere, you should still manage your expectations. It’s unlikely that any a brand new contact will offer anything concrete like a job offer. Remember that your goal should be to gain valuable insights or information in the short-term and a meaningful professional relationship in the long-term.

4. Follow Up Regularly

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It’s your responsibility to keep the lines of communication open. Did your contact give you any advice or suggest a course of action? If so, touch base every so often to remind her who you are and keep her apprised of your progress. Keep on top of her career moves and make sure she stays informed of yours. Invite her to get together again, and during the holiday season, send her a card with a nice note.

I get hundreds of e-mails every day, but this one from Laura Strauss stood out as an effective follow-up, because it was kind, non-intrusive, specific, and action-oriented:

Conclusion

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I hope these ideas make networking go down a little easier for you. One word of caution, though. Having these tactics in your back pocket does not give you permission to stalk important people. In fact, the more personal the level of interaction, the greater potential for abuse, so you must proceed with caution. Apply the 3/6 rule of networking, in which you contact someone no more than three times in a six week period. If the person or organization does not engage back within that time frame, then move on. There are plenty of valuable contacts who will be open to your overtures.

Networking – It’s More Than Just Talking Business

In a networking group, you should talk about more than just business. A referral relationship is more than just, “I do business, you do business, let’s do business.” A much better approach is to find common ground on a personal level, then relate your business to it.

The longer I’ve been involved in networking, the more I’ve seen the power of personal interests in making connections. Networking is about building personal relationships. If you remove the personal from the equation, you limit the amount of business that can happen.

In one networking group I worked with, I introduced an exercise called the GAINS Exchange, in which people share personal and professional information about themselves. Two of the participants in this group had known each other for more than a year but had never done business. During the exercise, they discovered they both coached their sons’ soccer teams. They quickly became close friends and were soon helping each other conduct soccer practices. After a few months, they began referring business to each other–two guys who had barely spoken to each other the first year because they seemed to have so little in common.

By finding a common interest and starting with that, we can make connections that have a very good chance of turning into business. Try this strategy out for a while and then come back and leave a comment to let me know what your experiences have been – I’d love to hear about them!

Contributed to Entrepreneur.com by Dr. Ivan Misner of BNI

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5 Tips for Networking With People Who Are More Successful Than You Are

It’s very challenging to network with people who are more successful than you are. I’ve been able to do this over the course of the past few years pretty successfully. I’ve spoke with over 70 successful people, just on this blog alone. The magazine I publish, Personal Branding Magazine, has highlighted even more. How am I able to do this?

Well today, I want to reveal the best way to network with people that you may be intimidated by or scared of. These individuals are the ones that can help you out significantly. People who are influential have large spheres of influence, so they can help promote your brand to a larger audience. The problem is that most of these people don’t need your help, or do they? Today, I’m going to tell you how to network with celebrities like a champ!

1. Offer them something they don’t have

The number one reason to start a blog or to be a journalist isn’t to position yourself as an expert or get your thoughts out there. The truth behind all the BS you hear every day is that blogging and journalism is about networking. 99% of bloggers and journalists make almost nothing (relatively nothing), but the network that they gain from giving value to successful people, is priceless. See, the one thing that all successful people have in common when it comes to needs is that they need visibility and promotion for their brands. With a blog, you can provide that to them. When you first start your blog, you can’t because you won’t have enough readership to prove the benefit to them.

2. Give it to them for free

Unless you have something of extraordinary “one of a kind” value to give to successful people, you are better off giving them something for free in exchange for an endorsement or referral later. A lot of consultants choose to do this or have to do this when they are first starting out, so they can build credibility and a track record. Obviously, people are more inclined to accept that type of generous offer than pay a complete stranger or someone who isn’t as wealthy or successful. If you receive an endorsement from them, you can use it on your website or on LinkedIn to attract new business or opportunities. Also, if they talk about you or promote you back, you gain visibility with other influencer’s, which can further your career.

3. Take genuine interest in their brand

If someone emails you and is sincere, you are more inclined to answer their email. If someone is reaching out to you asking you for favors, especially when you are more successful than they are, you are going to disregard the email. Genuine interest goes a long way in this world, especially because people are so used to being “used and abused,” as well as spammed daily. There is a great opportunity right now to locate people who are closely aligned to your brand and reach out to them. Even if you’re less successful than they are, they will at least answer you based on flattery.

4. Get noticed by them

Successful people take notice of other successful people. There are like secret code words and there is an ancient language they all speak . A great way to connect with them is to be where their eyes already are. For instance, if you speak at an event they are speaking at, it’s easy to start a conversation around that and for them to already know who you are. Also, if you write an article for a blog or traditional news site that they read, you might earn some respect from them.

5. Find people who know them

The shortcut to meeting successful people is by meeting them through your personal contacts. Your friends’ endorsement can save you from a random outreach and make it more personal. LinkedIn is so important because you can see who knows you and then strategize. Networking gets easier once your network gets larger. When you’re first starting out, it will be hard to implement this strategy, but as you grow older, it will become much easier to meet successful people this way.

Article and video by Dan Shawbel

Have you networked with more successful people or are you drawn to less successful people? Thought and/or comments?

Keith Ferrazzi again imparts his wisdom on the subject of effective networking strategies:

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Top 10 Conference Networking Tips

By Scott Allen, About.com Guide to Entrepreneurs since 2002

I just attended a session at SXSW Interactive by networking expert and author Thom Singer on how to network a big multi-day conference. Thom had a handout with his top 10 tops, which he’s graciously allowed me to share with you.
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One of the main reasons that people site for attending a conference is the networking opportunities. Yet they often leave the event feeling they made few or no connections. Here are 10 Tips to help you get the most out of connecting with others at a conference:

Read the rest of this entry

Enjoy the following video by Keith Ferrazzi, author of ‘Never Eat Alone’

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What do you think? Is the investment worth it? Have you seen measurable results from your networking time investment? Comment below and let me know your thoughts.

