Tag: Networking

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Networking

Fear and Relationships: Two More Tips for Value Based Networking

Very often, fear is what keeps us from maximizing our contacts with other people. Human beings are full of fears: fear of rejection, fear of failure, fear of looking ignorant or stupid, fear of hearing that four letter word: NO. So, what do we do? We procrastinate, we rationalize: “Oh, he’ll never agree to that, why bother asking, he’ll just say ‘no.’”

Don’t let fear keep you from asking. What you must remember is that the thing you should really be afraid of is missing an opportunity because you didn’t make the contact.

There is a story from Harvey Mackay that goes like this: In 1990 the then Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev announced plans to visit the United States. Everyone assumed he’d visit Washington, D.C. However, Rudy Perpich, the Governor of Minnesota, thought that perhaps Gorbachev might like to visit some other parts of the country. So he wrote him a letter. And he asked seventy Russian students on the campus at the University of Minnesota to write him letters as well telling him how great it would be for him to see the Heartland of the US.

Perpich asked for the visit, risked being turned down, and to everyone’s astonishment, he got what he wanted. For a day in June, Minnesota was able to welcome one of the most influential leaders in modern history.
Now this is a quote from Mackay’s book:

“The moral? Never say no for the other guy. Most people avoid risks their whole life by assuming the other guy is going to say no. …  All you have to do is ask. I guarantee you, if you get enough nos, you’re bound to get a few yeses. So don’t say no for anyone. You never know when you’ll create for yourself an opportunity of a lifetime.

Is your focus on short-term gain, or a long term relationship? If it’s the former, you’re going to have difficulty connecting with people because most folks can detect someone who has a motive or agenda. You must first establish acceptance and a friendship and you do this by taking a genuine interest in other people. Demonstrate through active listening (look it up if you’re not sure what that means) that you not only want to get to know them but you want to learn from them. Most people are flattered when someone asks their opinion on anything; people love to share their knowledge and opinions. And ask questions.

The sooner you find something you have in common with the other person, the sooner the connection will occur. It’s the common ground that gives you something to talk about with them and you need to be willing to invest the time and effort to uncover the things you may have in common.

About the Author:

The Balanced WorkLife Company is dedicated to helping the best get better while they enjoy the journey. Our programs give you access to tools and methodologies that allow you to break through the barriers and achieve your goals while also helping you enjoy a balance between and within your job, your career and your personal life. Whether you are a seasoned professional or just starting your career, the Balanced WorkLife Company can help you achieve your ultimate potential. To learn more, visit http://www.valuebasednetworking.com and download our free report “The 16 Most Common Networking Mistakes to Avoid,” which is jam-packed with information to help you develop and build long-lasting business and social relationships.

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Networking

Your Bucket Lists: Networking with Purpose

We all need to create three bucket lists in order to truly network with purpose. The first bucket contains a list of all your current connections. We are all connected to far more people than we realize. If you were to take 10 minutes and write a list of past and current work colleagues, industry contacts, friends, family and social acquaintances, you’ll likely be surprised at how long a list you have.

Ask yourself the following questions about the people on this list:
•    Who are they?
•    What have you done for them?
•    What have they done for you?
•    What are you going to do to keep them?

Your next list is people you want to make connections with soon. Ask yourself the following questions about these people:
•    Who are they?
•    What can you do to attract them?
•    What do you want from them?
•    How will you connect with them?

The final list is people you hope to connect with in the future. Ask yourself the following questions about the people in this bucket:
•    Who are they?
•    What can you do to attract them?
•    What do you want from them?
•    How will you get in front of them?
•    How will you connect with them?

The thing to keep in mind as you answer these questions for each name in each bucket is that the more you do for them, the more they will do for you. The more you do for them, the more important you will be in their life. The more likely they will be to take your call. The more likely they will be to meet with you. Why? Because you have brought them value in the past. So the emphasis has to be on what you can do for them… NOT what they can do for you.

Value Based Networking is all about your willingness to give value first. It’s the process of creating and actively maintaining relationships where you can help others achieve their goals and they can help you achieve yours. Value Based Networking involves determining your networking purpose, defining possible contacts, developing a plan of action and committing the time and energy necessary to produce meaningful results.

Now take your top ten contacts, maybe five from bucket one, three from bucket two and two from bucket three, and write one action item next to each name with a deadline to complete that action within the month. The action can be just about anything – send them an email, write them a letter, give them a call, or set up a lunch or meeting. Ask them about a trip they took recently or a conference they attended; send them an article or book you think they would enjoy; introduce them to a contact of yours. But whatever it is, focus on providing value to them.

