Networking for Business

How important is networking to you

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Keith Ferrazzi's 10 Secrets to Success

by Keith Ferrazzi

1. You Can't Get There Alone. For each and every thing you want to achieve in life, whether it's landing a job, earning a raise or promotion, or finding lifelong romance there'll be at least one person on the other end making decisions. Everything we do can only be accomplished through and with other people. Simply put, success, of any kind, requires relationships.

2. Business Relationships Are Personal Relationships. The most common mistake people make when building relationships for career success is treating business contacts differently than personal friends. Just think for a moment about the people you work with on a professional level who are also close personal friends. Aren't they always more forgiving when you slip up and more helpful when you're in need? Of course! I guarantee your work will become easier and more joyful if you make more of your business relationships personal.

3. Have a good RAP. Later this year, my company is going to release a workbook to help you build a full-fledged Relationship Action Plan (RAP) for achieving your goals in the next 60 days through the next 10 years, but for now, here's a simple way to get started. First, write down your goals. Then, next to each goal, write the names and types of people who can help you achieve them. Think of (and be sure to take notes!) how you can reach those people and how you can contribute to their success, also. The more specific your plan and the more you put your goals out there, the more everyone will conspire to help you. But if you don't focus on what you want or you don't tell anyone, no one can help you. They can't read your mind.

4. Build it before you need it. I can't tell you how many times a friend has called me and said, "Keith, I just became unemployed. I need to start networking; will you teach me how?" My answer: "No. No. No. You need to start job-hunting! You should have been building relationships for the past five or ten years, so now that you need a job, you could make twenty calls and have five job offers waiting for you in a week." The lesson: Start building those relationships today!

5. Don't be a networking jerk. When I give talks to college and grad students, the always ask me, What are the secrets to success? What are the unspoken rules for making it big? "So you want the inside scoop," I respond. "Fair enough. I'll sum up the key to success in one word: Generosity." The kids are shocked because they thought I'd help them learn the manipulative tricks of the self-centered "networker," the one holding a martini with one hand and scattering business cards with the other. But the time of that Networking Jerk is over! Remember that the #1 key to success is generosity. Give your talents, give your contacts, and give your hard work to make others successful without keeping score.

6. Be interesting. While I would say that your relationships are the most critical piece of your personal brand, before you can develop those relationships you've got to have something to say. Just having two arms, two legs, and an MBA won't get you anywhere anymore. If you want to become more valuable in the marketplace and more intriguing to the world at large, you must develop some deep expertise in your mind and root some higher-order passion in your heart.

8. Never Eat Alone. This rule is obviously one you can't follow 100 percent, but it's a great way to remember to invite others into the activities you already enjoy doing. I love sharing great meals, but I also enjoy bringing friends to workouts and to church. Share your passions and building relationships in no extra time than you already devote to your favorite activities. Plus, since you'll be energized and fun while doing things you love, others will see you in your best light (instead of in those nasty fluorescents of the office).

9. Get a buddy. Just as people lose weight more effectively if they have a workout partner, your efforts to build relationships will be more successful if you team up. You and your buddy can exchange support, guidance, and motivation. And together, you can try one of my favorite tactics—trading networks. Throw a dinner party together and you'll each be responsible for only half the guest list, half the cost, and half the effort. But your circle of friends will become twice the size, and you'll have twice the fun!

10. If you don't ask, you won't get. People with a low tolerance for risk, whose behavior is guided by fear, have a low propensity for success. My father taught me that to get what you want, sometimes you must be willing to go out and ask for it. The worst anyone can say is no. If they choose not to give their time or their help, it's their loss. On the other hand, you also have to be able to accept generosity when it's offered. There are times when I can make a big difference in another person's life. I can open a door or place a call or set up an internship—one of those simple acts by which destinies are altered. But too often the offer is refused. People insist on trying to beat the world by themselves, and they continue to struggle. Next time you're tempted by that misguided fantasy of success through John Wayne individualism. I hope you'll remember the first secret. You can't get there alone. We're all in this together.