What are some ways to find new customers and distributors?

I believe the old maxim “It’s better to give than receive” holds the key to our referral success. For centuries this has been sound advice for living. From the Bible’s command to “love your neighbor as yourself” to sales trainer extraordinaire Zig Zigler’s key principle that “you can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want”, being a giving person brings success.

What are some practical things you can do to genuinely be more of a giver?

Give Away Your Possessions

Sometimes it is appropriate to show appreciation with a gift. Sending a gift sets you apart and finding something that uniquely suites the individual helps build solid relationships. It says, “I know you and care enough to think about what you might enjoy.”

Sometimes it’s appropriate to send a gift even when the sale doesn’t close. If you appreciate the effort someone has made on your behalf, feel free to send a little something. You will keep them on your radar and prospect list. I often send flowers.

Sometimes they just mean “thanks for thinking of me.” Sometimes I give a food gift such as popcorn or as I get to know people, I offer something specific like a book they mentioned in our meetings, a type of wine or a magazine subscription. In all cases, you are building the relationships.

Give Away Your Expertise

Share your skills and experience happy in the knowledge that you are helping friends and colleagues. Others appreciate and seek out knowledgeable people who give generously of their expertise. When you have been a resource to others, people are more willing to help when you ask. I work at being a major resource and learning as much about everything that I can. I call it “collecting vital information” and it always comes in handy as I am talking to my contacts, prospects, downline and clients.

Give Away Your Time

The more you are involved in your business and community, the more people you will meet, the better you will get to know those in your organization and the faster your network will expand. There are several ways to do this. Consider the following steps for your next meeting, training event or activity where you are looking to build your client and prospect list.

1. Volunteer to be the “greeter” when people are registering. This is a great way to meet others and this simple act of hospitality helps you to connect with people later. When we simply attend meetings, we limit our ability to meet and get to know people, so I make sure to join a committee and get involved. I always build new relationships. These people will often become those whom you will rely on and who will rely on you in the future.
2. Give a speech. Organizations are always looking for programs or breakout sessions for larger meetings or conventions. Perhaps you can put together a seminar about selling your specific product or share a simple technique you’ve successfully used to close more business. Putting together a quality presentation can take a bit of time, yet after you have done your research, you will be more knowledgeable about your business and become an expert—and you will be sure to pick up some new interest in your business.
3. After you’ve done your presentation, go one step further and offer to write an article for the organization’s newsletter or magazine on the same topic. This is a key way for people to be able to remember who you are. Be sure not to make it a commercial—you are just showing a way in which you build business that could be used by other salespeople in other businesses.

Being a giver is what relationship marketing is all about. Especially in these uncertain economic times, network professionals who give, continue to plant seeds and nurture their relationships will be the ones people reach out to when they are ready—because they will stay on many people’s radar screen until the time is right for them.

By Andrea Nierenberg

Do you consider yourself to be an experienced networker? Are you a fixture at all the local networking events, yet you’re not receiving the amount of referrals you’re hoping for, if any at all? Are you struggling to manage the network you are out there creating? Are you getting tired of the time and money investment you are making into your networking, without getting a return?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, I invite you to listen in on this exclusive interview with a superstar referral marketing guru, as he reveals the little known system, that most of the top networkers are coming to find and implement to immediately explode their network and their referrals.

Click on the audio cd image to the right to listen, and if you have any questions at all, or would like to see the system in action with no obligation whatsoever, just give Todd a call at 732-674-6572.

Let Others Help You Sell

One of the fastest ways to build new business is to farm strategic partner opportunities. Approaching other businesses that have your same ideal customer in mind and proposing ways to cross promote, is something every small business should be pursuing. I write about this often as I feel it has so much potential and there are so many creative ways to approach it.

There is one component of this strategy that is often overlooked, but I think offers some very interesting opportunities.

What if you went out there and looked at the other things your customers need and buy and you recruited a team of partners to give you high value samples or trial products to pair with your core offerings as a way to differentiate and sweeten the deal.

Here’s an example that I’ve seen used effectively: A graphic design firm approaches a print shop and convinces them to give 500 free business cards to each of the design firm’s logo customers. Now the design firm has something to add a little spice to their marketing message. (They can also create an affiliate relationship with the print shop for further purchases.) In this example, the print shop wins because they have very little real cost in the business card printing and, let’s face it, won’t that business get new stationary and other printed items with that new logo on it?

There are hundreds of ways to approach this and, done well, a smart marketer can greatly enhance their own core offerings, create referral relationships and add passive revenue streams.

The key is to focus on value not volume. Anyone can go out and sign up for a bunch of affiliate programs and start pumping those into the mix. Or, gather up promotional materials from other businesses to insert in the products you ship. While these approaches may offer some value, I think you can make this strategy a real winner with a little bit of creative thinking.

There are hundreds of high quality partners that would love the introduction to your customers and one of the best ways to do this is through sample products and services. Think in terms of the online model. Many online companies offer 30-60 free trials. Take this same idea out to businesses in your community and start putting together a package of products and services that turn prospect’s heads.

Some idea starters:

* Be the electrician that gives its customers a free AC checkup and one free drain unclogged
* Be the marketing consultant that offers a free product trademark review with an IP attorney
* Be the accountant that gives its customers a free IT and computer network audit
* Be the retail store that gives 10 minute massages to weary shoppers

Are you starting to get some ideas on how you might attack this? Don’t stop at one pairing, go for several ways to enhance and differentiate your products and services by adding real value from willing partners.

Article by John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing