You Don't Say!

Way back before I went on vacation, I held a preview for our upcoming classes that will start very soon.

There were two women from the same company who had attended together. In fact, Rebecca brought Kathy with her. Because our course tuition offers a very generous discount to those in the non-profit world, both women expressed interest. It seems that each is a board member of a charity.

Out of curiosity, I asked Rebbecca to tell me about the charity she was involved with. It happens to be the Aurora Gonzalez Community Center. I shared with her that last year Certified Networker shared profits from an event with the Center and also collected over 300 children's' books for them. Kathy perked up and looked at Rebecca and said, "The non-profit I am connected with raises money for those situations and we're looking for a charity to give to."

Now these two women sit by each other in the office each day and even share client opportunities. Yet it took an outsider (me) to be the catalyst to them figuring out how they could help each other.

Kathy laughed and said, "Yeah, we each know that we leave the office to go to these board meetings, but we had never asked anything else!"

Networking is about finding out about each other. Not just the surface stuff, but the next level and the next.

What are you in the dark about with your best friend?

Are Robins Snowbirds?

Today, I played most of the day. First I went for a short winter walk with hubby, Steve and then later I headed out to a Secor Metro Park to strap on the cross country skiis. I really didn't put in that many miles, probably about 2, but the trail was untracked and it really got my heart to pumping!

Before leaving home, I packed a sandwich and some strawberries, so at some point I came upon a wonderful bench where I could sit to eat my lunch. I cleaned the foot of snow from it and enjoyed my meal while watching the birds high above.

What really fascinated me were the two Robins in a tree that had dried black berries on it. Now, it's January 18. What are those Robins doing here? Have Robins stopped heading south because of the mild winters we've been having for the past decade????? Or was it all a fallacy that Robins migrated.

Part of networking is gathering information and also getting questions answered.

So who's out there that can fill me in on Robin behavior?

Tomato Sauce Insight

This weekend as I stood at the kitchen sink coring and cutting tomatoes for the beginning of a huge pot of tomato sauce, I had the surreal experience of listening to author Barbara Kingsolver's "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle; A Year of Good Food." The premise of the book is that Kingsolver and her family decided to live for one year from food grown locally. As she talked about how many people don't know or understand how our food is produced, she began describing her asparagus patch and how most people ask, "What kind of ferns are those?"

Like Kingsolver, I feel very lucky to be able to grow some of our food. I too, have an asparagus patch, along with a fairly good-sized garden. As we move toward the end of the season, I have lots of peppers, giant eggplant, basil, beets and very soon, I'll pick the first butternut squash.

But this isn't about gardening.

After all, this blog is about networking!

I realized that we business people tend to think about networking from the "getting more business" point of view. But as my mind doodled, it occured to me that we also learn stuff, that at the moment doesn't seem important. But it adds to our knowledge that might be helpful to us or to someone else in the future.

As a little kid, my parent's garden was nothing more than a place to filch a sweet strawberry or perhaps a carrot with the dirt wiped off on my pant leg. In the fall the old cornstalks were bent over and between the two rows I created a cave/fort of sorts. Little did I know that I was learning the rhythm of the growing season. Little did I know that I was learning how all things grow, whether underground, from bushes or from vines.

That's what I think networking should be like, too. Learn a little something everyday that you didn't know before. What makes that industry tick? Where do the raw materials come from? What trends are affecting it. What is produced? Most of us only know the ins and outs of our own industry.

I challenge you to find out something about another industry this week as you are out there networking.

And by the way, what is surprising about yours?

Helping Children and Education

If you've been reading this blog for awhile, you've read the letters BNI quite a few times. It stands for Business Network International, the world's largest, oldest and most successful referral organization. Ivan Misner started this company over 20 years ago, when he needed to add to his client base. And the rest is history.

About nine years ago, Ivan and his wife, Beth (second from right in photo at the right), decided that they wanted to share some of their success. They formed the Misner Foundation, which supplies grants to schools and programs that benefit children and education.

What's really neat about this foundation is that it is right in line with BNI's referral philosophy. A grant application can only be submitted if it is referred by a BNI member. Now, if there is an organization that surfaces through some other way, Beth will put them in touch with a BNI member in their area, so that a relationship might develop that will lead to a referral.

The grants are $1000 each and Beth's goal is to give as much of the money away as possible. If you'd like to hear more about this you can listen to a podcast here.

If you would develop a foundation, what cause would it support?

And You Went, Ate and Left?

It always amazes me how with a little encouragement, a room of very diversified people can help each other.

Last Friday, we had our first Educational Preview of the year for the Certified Networker course. The ultimate goal is to have people want more of what they're given in the two hour session, so they register for the course. Devious, aren't we?

A second, very important objective is to get the participants to connect with others in the room so they can help each other. Sometimes it works better than others. I don't think it has anything to do with the occupation of the people. I think it has to do with if I'm "on" that day in presenting and also with the attitude of the participants.