Frequently called one of the country's most "connected" people, Keith Ferrazzi's new national-bestselling book is Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time. To learn more from Ferrazzi on building relationships for success, visit http://www.NeverEatAlone.com

The most common consumer electronics device

This is probably no surprise to anyone who isn't living in a hole:

"One billion mobile phones will be sold in 2009,and by the end of that year some 2.6 billion mobiles will be in regular use around the world according to research firm Gartner."The findings are based on a study that looked at sales figures from 62 countries around the globe",the BBC reports."Mobile phones could go on to be the most common consumer electronics device on the planet,"said Gartner analyst Ben Wood."

Network With You? I Don't Even Know You, And Other Affronts

Here's a terrific article on the quality vs. quantity thing by Konstantin Guericke, VP Marketing and Co-Founder, LinkedIn

A little over a month ago, an online service that manages Ben Harel's business contacts sent out one of those automatic emails asking his contacts to update their personal information in his digital address book. Such procedures are supposed to freshen up the Rolodex and may even encourage a little reunion among old business acquaintances. But in this case at least one recipient -- me -- didn't have the foggiest notion where he could have met Mr. Harel.

So I left a message for Mr. Harel to call me back. No need to explain who I was because he apparently knew this.

"You know who I am, right?" I asked him when he returned my call.

"The truth of the matter?" he asked sheepishly. "No."

It's hard to tell which is worse: 1) the reflexive nature of business networking today when some software can purportedly re-establish a connection that was never there. Or 2) making too much effort at a networking event -- a.k.a., a grip and grin or meet and greet -- where the sincerity can seem as shallow as the undersized coffee cups. That isn't to say that business relationships aren't crucial. But with so many books, motivational speakers and six-step seminars creating an avalanche of advice on how to build business relationships, the aphorism "It's who you know" is in danger of becoming "It's who you know of." And how did we all become such cheap dates that a business card can become a contract?

Part of the problem may lie with our mothers, who seem to think that if two people live in the same hemisphere they have enough in common to become business partners (and maybe marry and produce grandchildren -- you never know... ). Ken Stewart declines to go to networking events most of the time, but he can't turn down his mother in Opelousas, La. While she can't use the Internet very well and lacks proficiency at email, "the woman can work a three-way call like you wouldn't believe!" he says. Recently, she called him at 7 a.m. California time. He groggily exchanged pleasantries until she told him: "I've got so and so on the line. She's just moved out to Southern California. She does the same thing you do." Now Mr. Stewart is in insurance, and the woman on the line was about to become a bank teller. But he mustered a warm "Fantastic," and welcomed her to the state. Then, because he has now had lots of practice, he finally extricated himself from the conversation. "If you ever get into the insurance industry," he told the woman, "call my mom."

Indeed, statistics suggest networking isn't as widely used as some seem to think. Of the 7.2 million job seekers last year, only 18% said they used friends or relatives as a method of trying to find work, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Networking gurus like to point out that among higher-income executives; more than 60% have obtained their position through an existing relationship. But those people are likely to be older and to have more exposure to people who actually know their work, something that happens to non-networkers over time.

Networking schmooze fests have become a particular target. "Now there's a worthwhile exercise: exchanging business cards and nonsuccess stories with 25 other people in your field who are out of work," says Jeff Sinnott, referring to the monthly networking and support groups offered by a job-search firm he used.

Elizabeth Low says she has participated in more than her share of awkward networking events. There was the time she met a Mary Kay associate who seemed to have no idea that the founder had died. "She looks so great even to this day," the woman told Ms. Low. At another event, she was deep in conversation with an old friend when a fresh-faced young man starting out in financial services interrupted, introduced himself and then, after a long silence, came clean: "Well, can I get your business cards?" he asked them. "My boss told me I could only come to this event if I collect a certain number of business cards."

Stories like these stick in the craw of networking gurus. "That's not a relationship. It's a scavenger hunt," says Dave Opton, chief executive of ExecuNet, a career management and recruitment network. "If you want to be effective in the care and feeding of a network, you've got to base a relationship on what's real instead of artificial."

Keith Ferrazzi, author of "Never Eat Alone" and an accomplished networker himself, agrees. "It's about relationships, and it's about organically engendering trust," he says. "If you keep score, people smell it on you a mile away." Still, it's hard to talk about networking without it sounding inorganic and transactional. Even Mr. Ferrazzi notes that there is a bit of a "formula" to possessing a networking "skill set" that includes intimacy and generosity on the part of the person trying to build relationships.

