Networking Effectively by Scott Bradley

Archive for the ‘Networking’ Category

If you haven’t already figured out by now…we are in a recession . Not just any recession but rather one of the worst recessions since the great depression.

Every day more and more people are laid off and businesses struggle to stay afloat.

As employees and entrepreneurs experience hardships, there are a select few who are experiencing the economic storm and interestingly enough have nothing to fear and are thriving.

Who are these people you may ask?

The individuals who have nothing to fear are those who are highly connected in their niche.

Each of these very individuals who are highly connected, and who understand that “Connectivity is the New Currency In This Day And Age," as my friend Michelle Price says, are those that thrive in their life no matter what the economy is doing.

Translated… “Your network is your greatest insurance policy if/when the shit ever hits the fan.”

I repeat…

Your network is your greatest insurance policy if/when the shit ever hits the fan.

Because these networkers in this economy have taken the time BEFOREHAND to build and nurture these types of relationships OVER TIME before a crisis hit, they now hold the key to many new opportunities and pathways that most people don’t have access too.

Now if anything ever happened to these types of individuals…
Lost their job…
Closed their business…
Suffered some sort of hardship…

Guess what their next move would be?

They would connect to and reach out to their network of course to ask for help/assistance/contacts etc!

So instead of waiting for the economy to get better, to build your network I highly recommend that you do these 5 things right now to get yourself on the path to not be a victim any longer.

As a famous person once said, "A victim blames, a victor learns."

Don’t be a victim…please do these 5 things right now.

1. Call Every Friend You Have

Call each one of these friends to check up on them to see if there is any way you can help them. As someone who believes in giving for the sake of giving I know that it will come back 100 fold. Maybe not tomorrow or the next day, but sooner or later it always comes back in some way shape or form. Even though you may be struggling right now no matter what your situation, you never know what new opportunities this may create for you and plus it feels good to help others…this shouldn’t take you more than a day to do. By doing this, strengthening the bond with your contacts is a good thing in these tough times

2 Put Yourself Out there

Meet more people in your niche. I don’t care how you do it…on the web or in person just get out there and pound some pavement. Meet some new people and find ways to work together with them. As you grow these new connections don’t forget to follow up!

3. Continue to Strengthen Your Online Presence

As you contribute to more communities online and are continuously seen, you open yourself up to more opportunities that can be presented to you. I can’t tell you how many times new opportunities have fallen into my lap because of someone I met on facebook or from someone who read my blog for the first time. Find a way to build your presence online and think of creative ways to leverage that going forward to land the gigs you want to attract into your life.

4. Make A List

Make a list of people you want to get to know, but have been procrastinating to introduce yourself to them. Know why you want to reach out to them, and once you create the list, figure out the best way to get in touch with them.

Do you have someone who possibly knows them that could introduce you? Do they have their e-mail on their blog or website?

Just be sure that when you reach out to anyone new that you make the e-mail/letter/phone call personal and customized, and don’t sound like a robot treating people like a number.

People want to be treated like people…NOT numbers…as one of my mentors, Roberto Torres taught me a long time ago.

5. Have Some Fun

Even though we are in tough times, don’t be afraid to have some fun as you build new connections and strengthen the bonds with your contacts. Even though times like this can be stressful, don’t forget that we are all in this together, and that there are other people just like you who are dealing with the same economy.

So in summary : As you shift your mind to a "higher level" of thinking about connections and relationships, don’t ever forget that your network is your greatest insurance policy, and they should NEVER be taken for granted. As you nurture the relationships over time you should never have anything to fear as you continue through the crazy journey of life.

Watch the video you will see what I mean and may be able to relate.

Imagine this …you meet a contact at a networking event and really hit it off with them. As you converse back and forth you find out that there could be a lot of potential synergies between the both of you and in return you will be able to help each other out.

You find out the new contact that you have created needs some help with a project and you know the exact person to introduce them to. You make it happen and the relationship turns out to be a success. The new contacts gets what she needs and is so thankful that you helped her.

As the weeks and months pass you fail to keep in touch with this contact that you helped…for no other reason other than you "were too busy" to stay in touch with them.

As you kick yourself for not sending the person an e-mail every two months to check in with them, or fail to send them a card every 3 months from time to time, you find yourself in a situation where the other person that you helped a year ago could definitely help you with a new project that you are currently working on .

As you go to pick up the phone and begin to dial the number, a hesitation strikes you and you think, "Hmm maybe I shouldn’t…I haven’t talked to them in over a year…it would just be too awkward."

As you put the phone down you find yourself saying…"Oh crap why the heck did I let this relationship run astray…that contact was such a great find…I am mad at myself for not staying in touch."

You begin to get so stressed out about getting this current project done, and it makes you even madder knowing that this contact could really help you out. As you begin to struggle to successfully complete this project, the thought of the old contact that you know can help you, for some reason cannot escape your thoughts.

You sit there wondering…"What should I do to call this contact, ask for a favor, and not make it sound so awkward?"

So I ask you…what would you do if you were in this exact situation ?

"Networking is NOT about you…" I am going to say it again "Networking is NOT about you."

As you meet people in the business world and through all walks of life, keeping the universal truth that "networking is not about you" at the top of your mind is essential to your networking success.

It has been shown and known that when you do something nice for someone else, they will feel more inclined to do something nice for you in return…and the greatest thing about it is all you have to do is ask!

For those who begin networking and think meeting and building relationships with people is about "Using people to get what you want." I am here to tell you that this statement couldn’t be farther from the truth.

The belief above is totally bogus because just think…if you were a networker that just used people and didn’t give anything back in return, or put yourself first before the other person…the chances that the other person would want to help you again in the future is slim to none.

I don’t know about you, but every time I meet and get to know someone I am thinking to myself , "How can I help this person with their current and future endeavors?" If you noticed I am not thinking "How can I get this person to help me, and if they help me, how can I help him." Help a person to truly help them, not just to get something from them.

If you noticed the slight change in words , you will feel the difference as you say the two individual sentences to yourself. The first one feels giving and caring, while the second one feels completely and utterly selfish. Selfish people are not good networkers.

Now I am not saying, don’t have the motivation to get what you want out of a relationship, just put the other person and their interests first before you look to see how they can help you. The key here is timing.

1) Security

In a tough economy, especially the one we are in right now, finding a job or building a business is 10x more difficult. When you have a network it can help you get things done faster and far more efficiently than if you were to try and do something on your own. Being able to reach out to a trusted contact and ask them if they know anyone who is looking to hire someone in a particular field, or if they are looking to expand their business and you have services that could help them is truly priceless…you can’t put a price tag on those types of relationships.

2) A Source Of Help

Have you faced a challenge or obstacle before where you needed some professional council but didn’t want to pay for someones advice that you have had no previous history with? When you encounter situations like these, being able to reach out to individual connections in your network to ask them personal questions about a particular topic that you don’t feel as comfortable about is something that I enjoy doing often. Knowing that you can reach out to people that you know you can trust to get needed information that will help you move forward should definitely bring you peace of mind, and help you achieve anything that you truly set your mind to.

3) Help You Reach Powerful People

Have you ever wanted to meet someone in your niche where you would never be able to approach them directly because they were too "untouchable?" The greater amount of direct trustworthy contacts you have, the greater the chance you will be able to meet more powerful people. If you have a direct contact who is able to introduce you to a powerful person in your niche, you essentially ride the fast track to an introduction that you would have never been able to achieve by yourself.

4) Referrals

When you have your own business or practice, getting referrals from people in your network is always a good feeling. The greater the amount of direct contacts you have, the more likely you will get more referrals. When a contact trusts you enough to refer someone to you, I can guarantee you will never forget it…and when someone comes to you and needs their services, you will be sure to pass that contact their way as well.

Are you looking to get big influencer’s on the net to review your book but are struggling to get commitments?

Is the thought of getting an influencer in your niche to talk about your book on their blog the biggest pipe dream of the century?

Well just recently The Startup Princess wrote a post about How to Get Someone to Review Your Book that I wanted to share with you.

With Mike Michalowicz’s book launch for The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur , I am dealing with a ton awesome of people every day. With each and every contact I am making I am looking to continually form win/win partnerships with all of them.

After getting off the phone with The Startup Princess she wrote this amazing post showcasing how much she appreciated how I approached her to help get Mikes book some awesome exposure on her blog.

Check it out!

If you haven’t gotten the opportunity to read The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur definitely grab yourself a copy on our website or on Amazon . The reviews that have come in on Amazon have been nothing short of amazing!

As I sit down to write this blog post today…a whirlwind of feelings has come over me.

Feelings about…the election, feelings about the friends that I have, and further feelings about the friends that I have made in the social space.

In this social web we all have the same and equal opportunity to make connections so quickly …which can lead to so many positive things…while at the same time those connections we have created over a long period of time can also be lost so quickly by the click of a button, an UN-Follow on twitter or UN-Friend on facebook.

With the election in direct sight, the crazy economy, the barrage of media, the political ads that become so nausiating, the extreme campaign strategies by both parties and further the craziness over who will be the next president on November 4th…tempers are flying faster than white on rice …and are flying even faster in the social space on sites like twitter and facebook.

The reason why I titled this post "How to Win Friends Quickly and Lose Them Twice As Fast" is because that is exactly what has happened to me the past month.

What do you mean Scott?

Well, as someone who is not afraid to tell people my point of view or how I think, I have been pretty vocal about my political beliefs the past month through twitter and facebook…which after looking back on it I think has been a horrible mistake on my part because people who I thought were trusted friends and followers have UN-friended me and UN-followed me on twitter just for expressing my opinion.

And I have to honestly admit that I was a little obnoxious, and probably took it a little too far in the moment…because of my sincere passion about the future of this country…as I only want the best for all of us.

For most who have chosen to ignore me now, there were very few if any messages asking for understanding about why I believe or what I believe…just by a click of a button they made the decision to ignore me …and I guess put me on their personal "blacklist of people to never interface with again."

While this may seem "narcissistic" of me, and makes me look like I have the biggest EGO alive I have to be upfront and brutally honest with you and tell you that I HAVE taken it personally . I really thought some of the people who have chosen to ignore me were friends…some of them I have even spoken on the phone with and have had great conversations with.

As someone who respects other peoples political beliefs that are different than mine I always look to understand where they are coming from first. I welcome the differences and personally feel that we can learn from each other amid our differing opinions. Too often I have seen people shy away from this behavior either because they are scared, or worse they don’t even want to take the time to understand where the other person is coming from.

One person who I contacted on twitter about who they are voting for after Obama’s 30 minute ad replied back to one of my questions to her, "For those who want to have a political debate about the next president I am not going to have at it…if you are happy with the past 8 years of this country vote as you will."

Not only did this surprise me, but I really enjoyed this person’s tweets and what they were doing.

When speaking with someone who thinks differently from me I live by one of Stephen Covey’s 7-Habits, "Seek first to understand then to be understood." Sadly, for those who have chosen to completely wipe me off their "trusted contact list" the damage has been done and is probably not un-doable, and it breaks my heart to the core…and makes me want to kick myself in the ass for letting my emotional guard down for doing what I did.

Sadly regarding my actions on the social space, my naive 22 year old brain thought that people who were friends and followers would respect the fact that I think differently than them, and if they had a problem with it would contact me with their opinions to discover a deeper understanding for why I believe what I believe…further edifying the beauty of social media and the powerful 2-way communication channel that has been created for us to leverage to the nth degree.

To all of you I have offended I would like to say that I am sorry, and that I really screwed up bringing politics into the middle of our relationship. I don’t know if you will ever forgive me, and I can respect that if you don’t, but even so I just wanted to send my apologies to you from the bottom of my heart because offending you was never my intention, it was only to foster discussion and understanding between us.

What is really interesting about my behavior in a "self-analysis" kind of way…is that before the debates and the election started to really heat up, I never ever talked about politics with anyone. Because of how politics polarize people so quickly causing people to judge and say things they would regret later, I never broached the subject for this very reason…but when the twitter stream started to heat up during the debates …my crazy mind couldn’t resist the temtation to "join in on the conversation." And as I did…my twitter and facebook friends dropped.

Maybe you have a story you would like to share?

So the lesson?…Don’t talk about politics no matter what party you support…it will only lead to pissing people off and polarizing contacts which may not be a positive thing…

In the end, while you can’t be all things to all people…just keep your political beliefs to yourself because you never know who you may offend or worse…who will be adding YOU to their blacklist.

So yesterday was such an interesting day. It was so interesting because I was quoted in a national news story on facebook about whether people with large friends lists on facebook are narcissists.

Here is the article written by the unprofessional ABC reporter

I was contacted by the reporter on Thursday morning and practically fell out of my chair as I opened up the e-mail. She mentioned that she was doing a story on facebook, noted that I had a lot of “friends” on there, and further wanted to speak with me about my facebook activity.

Because an opportunity doesn’t come around like that everyday, I gladly replied back letting her know that I would love to help her out. She mentioned that she heard about me through someone that I went to school with.

As we began our conversation on the phone she said, “So tell me about your facebook activity?” I then went into detail about I utilized the powerful communication tool to subsequently meet 95% of the speakers I brought to speak at the Boston College Entrepreneur Society between my junior and senior year, and further communicated my appreciation for the tool to find like minded individuals to befriend all over the country. I also shared how facebook has enabled me to be one degree away from pretty much anyone I would ever want to interface with in the future.

After sharing all of these stories in her confused and squeaky voice she states, “So you use it more of like a ‘linked in’?” I made it pretty clear with her that I didn’t use it like a linked in, and further explained to her that my goal with it was to form relationships online with people who had like-interests and then bring the relationships offline which I have successfully done time and time again.

After this exchange I began to wonder why she really wanted to speak with me…so I asked her. She stated, “Now don’t balk at me now…but there was this study that stated that people with large friend lists tend to show more narcissistic tendencies.”

Immediately I kind of laughed and chuckled, and then stated…“I think that study is complete and utter Crap…and is totally Bogus.” Which mind you…she FAILED to cite in the article.

As we began to speak the gloves really came off…not only did I feel like I was “targeted” in a negative way, but further began thinking to myself “I literally can’t believe this little reporter is doing a story on this bogus study done by academics who do nothing else bit sit at desks all day thinking of meaningless things to “conclude” only to feel more important than other researchers that are doing the same thing…talk about narcississtic…so instead of hanging up on her right at that instant…I gave her the facts.

Here were my points that were horribly ignored and never once cited in the article. Not only was the article completely one-sided, but further was full of so much crap that my friends couldn’t even believe this reporter was a true journalist. The sad truth is that this reporter thought she produced something that was worth reading for people.

Here were my points to her…

*I made it pretty clear that people use facebook for different reasons, some use it to only keep up with college friends, other high-profile people in society use it as an “extension of their brand” to communicate with their fans, other people use it for their business to increase their exposure and reach, book authors launching a book leverage the platform to gain awareness about their book, and finally business people use it to connect with like minded individuals to figure out a way to form win/win partnerships in their business going forward.

*The reason there are some people with a lot of friends is because their influence in the normal world has carried onto the online world. Just because a person has a lot of influence, that has been illustrated in the friend lists of some of the big names we all know…doesn’t make these people narcissistic.

*You can’t talk about narcissism without talking about influence…meaning while there are some people with huge friend lists who are narcissistic, you can’t lump them all into one box and label them without first getting to know who they are. There are some hugely influential people with large followings on these sites who are the kindest people you would ever want to interface with.

*The term “Friends” on facebook is a loose term because a person’s definition of a friend all depends on how they use it. For me, the reason I have so many friends on facebook is because I use it differently than a normal college student that just wants to keep in touch would. I like to use it as a sorting mechanism to help me connect with the people who find an interest in what I am doing, and who further feel there is a positive way in which we can work together.

Now if you read the article, you will find that NONE of that was cited. The only thing that was cited was me stating, “I would say, personally, I use social networking sites, primarily Facebook and YouTube, to meet like-minded people that I can’t meet every day,” he said. “If you want to call that narcissism so be it, but I don’t think it is.” So much for illustrating the other side!

What pissed me off about this article is that it dragged any and all social media mavens/bloggers/hyper-connected individuals through the mudd and put a negative label on them that really doesn’t fit everyone who has a big “following” or “friends list” for that matter. Further what pisses me off more is that they had to use me as the case study to justify this activity and further draw the same conclusions of this BOGUS study without sharing any of the other side that I spoke about with the reporter. Pretty unprofessional wouldn’t you say?