Last Friday was the best. Right from the start I could tell that this group had "a helping mindset." When we had a break, even though my direct instructions were, "To get with the person in this room you can help," they didn't hesitate. They immediately wanted to trade cards and schedule appointments with each other. It was fun to watch.

So my question is, "Why doesn't that happen with other networking groups?" I am particularly thinking of chamber events. It is my experience that people come to eat, try to sell themselves and then leave.

How can we change that mindset, so instead people arrive early to connect, find out what others need and then schedule appointments before leaving? Or is that like trying to turn an ocean freighter at sea?

Feeding the Hand

Yesterday I wrote a post about analyzing the groups you belong to. One important aspect of membership and involvement is using the group to make connections for your networking contacts.

That's right, instead of just trying to further your own success, what about only connecting with people who can help others in your network?

As people become better networkers, clearly understanding their target market in relation to their business success and networking, one fatal mistake I see is shortened vision.

Let me set the scene.

I will use the example of BNI (Business Network International) because that's the one I know best, but of course you can insert the name of any group.

For those of you who don't know BNI, let me give you a very short explanation.

Local BNI chapters are composed of business people meeting for the purpose delivering referrals to one another. Within each chapter there is just one person per profession. Also within each chapter, Power Teams will form, sort of like sub groups of the whole. They typically will have similar types of prospects and then can more easily help each other. Sometimes the PT will meet outside the regular BNI meeting, too. This is a good thing because they concentrate on helping one another and developing strong relationships so they are very comfortable referring best clients to each other.

OK, here is where crazy thinking will creep in.

Ever so often, the members of the Power Team will say, "Why should we meet with the big group or any other group for that matter? We're all we need. We don't need any of those other people." And before you know it, they have resigned their position within the chapter.

Here's the challenge of this mindset.

The group becomes inbred. Eventually it probably dies out because no new prospects are coming to the table. They are recycling the same old client/prospect list each time they meet. They are meeting no new contacts who might lead them to a great new prospect. In time each member's value diminishes to the rest of the members of the Power Team.

And that's why isolationism doesn't work. You have to keep going out to various other groups to bring "food" back to the nest. And that's how I look at Power Teams or any other similar group. It is a safe nest. It is good. It is a place to be nurtured and fed. But you can starve to death if no food is being brought back to you.

What groups do you belong to in order to specifically feed your referral sources?

Belonging

Many times, people will evaluate the groups they belong to at the end of a year (or the beginning) to determine if they will continue their membership with each group. I encourage that. There is nothing worse than wasting both time and money.

However, and you'll notice that I put that in large type, sometimes the wrong or incomplete criteria are used when doing the analysis.

First of all, what was the original goal for belonging to the group?

Was it to get more business, to develop referral relationships, to gain more knowledge or to give back to the community?


Second, are you doing all you can to achieve the above goals?
Are you an active member, do you go to the meetings and do you participate on committees?


Third, is the group what you thought is was going to be?

Does it meets its mission, fulfill its promises and deliver value for the members?


Fourth, does this group help you to deliver to others?

If you only go to groups to gain for yourself, you are going to become known as only a taker. But if you attend group meetings looking for connections for your other networking contacts, you are leveraging your networking capital. I'll write more about this tomorrow.

So as you review the groups you belong to, do you need to resign, step up your involvement or continue as is?

Scanning Ahead

My friend, Deanna Tucci Schmitt and I did a podcast on Talkshoe.com (Episode 17) recently. It may be available to listen to, although I had difficulties at the end, pushing the "stop recording" button. Technology and I just don't get along! Anyway, that's NOT what this post is about.

It is about what we discussed. Our ditty was entitled Networking Goals. The way Deanna and I prepare for these podcasts is that we have a quick conversation as to who is going to lead (the darling) and who is going to learn (the doofus). On this one, I was happy to take on the darling mantle!

Below are some steps that we discussed that can help you to make your networking work for you in the year to come.

1. Create a spreadsheet-type calendar all on one piece of paper with the months across the top and the name of each organization or group you attend down the side. (Rebecca Booth, Marketing Goddess, has a great example of this at her website.) Each square will correspond to one month and one group. Within each box, draw hash marks for each time you will attend the group within that month. (For example, BNI members will have at least four hash marks per month. Some chambers only meet once per month, so that square would have one mark.) The reason for doing this is to create a visual map of all the organized networking you will do in the next twelve months. Because some groups do not meet during the summer, you might see blank spots in the calendar. Knowing about these ahead of time means that you can plan other networking or marketing avenues during those times. Planning is the word to remember.


2. Now take out your appointment book and mark all the meeting times as appointments. As a new year begins, many times we forget to transfer the meeting times and dates to our new schedule. With electronic calendars, recurring appointments may have been set to end in December. Be sure to adjust those end dates so you don't miss any networking opportunities.

