Networking Tips

The Simple Secret to Ruling The World…Someday.

Guest Author Networking Tips, Professional Development, Uncategorized 11 Comments

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As the famous song from the 80’s goes: “…Everybody wants to rule the world…”

There’s plenty of truth to these lyrics.

Although you might not actually want the burden of being responsible for ruling the whole world.

But most of us wouldn’t mind if we were able to have a little more influence over parts of our world.

Would you like to have more ‘pull’ in the workplace? Maybe just be more influential in your personal life?

Many of us have a feeling deep down inside that we’d have so much more to give, but we’re not sure how to go about it.

There’s a way to begin expanding your impact on the world. But many people are unaware of the simple way to do it. And that’s what keeps them stuck, eventually concluding that no one is going to listen to their great idea, to their potential contributions.

Sound familiar?

Introducing: Your Sphere of Influence

There are things in life which we are able to control, and things which are outside of our grasp. Simply put, the things that we’re not able to control directly are outside of our current sphere of influence.

For example, most of us – as individuals – have very little power over the global economic situation. We may worry about it, but its state is largely out of our control.

Whereas some people are actually able to affect economics on a larger scale. Here I’m thinking about world leaders and heads of large corporations.

For them, the economic situation might be counted as being within their sphere of influence.

The larger our sphere of influence, the more we’re able to impact the outside world.

Here’s an illustration depicting the sphere of influence of an average person.

As you can see, the average person has many matters which he or she can’t currently affect. These things are in their sphere of concern.

So the question remains. How does someone begin expanding their personal sphere of influence?

First, let’s explore where many people stumble so we can avoid the most common mistake.

Keeping Your Sphere of Influence Small

If you’ve been struggling to expand your influence, you are most likely committing one major error. This error has to do with your mindset.

This thought error – as one might call it – leads to staying stuck with whatever sphere of influence you currently have.

Here’s the thought that keeps you stuck:

“If only more people would listen to me, I could make a difference. But they don’t. So I can’t.”

It’s this mindset that keeps most people stuck. In their jobs, in a personal friendship, on a project committee, etc. They stay stuck.

My Personal Stuck-ness

I’ve had my fair share of struggles with this issue.

For example, I’ve been blogging for quite some time now, and like most bloggers, I’d like to have more readers.

I’ve let myself get frustrated when a post of mine has only had a few clicks.

It can be frustrating when you put a lot of work into a single post and you can’t even be sure if the message reaches anyone.

I nearly quit over this – see the ‘”thought error” I mentioned above.

But my frame of mind started shifting when I contacted a more experienced blogger about this issue.

He challenged my thought error and led me to a moment of clarity. And I quickly realized how I was keeping myself stuck. I was doing that!

He advised focusing on the few readers that I did have at the time, and not to concern myself with the potential readers I had no influence over…yet. I had to ask myself how I could serve my current readers better and make their lives more amazing.

He was basically telling me to focus my energy within my existing sphere of influence.

The Only Way to Expand Your Sphere of Influence

By this point you might have already realized what the simple secret is.

Put all of your energy and effort into matters which are within your current sphere of influence. When you do this, your sphere can’t help but start expanding gradually.

It’s pointless to put your focus outside of your current sphere. This will only lead to wasted energy.

In my case: worrying about readers I didn’t have was getting me nowhere. All it did was divert my attention away from things I could actually impact.

We need to carry out important work within the boundaries that we have influence over. This is the key.
Everything starts from your current sphere. Be happy with whatever influence you have at the moment.

For the moment.

How Your Influence Will Grow

There are many possible ways in which your sphere of influence will begin expanding.

Here’s a list of things that might happen:

  • When you put your efforts towards things you can make a difference in, word will begin to spread. This leads to referrals, new opportunities, and high trust levels.  And don’t forget good Karma.
  • As you work with what you can influence in the moment you’ll begin developing yourself a positive reputation. There’s no telling what this may lead to. Including an immense sense of pride and confidence.
  • Your opinion will be listened to – even asked for! –  as you gain credibility. What this means in practice, is that your word will have a bigger affect on those around you.

Rule the World? Maybe. Maybe Not.

There’s nothing wrong with the desire to increase your influence on the world. To make a difference.

If your heart is in the right place you can do a lot of great things with the leverage of having greater influence.

So remember, just switch your focus to doing important work within your current sphere of influence.

Make the most out of what you have control over right now. No matter how small you think its reaches may be currently.

You’ll soon see results. And let me know how it works out!

Juha Kaartoluoma writes at Prince Awakened on Personal Development for conscious men. If you liked this article, you might also enjoy one of his top posts: We are Becoming Obsolete – 7 Tips to Help You Stay Relevant in the Future.

 Image courtesy of Jared Tarbell.

How To Get Amazing People In Your Life

Michelle Agner Blog, Networking Tips 11 Comments

There’s an ongoing debate about “networking” which will likely continue until you and I are both dead and gone.

Look over the reader comments on any article or blog post about networking and you’ll see two distinctly different perspectives on the concept.