Gizmo has one up on Skype

If you are like networking you probably already use Skype.  If you are anything like me you use it a lot.  But there is one restriction that I find problematic with Skype - it's inability to record calls. If there was one thing I would change about Skype it would be adding easy recording of conversations. Then along comes Gizmo. I really like this application as it has more flexibility than Skype.

So here's a message to those Skype guys: What's up with your Gizmo?

WorldWIT's Liz Ryan on networking for jobs

Liz Ryan, founder of the WorldWIT (Women In Technology), has some suggestions for job seekers using LinkedIn. This is a letter directed to a new graduate...

Dear Emily,

Congratulations on your new degree! Here are a few ideas on using LinkedIn in your job search.

I don't think that an overt outreach campaign that reaches out to people (whether hiring managers, HR folks, or other influencers) at various companies and tells them about your job search, is going to be especially satisfying for you. For one thing, this is the sort of contact that people fear when they're trying to decide whether or not to join a network like LinkedIn. Unless there is some clear, compelling intersection between your background or talents and the company's specific need, I would view this as typically unwelcome contact.

(I'm just one person. But I'm a ridiculously long-in-the-tooth HR person, with a focus on job hunting.)

Luckily, there are many better ways to use LinkedIn in your job search.

Here are four of them, for starters:

1) Check out LinkedIn jobs, naturally. If you can see a job there, that means that you're connected to the job, which is very sweet for a new grad.

If you do not have tons of connections, connect to some of us on the PowerForum, who love to help new grads. :-)

2) Use LinkedIn for your job-search research project. You will focus on specific companies - you should do that, as it gives you a target for your job search and turns you into an active job researcher/seeker rather than just a person who trolls Monster.com all day long. As you identify these companies, you can learn a TON about them via LinkedIn. Search on the company name to find people who work there now or who used to work there - what sorts of backgrounds do they have? What sorts of education? Which of these target companies seem most suitable for you given your own experiences and interests?

If you're looking to apply at a company and don't feel comfortable contacting someone who works there now, out of the blue (and who could blame you for that), contact someone who USED to work there! Corporate alums are under no pressure to recommend you for a job, and will most likely talk very freely about their former company. This is the indirect approach - LinkedIn is a terrific vehicle for that. (Do the person a favor, since he or she is helping you - create a logo for his or her teenage daughter's blog, for instance.)

3) Use LinkedIn to find relevant headhunters to talk to. Headhunters are well-connected and, like real estate agents, seldom shun a phone call that comes out of the blue (although it may take them awhile to call you back).

They may not be able to help you find a job specifically - lots of search people don't work with new grads, because new grads are not the job-seekers that firms will typically pay search people to find for them - but they can advise you nonetheless. In ten minutes on the phone with a headhunter you can learn enough to target some companies, drop others from your list entirely, and save yourself hours or weeks of trouble.

4) Very important - use LinkedIn to expand the network of people you ALREADY know, who should be informed that you are out of school and job-hunting.

Where there isn't a compelling rationale for contact, it's awkward to reach out to strangers and say "Gee, want to hire me?" But you should absolutely use LinkedIn to get back in touch with people you already know - friends of your parents, your friends' parents and older siblings, the lady you babysat for in high school, anyone you interned for during college, the McKinsey VP who sang in choir at church all those years with your mom - get it? - and enroll them in supporting your job search.

What you are doing with LinkedIn in this case is simply pulling together your existing network (the people you know, though you may not have thought of them as your network) and bringing them up to date on your professional status. Here's how to find them:

a) do a LinkedIn search on the city where you grew up and identify people you know. If you grew up in San Jose or New York or Chicago, scratch that and go right to b)

b) sit down with a piece of paper and a pencil and list everyone in business that you know. A new grad should be able to list 100 such people - push yourself. Think about Girl Scout leaders, the volunteer who directed "Grease" your senior year of high school, the track team parents, the librarian back in your high school who is a corporate Knowledge Manager now

- you can do it! Once you have the list on paper (actually, do it in Word so you can cut and paste names into the LinkedIn search box) start looking for these folks on LinkedIn.