3. Accurately forecast your marketing budget. Yes, you know how much the dues cost for each organization, but what is the real expense. As a supportive member of each group you will be expected to participate in events that are spread out through the year. For example, if your professional association plans one large trade show per year and the cost of participating is $500 (plus the expenses associated with "stuff" you need for the booth) you'll need to add that $500 to the budgeted amount for that organization. Or if your group plans three events per year with a $50 ticket attached, you'll need to add $150 or $300 to the budgeted dues. The larger amount would be if you plan to take a guest with you to each event, which is probably expected.

4. Develop a written list of members you want to get to know better. After all, the reason for belonging is networking. This step will help you to know who to schedule appointments with, which will put those above marketing dollars to work. Networking is all about developing relationships and you can't do that by being just a face in the crowd. To make this even more efficient, insert the names of people on your list into each month. This will help you to have a plan for inviting.

5. One more list! This one is for people you'd like to invite as visitors to your groups. Again having the list will help you to plan ahead, making the calls to invite in advance. Those prospective visitors will have find time for these meetings on their busy calendars, too. Taking guests with you to meetings brings more value to the group and you are seen as a positive resource. Selfishly, it gives you the opportunity to build stronger relationships with your guests, too.

Using the five above steps is a way to organize and be ready to network with the best.

What steps would you add?

Round Table Networking

In my previous post today, I talked about people sitting next to each other at networking events.

Now I want to focus on a group that has it figured out.

WEN - The Women's Entrepreneurial Network to be exact.

This 360+ member organization in NW Ohio offers five networking opportunities per month and the lunchtime session in Toledo had reached such success that a problem was created.

You see, somewhere between 70-100 people are showing up. You question, "So what?"

The so what factor is that in the past, everyone got an opportunity to have 20 seconds to introduce themselves, their company name and one thing they needed from the audience. With people passing the microphone, and getting ready to speak, figure only two people per minute made intros. For those of you math whizzes out there, that's somewhere around 35-50 minutes of individual intros. Introductions generally began at shortly after noon, leaving little time for other WEN announcements at the end at 1 PM.

The two Co-directors, Linda Everhardt Kardux and Linda Fayerweather, put their heads together and came up with a solution.

Now, we all get to say just our name and company name. (Figure 5 to 6 people per minute.) Then, at each round table, each person gets two minutes to talk about what they do just to the people at the table.

Obviously, it makes sense to sit at a table where you don't know anyone, or at least some of the people. Or your in-depth commercial falls on ears that already know you.

Ingenious.

Without saying so, the Linda's figured out a way to get people to sit with those they don't know.

Chances of Meeting

If I were to tell you that I was going to take away a 50% chance of you meeting someone that could help you be more successful, what would you say to that?

This past week, I attended a networking event, where there was a lunch. People sat at round tables.
I said "hello" to two people I had met when I was asked to speak to their sales meeting several weeks ago.

They sat next to each other.

They cut in half their opportunity to meet someone who might help further their success.

It always blows my mind when I see this happen.

Why don't they just stay in the office to develop that relationship further and save the cost of the lunch?

Yes, I know, there was an opportunity to either side of each of the offenders.

But what if that one person was not helpful? There was no fallback. They were done.

Tell me. Why don't networkers get it. Sitting next to people you know is limiting, unless that person is someone who can help you be more successful in the future.

And believe me, if your table mate is your office mate doing the same thing you do, you're really dumb.

Comments?

Full Days

In two days, I feel like I've lived through at least a week!

Yesterday, was official International Networking Day. I started the morning with a Networking Breakfast at the Toledo Club, then had a one to one meeting before being the lunchtime speaker at the Sylvania Chamber of Commerce. As soon as that was done I jumped into the little yellow Cooper and drove to Pittsburgh for their evening celebration.

The PA event was awesome for a number of reasons.

Over 300 people participated.

Scott Ginsberg was the keynote speaker.

AND

The networking game/exercise was over the top!

The idea behind it was that each person had established goals they wanted to achieve at this event. As they talked with others, they were to ask each other about these goals. There were also worksheets to note what was needed. As the networking continued, people started to connect people to others to solve their challenges.

Personally, I was trying to connect with someone from Malaysia for one of the CN grads here in Toledo. While I didn't make the actual connection yet, I know the person who can make it happen.

Someone else, Neal Griebling, wanted to know about starting a Board of Advisers, or Board of Action. Sandy Pirwitz, who went with me, and I were able to give him information because I have a board of action and she happens to be a member of that board.

We also helped my friend, Michelle Donovan, by talking about the Certified Networker training. Sandy told one woman, Anne Martin, a Mary Kay representative, that she just had to do the program. Anne had considered taking the course in the past, but with Sandy's endorsement, my bet is that she will register for a class real soon.

Wow! Deanna Tucci Schmitt and her team put together one heck of a celebration. I am proud to be her friend.

How did you celebrate International Networking Day?