The first camp says something along the lines of: “Networking doesn’t work! It’s painful and it’s fruitless and I don’t like going to networking events. I refuse to do it anymore.”

But don’t take my word for it…here’s one such reply I saw last week on this post about an alternative approach to networking [spelling and grammar errors are his, not mine]:

Yeah, right. When networking doesn’t work (which is for roughly 95% of the people), networking advocates (otherwise known as “asskissers”) have a litany of excuses for why not. “You’re not doing it right (whatever the right way is)” “You’re not doing it enough (which is to say, you’re going to the bathroom without networking on the way)”. “You’re not doing it with the right people (if I knew who the right people were, I wouldn’t need to network”. Networking is a phony strategy for phony people.

But then there’s the second group.

They avoid traditional networking events, too, because they don’t have much patience for a roomful of people tossing business cards around, each waiting for their turn to talk at you.

An Alternative Approach to Networking

For folks in this second group, “networking” means something entirely different.

They’re more concerned about making authentic connections with others who have shared interests and experiences. Sure, there’s potential for helping each other and providing mutual benefit down the road, but that’s not their primary objective.

How This Will Help You – Or Not

Admittedly, this is not a short-term approach. It’s a long-term process that requires a commitment to developing relationships.

If you just took a sales position and need to meet this month’s aggressive quota, this will not help you get there.

But regardless of your current profession, your geography, your future plans…a year from now, you’ll wish you’d adopted this approach a year ago.

Julien Smith: Best Example Ever

I’ve been reviewing a variety of products on this topic lately, and the most concise and compelling illustration of this alternate perspective comes from Julien Smith‘s recent post, The Most Important Connections I’ve Ever Made – and How I Made Them.

It’s a superb illustration of this alternate perspective on networking. It’s so superb that he doesn’t even mention the word networking.

In his post, Julien thanks and briefly profiles a number of people “who without question, are what helped me get where I am today.”

[He also states "I'm a lucky guy," which whenever I hear that from a multi-faceted, ambitious thought leader I can't help but think of the adage, "The harder I work, the luckier I get."]

Even though there’s a “Part II” of his post that tells us how we can get amazing people in our life, too, I found its real value to be hidden in the patterns of his relationships.

While reading the stories of how he met and connected with people like Chris Brogan, Seth Godin, and Mitch Joel, I realized that his was a somewhat meandering path of connecting with people about cool stuff and shared interests at that moment in time.

These amazing relationships were not born from a mission or a strategy to set up a network. They didn’t begin because Julien was trying to get something down the road, banking on the law of reciprocity.  He saw them as amazing people and wanted to get to know them better.

At the time, he had no idea what each of these connections could lead to, or who they’d lead him to. As I finished “Part I” of his post, I envisioned one of those neural-network brain photos. Better than it sounds, actually.

So my point is this: there’s  no quid pro quo. No guarantees that the connection you attempt to make will lead to anything besides the cup of coffee you suggest grabbing with them. And you have to be okay with that up front.

What You Can Do With This

You might see exactly what your next step is. Something you can do immediately that’ll move you closer to the goal of adding amazing people to your life. If that’s the case, great. Get out there.

But if this is a little murky and you can’t see clearly what step you could take today, here’s a low-risk idea: think about your hobbies. Find a leader or amazing person in that arena and consider how you could connect with them. Geography is no longer a barrier, thanks to the internet. They could live in Australia, like that amazing healthy-meals-in-minutes chick you admire.  How could you connect with her? What value can you offer?

A successful connection or two in a ‘safe” arena will give you the confidence and creativity on how to connect with amazing people in other areas of your life. And, like Julien, you don’t know where those connections will lead. That’s the fun part.

Most Importantly

Think about this from the perspective of that incessant interview question: “Where do you see yourself in five years?”

What will your answer be?

What will your ride from 2012 to 2017 look like?

Do you know who will be on that ride with you?

Some pretty amazing people.

 

Image courtesy of Jenny Downing. 

 

The Shocking Truth Why You Don't Show Up in LinkedIn's Search

Bryce Christiansen Blog, Networking Tips 14 Comments , ,

How many of you have a LinkedIn profile?  Probably most of you…right?

Now, how many of you have been contacted on LinkedIn by someone who found you through search? Probably just a few.

But it doesn’t make sense huh?

  • You groomed your profile so it had a compelling headline.
  • You put the keywords you want people to find you in the right spots.
  • You have recommendations from your coworkers, boss, and clients.
  • You have joined the groups related to your industry
  • And you’ve connected with everyone you know that is on LinkedIn.

So what’s left?

No it’s not that you haven’t answered LinkedIn Questions or been a more active member of your network.  It actually comes down to one number.  Your connections.

I’ll show you.

When a headhunter, recruiter, or anyone searches for a person, more often then not they will search for keywords or titles.

In this case I’ll demonstrate with a fairly generic term like Business Consultant.

Obviously specific results differ based on your profile, who you are connected to, etc.  But the general guidelines I’ll show you will be consistent for everyone.

Automatically, those in your network will shoot to the top, whether it’s a group or direct connection.