If you read the comments that are left in the article on ABC’s website, some of my contacts who read it left comments stating how I have had a huge impact on their lives, and further spoke about the amount of value that I have brought into their lives because I met them on facebook. That in itself is where I look to prove my point that hyper connected individuals who have many high quality relationships are NOT narcissists.

One of my friends even made a video…

I can only imagine what ProBlogger, Yaro Starak, Guy Kawasaki, Seth Godin,Scobelizer, Dan Schawbel, Chris Borgan, Charles Heflin, Shel Israel, Brian Solis, Steve Rubel, or Jack Humphrey would think if they read this article…as they all have huge followings and do so much good for everyone they interface with…and also have those huge friends lists through their facebook profiles, twitter pages and RSS subscriber lists.

In the end, the media is always going to put a negative spin on things no matter what news they are covering, because what it comes down to is advertising revenue and competing with the other news stations. It is sad that this poor writer had to sway the article like she did because to be honest I really thought I was helping her out with the content that I provided her to use, but sadly the article ended up as a total piece of crap with a very one-sided opinion. It reminded me of how liberal the New York Times is, and further how Conservative Fox News is. Any good writer would illustrate both sides of the issue before publishing anything. I guess it just shows how unprofessional she is as a journalist, which makes me wonder her true motivation for writing the article.

Anyway…moving onto bigger and better things. I just couldn’t let this one be “brushed under the rug.” Keep building those solid relationships through these powerful mediums.

When I first joined LinkedIn – I was like most average business owners – registered because someone invited me and then never completed the profile and never participated. Guess what – I never got anything out if it either!

After reevaluating online networking sites I discovered a potential huge pool of people that can help my business grow in one way or another. LinkedIn has become one of my best sources of business information and a great resource for potential customers.

There are “secrets” to using LinkedIn – and now I am going to reveal the secrets to you.

1) Fill out your profile completely – this means a current photo as well. LinkedIn’s profile area is really quite complete for an online networking site. If filled out properly you have a great opportunity to “shine”. It is also an online resume and many people use it for this purpose. The bottom line is trust – people do business online with people that have built up their trust and a complete profile is a great starting point for building trust.

2) Make sure your websites and blogs are listed in your profile as something other than “My Website” or “My Blog” . Use meaningful keywords for this text. If you need instructions to make this change here is a tutorial on customizing LinkedIn.

3) Invite business associates, referral partners, and acquaintances to join your LinkedIn Network. When sending invitations take the time to make them personal – don’t just use the generic invitation. Whenever I go to a local Networking Event I always invite the new people I have met to link up with me. This will grow your personal network and allow others that are just one step away from you to see your profile.

4) Take advantage of LinkedIn’s Answers section . When you have a business related question then ask it of your network. If you want to know if a certain software, product, or service has been useful to others then ask. Other LinkedIn members are generous with getting your question answered so you can make a sound business decision.

5) Take advantage of LinkedIn’s Answers section. (No I am not forgetful!) If you are an expert in some area – if you are in business for yourself you better be an expert in some area – then share with others. When someone asks a question that you can answer then take a few moments to share your expertise. Bring value to the table. This will help them and it may help you. If they like your answer best then they can assign you as the expert and this will show in your profile. I have increased my “reach” beyond just local through answering questions and I have even had job inquiries through the Answers section of LinkedIn.

6) If you are in a position to hire workers then use LinkedIn to “ prescreen” applicants.

7) Promote you “Public Profile” on your blog or website and in your email signature.

8 ) Recommend people that have done an outstanding service or provided an awesome product to you. Ask others that have used your service/product to recommend you as well. This is another step to building trust.

Just like anything else – you get out of it what you put into it. Schedule a little time each week to spend on LinkedIn and you will be rewarded with increased traffic to your site as well as potential new business from your new found resource of online clients and customers.

Dotty
http://www.AttractionInternetMarketing.com

I just did a guest post for my friend Caroline Ceniza-Levine who heads up http://www.sixfigurestart.com .

On October 7th at 7pm EST I will be doing a teleclass with her on how to navigate the floor at a career fair. All of the information is on her post!

Here is the post! Enjoy!
How to Effectively Maintain and Grow Relationships in the Web 2.0 World