If you do this each and every month, you’ll have made 120 meaningful value based connections over the next year. Now that’s meaningful!

About the Author:

The Balanced WorkLife Company is dedicated to helping the best get better while they enjoy the journey. Our programs give you access to tools and methodologies that allow you to break through the barriers and achieve your goals while also helping you enjoy a balance between and within your job, your career and your personal life. Whether you are a seasoned professional or just starting your career, the Balanced WorkLife Company can help you achieve your ultimate potential. To learn more, visit www.balancedworklife.com and download our free report “The 16 Most Common Networking Mistakes to Avoid,” which is jam-packed with information to help you develop and build long-lasting business and social relationships.

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Networking

All Networking is Not Created Equal

They say that the key to happiness and longevity is having meaningful relationships with others. This means having a support system of family, friends, business associates and clients who are there for you because you are always there for them.

In business this concept conjures up the word networking. Don’t run screaming into the night: this does not mean dragging yourself to meetings and seminars where you exchange business cards with people you don’t know and pursue meaningless threads of conversation trying to find something of mutual interest. I’m talking about a different kind of networking.

We call it Value Based Networking™.

Value Based Networking is about more than just selling. It’s about having people in your life who are in a position to help you gain access to key decision makers and to new and exciting opportunities. It’s about not just surviving – but thriving – in today’s complex economy. It’s about having people in your life who can help your career and who also can enrich your life.

As the name implies, Value Based Networking is about creating value for others before you expect to receive value from them. It is the mutual give and take that results in a winning situation for everyone involved.

People naturally want to repay the kindness of others, and if cultivated properly, Value Based Networking can not only lead to strong and positive relationships, it also can lead to personal connections, more referrals, increased sales, measurable success and lasting impressions.

We all have lots of people in our lives. Most we barely know, some are nodding acquaintances, a few are everyday associates and co-workers, and a small number are family and friends. The key question is: in what ways can we provide unselfish value to them without expecting anything in return? Here are a few ways:

o Helping solve a problem
o Supporting their dreams
o Helping them understand their thinking
o Letting them help others, including you
o Connecting them with others
o Helping to make them more successful
o Making them feel connected and appreciated

What you need to do is tap into their needs, adapt your communication style to accommodate theirs, and be a WOW person to be around. Networking isn’t that difficult if you simply keep in mind that most people:

o Want unbiased advisors
o Have a limited set of friends
o Have access to a limited set of social events
o Want to help others
o Need people in their network

So approach your social portfolio like you do your financial portfolio: plan, build and diversify. Foster relationships with family, friends and co-workers. Nurture older relationships, but also make new friends.

Value Based Networking is the sincere and constant effort to help others, anticipating that you will, in turn, be helped. So if you do happen find yourself at one of those networking events, ask for two business cards from everyone you meet: one for yourself and one to pass on to somebody else. You never know who you may be able to help; and later, that someone may help you.

About the Author:
The Balanced WorkLife Company is dedicated to helping the best get better while they enjoy the journey. Our programs give you access to tools and methodologies that allow you to break through the barriers and achieve your goals while also helping you enjoy a balance between and within your job, your career and your personal life. Whether you are a seasoned professional or just starting your career, the Balanced WorkLife Company can help you achieve your ultimate potential. To learn more, visit www.balancedworklife.com and download our free report “The 16 Most Common Networking Mistakes to Avoid,” which is jam-packed with information to help you develop and build long-lasting business and social relationships.

Categories
Networking

Dig Your [Networking] Well Before You Are Thirsty

Your future career is only as good as the quality of your extended network. A network is a social and business resource that must be cultivated and nurtured over time. Your network supports and sustains you in the good times, but is the key to your survival in the bad times.

The time to build these contacts is not when you are looking for your next job.

My friend Bob recently found himself staring at unemployment. The start-up he was working for found itself no longer a start-up, but a thriving, mid-sized firm listed on the NASDAQ. This organization was enjoying such success largely due to Bob’s leadership, but now the company needed a different kind of leader. So Bob started looking around at who he knew in the industry and realized that he hadn’t spoken to anyone for about 3 years. Hmmmm.

Too often, people start networking only after they need something. Imagine a friend or relative who only calls when he needs money. Do you take his call? Do you look forward to hearing from him?

Effective networking means creating contacts and relationships now. Dig your well before you’re thirsty as Harvey Mackay says.

If you choose your network members wisely, they can nourish more than your current position and future career. This is Value Based Networking.