This is just one reason why having more connections and groups will be to your advantage, but let’s dig deeper first.

It’s pretty obvious from a glance that Kenneth has stuffed his profile with the keywords he wants to show up for, but you’ll also see he has 500+ connections. 

Keyword stuffing doesn’t get penalized on LinkedIn like it does on Google so lot’s of people take advantage of it.  But just stuffing your keywords all over your profile won’t get you seen.  The real differentiator is the connections.

In other words, if you keyword stuff your profile, don’t expect to shoot up the search list if you still only have 100 connections.

Also, I don’t recommend stuffing your profile full of keyword jargon if your goal is to get seen by recruiters or headhunters.  Do you think they want to hire a person who has a shady profile full of repetitive keywords?

The people who tend to do this are mostly hoping viewers will click on the link in their bio to see their actual website.

Let me show you another example to demonstrate that you can still stand out without using a gimmick like this.

Here’s Dennis’s profile.

 

This is much more acceptable.  He uses appropriate keywords but also has 500+ connections.

An important thing for me to note is that many times the people that are coming up aren’t just sitting on 500 connections…it’s more in the 1,000′s.

I can do this with several more but you get the point.

But I Don’t Know 500+ People on LinkedIn

Neither do I.  And to confess, I haven’t gotten to that 500+ number myself.  (But I’ll show you how you can a little later.)

You see, LinkedIn has strict rules for who you connect with.  And the penalties could be very bad for your network growth.

And they have a system for finding out if you are spamming connection invitations.

When you ask to connect with someone, that person has three options.

1.  Accept the request

2.  Ignore your request

3.  Report your request as SPAM

There are two ways you can get in trouble.

First, you can get reported if they select your connection as SPAM.

The second way is a bit less obvious.  If they click ignore, two more options come up.  These are; “I Don’t Know This Person” and “Report as Spam.”  If either of these are selected 5 times, LinkedIn will require you to enter the email address of anyone you want to connect with in the future.

So How Have Others Connected With Thousands of People Without Getting Reported?

The trick these people have found is to connect with only those they know will not click those two options.

The obvious low hanging fruit is the people they know in person that are on LinkedIn.

But for most of us, that won’t be enough.

So that’s where LION’s come in handy.

What’s a LION?

You may have seen a profile headline that looked something like this.

This means they are a LinkedIn Open Networker.  Meaning, they are open to connecting with new people. whether they know you or not.  There’s a good chance that if you request to connect with one of these people, they will accept, or at least not mark you as spam or “I don’t know”

So Where Do I Find Them?

Glad you asked.

Here’s a list of top LION Groups

  1. TopLinked.com (Open Networkers)
  2. OpenNetworker.com
  3. LION500.com
  4. InvitesWelcome.com (Open Networking)
  5. LION Worn with Pride

Often times you can join these groups and see if they have a discussion where people have openly commented that they are seeking new connections.  Those are the people to start with.

Some Hidden Benefits of Connecting with LION Members

One thing I found while looking at these groups was that many of these LION members also happened to be recruiters.  So that’s a plus.

Secondly, being connected with other people who are connected to a wide network will make you that much closer to being a 2nd or 3rd connection to those you want to be noticed by.

For example, say a headhunter is looking for a sales manager for their client.  When they search for sales managers you show up because you are now connected to someone in the headhunter’s network.  That connection may be a LION member with over 5,000 connections who just happened to have this headhunter and you as one of them.

Basically, the more connected the people in your network are, the more likely you will end up being connected to those who can make a difference in your career.

What Are Some Actual Numbers I Can Expect to See If I Become a LION?

How many times you show up in search or are looked at by other people on LinkedIn obviously depends on a few other things on top of the number of connections you have.

But will connecting with more people increase these numbers?

Absolutely.

I was lucky enough to share one LION’s numbers after they passed the 500+ threshold.

Not bad right?

How would you like to have over 600 people see your profile in a month or come up in search over a 1000 times?

Is Becoming a LION Right For You?

LinkedIn is YOUR personal network.

Before becoming a LION yourself, I’d ask you this question.

What is the goal of your LinkedIn profile?

For some it’s to help them passively find jobs.

Others use it to show credibility in case someone Google’s their name.

Some just made a profile because they were curious.

If coming up in search more often or getting more eyes on your profile will help you with your goal.  Think about it and see if it’s the right fit for you.

If LinkedIn is more useful to you to see what connections you have through the people you actually know, becoming a LION could make that much more difficult.

What do you think?  Share in the comments below.

image courtesy of HasinHayder

Are You Grooming Others For Success? (And Why Avoiding It Can Cost You a Job)

Lori Dryburgh Networking Tips 12 Comments ,

As I write this, it’s tough not to be thinking about jobs. First, of course, the front page of the morning paper is about the loss of too young, Steve Jobs. Then, in my car on the radio, President Obama’s press conference pressing his jobs bill.  Then, young Wall Street protesters clamoring for jobs to pay off student loans and start a life. And, Sarah Palin declining to apply for the job as President. Jobs are definitely in the news!