Some of the people on your list won't be on LinkedIn yet, of course - if you really want to include them in the network you're constructing, you'll have to find their email addresses so that you can invite them to join. The easiest way (short of phoning them) is to Google them - there's a decent chance you'll find an email address that way. Out of your starter list of 100 friends-and-family advocates, perhaps you'll end up with a decent network of 65 LinkedIn contacts. Perhaps more!

As always, if anything I'm suggesting violates the guidelines for the site, I trust the LI folks on this list to please let me know!

Good luck Emily! Finding this group shows that you are canny and discerning and will find a terrific job quickly. Write to me later and I will help you negotiate the multiple job offers you are sure to be juggling before long.

Cheers -

Liz

Making networking a business for big business

Tapestry Networks says about their business "Our work is guided by the principle of reciprocal value - "a rising tide lifts all boats." Our network sponsors and members are market leaders who recognize the value of working together with fellow leaders to create positive economic and social change."

In an ironic twist of history we have taken the number one thing that separates our unfettered success from the other species and made it into a business. Socialization is undeniably our biggest factor to achieving continued success. Are we clever to have become to make the most basic of interactions, working together, a financial opportunity.

Five Essential Steps To Networking

Your Contact List

Networking should not be a random collection of meetings and contacts. To ensure you get the best out of your efforts you need an objective before you start. Who are you trying to meet and why? If your objective is to get money for a new venture then you might want to meet VC’s and other entrepreneurs that have raised money in the past. If you don’t know any of the people you need to meet then you have to create a secondary list of the people that you do know who you think can make the necessary introductions.

In most cases it’s better to organize your contact list into A, B and C clients. These lists will give you some idea of who would be helpful while highlighting those people who may not be very useful without some encouragement. Create a spreadsheet of all the people you know and write your goals down. Link the people with the goals so you finish with a “who to know” list.

Take Your List For A Walk

Generally it’s much better to be networking before you need something. Exercise your existing network. There is an entire industry that is trying to take advantage of this on-line. Contact your lists in a personal and relevant way and ask for their help. Be specific about what you are asking for. Give your contacts the names of people you are trying to meet and plenty of background on why you are asking for help and what you are trying to accomplish. The key here is to track your interactions and make sure you know who is doing what. It’s easy to forget who said what and what the next step was supposed to be. If someone says they are going to make an introduction for you then make a note and make sure you follow up with them.

Build Structure Around Your Efforts

Know what you want before you go into the meeting. I cannot stress this enough. There is nothing more irritating than a meeting that goes nowhere because your contact has no idea why you are there. I recently got a call from a guy who said he wanted to get together and talk about opportunities. When I asked him what opportunities he was referring to so I could prepare for the meeting he said, “oh, nothing comes to mind right now but I’m sure we can put our heads together and come up with something”. I don’t have time for these types of meetings as much as I’d like to chat I just cannot afford the time (and neither can you).

Keep Notes During Your Meetings

A lot gets said in a meeting. We are all human so we have the ability to forget even the most important pieces of information. You don’t have to sit down and write everything the other person says. Just get the main points and the action items. If you say you are going to send the person an address or make an introduction then make sure you do it.

Follow Up

This stage would make for a lengthy post by itself but here are the highlights. This is not about the e-mail you send out the day after meeting with someone thanking them for the meeting, telling them how much you enjoyed talking with them and appreciate their perspective. This is about the ongoing communication you have with the people you have contacted and met.

Finding the right partners by networking

Ed Sim's blog BeyondVC highlights the importance of finding the right partners. His 6 Rules of Partnership really nail the essence of why most partnerships and affiliations don't work. This is a networking issue. In my own experience most start-ups are trying too hard to get the "big one". The best way to get the big one is to get the little one's first. It establishes credibility and momentum which can be used as leverage in getting the attention of bigger partners. Furthermore, you will get an opportunity to work out all the bugs with your initial partners before you get into bed with the big fellows.

When you are looking to network with some big decision makers it is essential to start with their circle of influences. Imagine how much easier it is to get a CEO's attention if you are already chewing the fat with his CPA, lawyer or CFO?

The bottom line is small wins create momentum and give you the confidence you need to scale up to the big hitters.

Social Capital Advice

William Arruda has written a nice piece on investing in your social network as a job search strategy. In his words... "Investing in the stock market may not guarantee a profit, but investing in your social capital will likely yield a skyscraping return – that elusive job of your dreams!"