Most people accept the fact that health studies show the connection between long-term life, health and happiness is based on the quality of the relationships that support us. Few of us think of this as an investment we make for our future…but it is an investment just like education or exercise.

Value Based Networking is about creating value for others and in turn receiving value from them. It’s about taking charge of this critical advantage in life in a planned and strategic manner. Regardless of where you are in your career or life, if you are looking to make your future bigger than your past, you need to invest in the people who have helped you achieve your current success and those who can do so in the future.

Here is an exercise we’ve developed to help you begin Value Based Networking:

1. List 10 people best able to bring value to your career, today and in the future.

2. Now, prioritize.

3. Then think about the value they bring to you.

4. And then, the value you (could) bring to them.

5. When was the last time you had contact with this person?

6. And finally, what actions could you take to invest further in this relationship?

Most of us are uncomfortable “investing” in people for the sole purpose of accessing their knowledge and connections. We want to bring value to the relationship perhaps in the form of our own knowledge and connections or unique skill or interest. It’s a case of mutual value for mutual benefit. If you can be clear about what you want, you can begin to take action today to expand your value based network.

About the Author:

The Balanced WorkLife Company is dedicated to helping the best get better while they enjoy the journey. Our programs give you access to tools and methodologies that allow you to break through the barriers and achieve your goals while also helping you enjoy a balance between and within your job, your career and your personal life. Whether you are a seasoned professional or just starting your career, the Balanced WorkLife Company can help you achieve your ultimate potential. To learn more, visit www.balancedworklife.com and download our free report “The 16 Most Common Networking Mistakes to Avoid,” which is jam-packed with information to help you develop and build long-lasting business and social relationships.

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Recommendations

Business Conferences and Seminars Offer Long-Term Value

Article Contributed by Tami Stodghill

My husband recently returned from a conference that was hosted by the company our home business is through. I resigned myself to not going as I still do freelance writing work and had committed to a publication to provide an article which involved some research. I rationalized that even if I missed this conference, he could take notes and share the highlights with me. And he did. But what I didn’t realize is that by missing actually attending this event, I would never be able to carry away from it all the long-term valuable things he did. So I couldn’t have been more wrong…

Conferences and seminars that are related to your business, marketing, sales, mindset and any other topic that may assist you in your business are invaluable. The right conference—with the right speaker or speakers—offers intelligence and instruction that is not available sometimes through any other outlet. The information you garner can sometimes change your approach to your business completely. Speakers who are “gurus” in these key areas are paid well for a reason. They offer insights and lessons and suggestions and guidance and the chance to hear them speak in a conference or seminar setting is often a once-in-a-life-time opportunity.

Here’s the thing…by attending these type of events, you come away with a new mindset. You have the chance to meet with like-minded people, network, share ideas and strategies and also put names to faces in the industry. By allowing yourself to participate, you gain a positive, reinforcing feeling about your business, and those who are involved in the same business or a similar business, and are enjoying success. The motivational speakers put you in a whole new “place” and when you return home, you are often eager to implement all of the tips and information you have accrued.

Another reward is the promotion of yourself as someone who has attended this type of event and therefore no possesses more knowledgeable in key areas. Posting pictures from the event of you with some key players in the industry goes a long way toward letting potential prospects see you are a key player yourself. You can utilize some of the content in your business blog, on your website and in your advertising campaigns. With the exception of anything that is under non-disclosure, the general concepts are a great marketing tool.

At the conference my husband attended, he also had the chance to mingle with these key players and successful entrepreneurs. They were there for attendees to chat with, they answered questions and people were able to find out more about what helped propel them to the level of success they had experienced in their ventures. Being able to talk one-on-one with these people is illuminating and helps you to renew your passion for your own business.

Finally, one of the main pluses of attending an event is the time away. Seriously. If you step back, leave your routine and attend an event with enthusiasm and the attitude that it holds immeasurable value for you, you will come back refreshed and even excited about your own business and the potential that is there to grow and expand it. I won’t make the mistake of missing another event that can propel me forward in our business and that can offer me those keys to further success. It’s like a vacation, only it’s tax deductible and it provides an opportunity to learn from the best. And if you are like my husband, you’ll come back eager to actualize what you have learned!

About the Author

Tami Stodghill was the Press-Relations manager, for a world-wide extensible-technology distributor based in London and the US for 20 years. She was also a freelance writer for several industry publications and is now a home-based business owner with WMI. She makes her home in Page-Lake Powell, Arizona, in the summers and Palm Harbor, Florida in the winters where she enjoys boating and reading, camping, hiking and meeting new people. She runs a blog site exclusively to offer tips for success for any small or home-based business.