One Trick Will Do Wonders When You Look For A Job

Harvey Mackay recently published a new book about jobs, “Use Your Head to Get Your Foot in the Door” (affiliate).  It’s a great book that we recommend to clients … not because they’re necessarily looking for a job but because so much of the valuable advice in this book should be acted upon while you STILL have a job. Like what? Like NETWORKING.

It’s sprinkled all through the book because the book talks not only to how to get a job but how to keep the one you have. He even offers a 100% guarantee that if you don’t find a job within six months he’ll refund the cost of the book.
Mackay believes that the average person will have at least three career changes and ten different jobs by age 38. Over that time new jobs and careers will have been created that didn’t exist when you started out.

Mackay writes a weekly column (you can subscribe to it online) and on Monday the column title was: “Advanced Networking: The Fastest Track in Careers.” In this column he lists the nine most important new things he has learned about networking in the last ten years. It’s definitely worth reading but one of his points really came home to me.

Do You Showcase Developmental Prowess?

It’s number 7. Showcase your developmental prowess.  He says that “top executives increasingly want to know the answer to one question in evaluating other industry leaders for any role: What top people have you developed and where are they today? Make it a point to keep success stories you helped to groom part of your network.”

Years ago in my corporate life I had an amazing manager who “groomed” me and others he felt had potential. I continued to be a part of his network and shortly before he retired we were talking about all the amazing projects he had headed up, the major competitive wins he had spearheaded; his very accomplished career.

At that point he said to me, “You know Lori, all the things I did in terms of making stuff happen for the corporation are not my legacy. That was all well and good at the time but it’s the people I helped with their careers, their successes, that’s what I want to be remembered for. The positive impact I had on the people.”

We can get so caught up in our own jobs and careers that we forget that yes, making the numbers this quarter is really important, and yes, getting that next promotion and raise is significant but, who are you helping, mentoring, and coaching? At the end of your career, what will people be saying about you?

image courtesy of bujiie

How to Take the Politics Out of Networking

Jim Dryburgh Networking Tips 2 Comments , , ,

How do you feel when you enter a convention or networking event?  Nervous, shy, uncomfortable?

This distress is understandable.

Typically, we rise through the ranks through our strong command of the technical elements of their jobs and a 24/7 focus on accomplishing our objectives. When challenged to move beyond our functional specialty and address the strategic issues facing the business, many times we don’t get that this will involve relational— not analytical—tasks. Nor do we “get” that these relational interactions are not distractions from their “real work” but are actually at the heart of new leadership roles.

In addition, some of us find networking manipulative—at best, a disingenuous way of using people—at worst, a process tightly meshed with office politics and power struggles.

Humans are political by nature. In many respects, political activity is synonymous with influencing activity. Scholars such as Maslow and McClelland have demonstrated that we are hard wired to achieve, if only to put food on the table or to be accepted by supportive social groupings. This requires that we have to influence other people in some way.

For many, the difference between influence and politics is found in the underlying intent that motivates the action. In most cases the actions — and the skills — are identical.

If the intent is orientated towards self-interest, lack of trust pervades and politicking escalates. When the motivation is to move the organization forward while recognizing personal interest, collaboration can flourish.

Value Based Networking’s fundamental premise is that you provide value to others FIRST. The best networkers take every opportunity to give to their network.

That said, a network lives and thrives only when it is used. You must do something—anything—that gets the ball rolling and builds confidence that you do, in fact, have something to contribute. And, you must also be willing to accept help. The law of reciprocation says that when you do things of value for others they will want to return the favor—and you must let them.

If you are holding on to the belief that you don’t do politics you can create a blind spot which may prevent you from developing positive influencing skills and developing powerful networks.

If this applies to you, reflect on the questions below.

1. When you hear the words “politics” and “influence” and “networking”, what thoughts come to mind?

2. What are the differences between these words?

3. What skills are relevant to each?

4. How good are you with these skills?

5. In your organization, what sort of politics dominates the culture?

6. What is motivating this activity?

7. Where does trust feature in this?

8. How well does all this fit with your values and integrity?

9. Who do you know who is able to survive and thrive with the right motivations?

10. What do they do that you don’t do?

11. Could you find a way to maintain your integrity and flourish in this climate?

12. What new things would you have to learn to be able do this?

Building a value based network is a matter of will. You must be willing to take the first step; to make the effort.

Networking is also a skill, one that takes practice. We have seen that people who work at networking can learn not only how to do it well but also how to enjoy it. The trick is to get your mind around your intent and motivation and then determine what value you can bring to others.

image courtesy of MyTudut

How to Get Noticed by Headhunters on LinkedIn

Bryce Christiansen Blog, Networking Tips, Professional Development 13 Comments , , , , ,

Getting noticed by headhunters on LinkedIn is a lot like marketing a fancy product.

Imagine you are a shiny, one-of-a-kind item, but no one knows about you…yet.  Your goal is to be discovered by someone that will find you useful and take care of you, but how do you do that?

You look around and notice some products send “junk mail” to the local neighborhoods, hoping that they will be picked out of a stack of other competing advertisements.  Some products sit on a shelf at the back of the group, waiting for their turn to come.  Lastly, some products go door to door, hoping someone won’t be bothered to ignore their passion to be purchased.

Are we not all our own brands? Yet, I’ve noticed we often market ourselves in a similar manner, like a cheap, disposable, trinket.

For instance, how many times have you read a job search article where they talk about Joe Smith sending out 100 resumes and still not getting the job. Are resumes alone, not much different than junk mail to some hiring managers?

Even when our resumes do go out, how often do they sit in a pile of similar resumes, while you rely on someone to pick yours out?  Or have you ever driven around the neighborhood like a high school teenager, looking for “Now Hiring” signs.

These are all frustrating and time consuming methods, that have a high likelihood of leaving you unfulfilled even if you do land the job.  What if people came to you with great fitting job opportunities? That’s what LinkedIn can offer…if you do it right.

How LinkedIn Will Make Your Job Search 10 Times Easier

LinkedIn is the place where more recruiters are finding qualified job candidates.  Two years ago 67% of recruiters used LinkedIn, now it’s up to 95%.  Today 69 of the Fortune 100 companies have a page on LinkedIn.

Learning the skills to market your LinkedIn profile can pull great opportunities in your direction.  In the past week, I’ve been approached by two headhunters for great paying positions (see below).  If a recent college grad like myself can have these opportunities coming in a recession, you can do the same.

Step 1. Make Your Profile Keyword Rich

The first step to getting noticed by headhunters is to make your profile keyword rich. Unlike Google, LinkedIn’s search is almost completely driven by keyword density. You can test this by searching for “social media”.  Look at the first person that comes up and note how many times they use “social media” in their profile.

So what keywords should I use?  Recruiters usually search for two things; titles/skills and location. You can find the skills to use as keywords by reviewing job descriptions for the next position you seek.

Once you have the keywords you want to show up for, start using them in the following sections of your LinkedIn profile; Summary, Specialties, and Experience.

Keep it looking natural and meaningful where you use those words.  Some people go overboard such as this guy.  He may get noticed, but what hiring manager would be impressed by someone who spams their profile full of keywords meaninglessly?

Step 2.  Join Your Industry’s Groups

Have you ever noticed every time you check your home page of LinkedIn there are those people who are joining a million groups? You might have tried some for yourself but found them less than engaging.  It turns out there is a secondary reason for being a part of these industry oriented groups.  Recruiters love them.

If you are a recruiter and you search for “Phoenix Social Media” and you find mostly candidates like this guy again, you are not going to be very satisfied.  So you go to the next best area and look inside the targeted industry groups for professionals that match your search.

When you are approached by a recruiter, take the opportunity to see what groups they are a part of and join the ones that match your skill set.

Step 3.  Get to 500 Connections

This step is definitely the hardest, but has good support for why it’s necessary.  Right now if you have less than 100 connections, you are only going to appear in about 3% of the searches.  Compare that to those who have over 500 connections.  They come up in over 90% of the searches.

Whatever you do, don’t start asking just anyone to be a connection in order for you to reach that goal. If they respond to your request by selecting, “I don’t know them,” LinkedIn will make it so you can’t send any future requests without an email address.

There are ways to get there without having to know 500 people on LinkedIn.  Start with coworkers, family, friends, club members, etc.  Once you have a decent base of contacts go to the “People You May Know” section of LinkedIn and look for anyone that your contacts may know that you forgot about.

What if you’ve done that and still don’t have 500? At this point I suggest looking for local groups on LinkedIn, searching for similar professionals, and sending them a personal note about why it would be valuable for the two of you to connect.

For example, I’m personally a member of an active local networking group called Connected In the East Valley.  Everyone in the group already has a connection because we live in the same suburb region.  I did an advanced search inside of only this group for the keyword Marketing.

Then I sent the following message;

I noticed we both are in the Connected in the East Valley group. I live in … myself.

I wanted to connect with other professionals with marketing experience in the group in case we ever wanted to pass on job opportunities, share ideas, get help, or recommend resources.

Hope to connect with you.

Bryce

I’m seeing a very high acceptance rate with this approach and should be able to reach my goal fairly soon.  I’m confident you can be successful with a similar approach.

Conclusion

I know many of the people who read this are also bloggers or entrepreneurs as well.  I’d be happy to connect with you to help start building your momentum.  You can find my profile here.  http://www.linkedin.com/in/brycechristiansen

Let me know what questions you have or any strategies you’ve found successful in the comments below.

image courtesy of Mays Business School

4 Networking Tips to Learn From Salespeople’s Mistakes

Bryce Christiansen Networking Tips 1 Comment

Make a list of the top 10 professions you dislike to deal with and you’ll be likely to find two always come to mind, dentists and salespeople.  We all know why we dislike trips to the dentist but why do salespeople get a hard rep?

After looking at the Harvard Business Review study of Seller’s Biggest Mistakes, I began to see a strong correlation between the mistakes they were making and effective networking.

Mistake #1 Don’t Follow My Company’s Buying Process

Having come from a sales position in the past, I can completely agree that we messed this one up all the time.  As human beings we like to have control.  However, when your buyer’s sales process doesn’t match the timeframe and process your sales manager prefers, you are left in an awkward situation.  Ironically, that often leads sales people to making some of the mistakes further on.

In our own networking, we make the same mistakes.  Instead of buying a service or product, our contacts buy relationships and time. Similar to buying processes, we all have different ways we prefer to communicate, interact, and build on each other.

For example, do you know people who get bored after you start talking for more than a few minutes?  Or those who prefer to text or email over an actual phone conversation?  Do you know people who enjoy company?  The styles and behaviors of your contacts differ just as much as those the businesses sales people sale to.

Mistake #2  Don’t Listen to My Needs

So you sell widgets that fix every problem a customer could possibly have.  However, as you continue ongoing conversations, you discover their needs may be a little different from what your widgets typically handle.  In response, you quickly smother that problem and get back to how great your widget is.

It’s a true story, that’s one of the tactics we were encouraged to use as a sales person, and it’s understandable why buyer’s would be put off by it.  At the same time, we make the same mistake when networking.

We know how great it would be to make a connection with so and so, and then seek out to introduce ourselves and give them a card.  A month later when we haven’t heard anything back from them, we wonder why they aren’t showing interest.  After all, we can offer so much.

One of the keys we teach in Value Based Networking, is to focus on the value you can provide your network FIRST.  Recently, I was at a convention with a bunch of comic and graphic novel artists.  I thought it would be really neat to have some original artwork showing superheroes trying to use social media, but how was I supposed to convince them to do that for me?

I knew that many of these people were trying to get recognition for their work as well. I happened to have a healthy number of social media contacts and followers on my own network that I could expose their work to and get them a good number of new audiences.

I introduced myself and told them I would like to share their work on my social networks where I have thousands of followers that would be very interested to see their take on social media from a superhero’s perspective.

I came away with arms full of great material and business cards that was above and beyond what I had come to the convention expecting.

Mistake #3 Don’t Follow Up

This one confused me when I first saw it.  Why would any sales person with all the pressure they have to hit numbers, neglect to follow up with their clients? However, when we consider how well we keep in touch with our list of networks, it’s fair to assume we can always improve.

I am quick to recognize my own mistakes in this area.  A month or more ago, I had lunch with an old co-worker and we had a great time catching up.  Yesterday he gave me a call to fill me in on some connections he made with the CEO of the company we worked with previously.

All I could think of after that call was, how awful I am at following up with my network.  I’ll have an excellent time and connection with someone and then let months pass before reaching out again to see how they are doing or to provide them some value.

Don’t let yourself make my same mistake.  I was lucky to get a call back, but who knows what opportunities I could be missing out on by neglecting the follow up.

Mistake #4 Are Pushy, Aggressive, or Disrespectful

Do you think sales people know they are pushy, aggressive, or disrespectful?  I think it’s usually one of two things.  One, they are clueless that they are behaving inappropriately towards their potential buyer.  Two, they are not naturally aggressive, but are encouraged to be so due to management, deadlines, or numbers.

In our own networking and relationships we may not always understand how we are appearing to those around us.  We may “think” our behavior is reasonable and that everyone is enjoying our company, when in reality our styles are conflicting.

One really powerful tool we use with clients are DISC, Value, and Motivator assessments.  They allow us to get detailed reports on a person’s natural and adapted behavior styles.  For instance, we can see how they react under stress, how other’s may interpret their behavior, and what truly motivates them.

Using this information, we can best know how to adapt our behavior to match the style that our contact’s appreciate communicating through.

What to Do Next

1. Check Out Value Based Networking:  If you are interested in more help with your networking, we have an exceptional program Fortune 500 companies have used to increase their sales, client relationships, and personnel training.

2. Download a Free Personal Assessment: Take a look at the assessments mentioned above.  See if they might be helpful in your networking or personal growth.

3. Browse the other networking blogs: If you click on Networking Tips under categories, you will find a variety of networking articles we have posted.

image courtesy of pj_in_oz

The Superhero Way to Getting What You Want

Bryce Christiansen Networking Tips 7 Comments

This last weekend I was at one of the strangest yet entertaining conventions I’ve ever experienced, the Amazing Comic Con.  I was hesitant to attend since I only enjoy some comic based movies and an occasional graphic novel, but a close friend really wanted to go and I knew at least it would be interesting.

Going into the event, I had no idea that I would come out of it with some remarkable observations about getting what you want.

So You Want to Get Your Picture with IronMan

The first thing anyone notices at one of these events is the medley of characters that are patrolling the grounds.  Yet, I was taken aback by how nervous people were about approaching these characters for pictures, my friend included.

As much as you’d like for this to happen, Darth Vader just isn’t going to come up and ask you to take a picture with him. I knew this was a great opportunity to get some unique photo shots, so I took what I’ve learned from the networking tips I’ve received and applied it for getting pictures with Wolverine, IronMan, and others.

1.       Make Your Request For A Favor Easy to Fulfill. Whenever I reach out to a networking prospect to hold lunch or any other request, I make sure to keep things as simple for the other party as possible.  I plan out the location, time frame, and supply directions all in advance.  That way when they are considering my networking request they don’t have to worry about any extra effort or work on their part.

So in regards to getting pictures with the superheroes and other characters, I made sure to do the same.  We didn’t ask one of their friends hanging around to take the picture for us.  We didn’t creepily stalk them for 10 minutes before saying a word.  I just took all the bags of giveaways  my friend had, preset my phone  to take snap shots, and then simply asked them if I could take a quick picture of my friend with them.

2. Make it a Win/Win Situation. Another important part of networking to get what you want is to make any time spent together a win/win situation.  Despite everyone’s best intentions, we all subconsciously think, “what’s in it for me.”  Even Spider-Man can feel that way at times.

I made sure to apply this throughout the day, but for the costumed folks, I made sure to get the contact information, social media links, or any other way to follow up and send pictures back to them.  They often are so busy posing for others that they never get pictures for themselves.  I found them very appreciative of the follow up I did for them.

Meeting Powerful Creators

networking tips

Later in the day, there were several panels with some of the bigger names from Marvel and television.  One such person was Robert Kirkman, the creator of the Walking Dead franchise, nominated for two Golden Globes as best drama series.

Crowds of people waited hours to get his signature and photo, but I quickly realized who the smart fans were. The ones applying their networking skills, which leads to secret number 3.

3.       Make Connections to Powerful People Through Others. It is very unlikely that you will get to sit with Obama, Oprah, or any other influential person and get their time unless you happen to have an “in”.  Many times, the “in” are the people around them.

Let me tell you what I mean.  Not willing to wait 3 hours to get a picture with someone I just learned about last year, I decided to look around the other booths.  While doing this I happened to find Sina the editor for the Walking Dead Comic, which the show was based on.  He was hanging out and enjoying the con himself with no one even giving him much notice.

Then someone caught on to an incredible opportunity.  Some local bloggers, introduced themselves to Sina and started taking interest in him, instead of Kirkman.  After all, I later found out Sina had an interesting story as well.  At 14 he started interning at a comic publishing company, now in his twenties, he’s the editor of one of the best-selling comics in the world.  After spending some time with Sina, the bloggers were able to get a special interview with Kirkman after the signings finished.

Getting Incredible Art…For Free!

One of my favorite parts of the convention was getting to meet the talented artists.  There was something for everyone at the convention.

One interesting panel I visited featured many of these artists, all taking center stage in front of an audience of hundreds.  For the next hour they would take suggestions from the crowd and sketch them over intervals of 15, 30, and 45 minutes.

Being in Marketing, I have found art to play a powerful role in grabbing attention, sharing a message, and building credibility.  So I took it as an opportunity to throw some ideas out that I would be able to apply in the marketing world.

When they started asking for suggestions I had already thought it through.  With Marvel making a new blockbuster movie this May featuring the God of Thunder Thor, I shouted out, “Draw Thor trying to use social media!”

Getting What You Want

Various panelists laughed out loud, and I knew my suggestion had peaked some of their interest.  I was shocked when after all the other yelling died down that half the panel had chosen to go forward with my idea.

During the drawing process various rows could come up to peak over the artists shoulder’s to get a view of the work.  I was very impressed with the quality that they were able to come up with in such a short amount of time.

When the work was completed, I knew it would be great to go home with one of the sketches based on my suggested topic, but how was I going to do that in such a huge audience.  Again, using the networking tips, I’ve picked up here at The Balanced Worklife Company, I gave myself an unfair advantage.

4.       Sit Up Front and Interact. In networking you have to stand out from the crowd.  You are just a face among hundreds for the most part, unless you can do something different.  In networking, it pays to sit up front and interact.

I did the same in this situation.  I made sure the artist panel could easily find me in the crowd by being up front, and then I interacted by making suggestions.

5. Don’t Wait to Ask For What You Want. One mistake many people make is to not act on their goals.  We all know what we want to accomplish, but we often feel that we need a push to really put the initiative into actually seeking it out.  We feel that we can’t be the first one in a group to step forward with our next move.

At the convention, I saw the same behavior.  Once the artwork was completed, the panel was rushing to get their supplies packed to go, since the next event would start shortly in that room.  As the audience was shifting in their seats deciding where to go next, I went up to speak with the artist of the piece I liked the best and let him know I was interested in it.

I told him I was in social media and thought it would be neat for me to share on my Twitter and Facebook and would gladly send people his way.  He signed it and gave it to me.  Not two seconds later, the emcee told everyone they should come up and pick from the work to take for themselves.  Immediately, there was a mad rush to the front.

If I had waited for the audience to react, there was a good chance I went home with nothing.

6. The Law of Reciprocity. There is a peculiar thing that happens when you do something good for someone.  They tend to return the favor.  This law of reciprocity is a powerful tool for anyone looking to improve their networking skills.

It turned out to work the same way here.  I met with some more of the artists I found interesting and introduced myself.  I asked if they could draw their interpretation of superheroes using social media and that I would share it with my social media club, and the other followers I had in my social media networks.  None of the artists I spoke with turned it down.  I ended up walking away with hands full of art, business cards, and more.

When I got home I scanned in high resolution images of the art and sent them back to the creators.  This allowed them to keep it for their personal collections as well.  And then something interesting happened.  They started sharing on their sites about me.  One said, “Thor sketch I did for Bryce on Twitter. The guy was really cool and as always Thor looks the way he should, with beard and sans helmet.”

So What?

When we think of networking, we typically associate it with a necessary task, but one that we face reluctantly.  Hopefully, the experiences I shared can show you how these skills can play an interesting role in your own hobbies, bartering, or meeting fascinating people.

Share in the Comments Below

When has networking helped you when you least suspected it?  What are the mistakes people are making?

The Best of Balanced WorkLife Blog 2010

Bryce Christiansen Blog, Networking Tips, Personal Growth, Professional Development, Understanding Yourself, WorkLife Balance 1 Comment

We have had an exceptional year in 2010.  We built a new site, revamped the blog, and found a great audience of readers.  To begin the new year, I thought it would be good to share some of the top content we’ve developed over the year.

The Story of the Devil’s Wedge

This was a great fable about the Devil’s favorite tool.  There are some great messages about habits, optimism, and setbacks.

Read it here.

Personal Growth Lesson # 3: Why Cancer is Not All Bad

After being challenged to share my personal growth stories, I wrote this article to share my experiences with fighting cancer as a child, family relationships, and more.

Read it here.

3 Networking Secrets to Finding a Job Quickly

It’s no secret that job seeking was a popular topic for 2010.  One of our core talents at The Balanced WorkLife Company is professional networking.  We shared some stories and examples to help those interested in accelerating their job search.

Read it here.

Team Building The Balanced WorkLife Way

We host a number of team building events.  We took a flip cam with us to record some of the different activities and commentate on how the different team members interact.

Read it here.

Find Out How Unbalanced Your Life May Be

We presented a neat little balance wheel exercise to help people recognize the areas where work life balance may need adjustment.  Go give it a try yourself.

Read it here.

How Applying Behavior and Motivator Assessments Can Improve Your Life: Part 1

This was an excellent look at a tool many people are unaware of.  DISC and Motivator Assessments are amazing resources for getting a new perspective on your behaviors and motivators.

Read it here.

Do You Have a Career or Do You Work?

Bryce Christiansen Networking Tips, Professional Development 5 Comments

Chris Brogan shared a fascinating point a few days ago. He said;

“I’ve been telling anyone who’ll listen that a job is just a unit of measurement of work. Meaning, you don’t need to be an employee to find fulfilling and secure work. You need to work to find work.
I also mean this in the sense that we sometimes think that we’re built for one career, when we’re really just a series of skill sets in search of fulfillment.”

This point really stood out to me for a number of reasons.

Why Your Exceptional Talents Come First

First, one tool and concept we use heavily with our clients is our exceptional talent tool. It essentially helps us find what talents, tasks, and strategic work we are superior at doing as well as enjoy. Chris Brogan is right on point when he says that we are really just a series of skill sets in search of fulfillment.

In order for you to truly enjoy and get the satisfaction out of the “work” you do, you need to know what your exceptional talents are first. Then you can find ways to focus as much of your time on those talents while developing the talents that will propel your future.

How Networking Will Keep You Working

The next point we both agree on is the importance of networking. What many in the job force don’t realize is that our boss isn’t actively looking for work for us to do. The managers, owners, and partners you work with all have their own goals to hit.

Through networking and building relationships, you will know what meaningful work you can get done to make a significant impact in your boss’ eye. If you become a priceless resource to your team, company, and boss, because you are linked into the projects and problems they need your help to solve, than the outsourcing, downsizing and layoffs will have to work that much harder to get rid of you.

The Perspective You Have to Take On Careers to Survive Today

Lastly, if you are planning on always having fulfilling work you need to have a different perspective.

I like how Chris put it:

“You are, and forever more will be, someone who has a portfolio career, someone who is developing several projects, one of which may or may not be a salaried position”

For example, I have a passion for marketing. I love to write, create, and sell and watch as others start to build a relationship and enjoy value from what I market. I love to tell personal experiences and read other people’s stories, learn from them, and grow as a community.

How do I make that into a “job” or “work” even if I’m not neccessarily salaried for it?

Easy, about a year ago I wanted to learn more about SEO and get some real learning and exposure to it. At the time I was in a cold calling sales job that didn’t let me develop that talent. So I applied for a freelance position with Ehow and started writing articles for them. Because I knew my talents were more in line with marketing than with cold calling I chose to develop the work for myself.

I learned a lot about SEO as well. I have multiple articles on the first page of Google as a result and am able to apply those same skills today as I’ve transitioned to a “salaried job” that matches those talents.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who has experienced this. You may have a job that really doesn’t match your passions or you might be searching for a job in your talent area. Don’t let that delay you from “working”.

I’m curious to hear what stories and you have on the perspective of work, passions, and the way the economy has had you adapt. Share in the comments below.

image stuart conner

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