Networking for Business

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!"

Job Search Tool

Anybody who has ever tried to get a job through the online boards will know that it is a frustrating and thankless task. I was pointed to Indeed.com the other day which seems to be the best solution to the problem.

The Cheater's Guide

For those of you who use LinkedIn here is a pretty complete guide on how to make it work a little harder for you. It's called the LinkedIn Cheater's Guide.

The Power of The Note

Without doubt the best way to cut through the mail clutter and get someone's attention is to send them a hand written note. Once you have a good idea of who your A and B contacts [what's this?] are then begin to contact every person on the A and B list with a hand written note.

Here are some common variations and themes:

“Thank you for your business”

“I’d like to ask for your help”

“I recently changed focus and I’d like to have coffee with you to chat you and ask your advice”

Writing a hand-written note is not something you have to do every week or month but use it to get your contacts attention for special announcements or offers. If you have a big contact list then get your employees, friends, family or interns to help write the letters.

I also recommend a regular stamp. Don't be tempted to have them automatically printed on at the print shop.

Networking 101

The first thing you must do before starting to network is get your contact list in order. Ultimately, networking is all about mining an existing database of contacts and clients by continuously providing value and opportunities for referrals. It is essential to follow these steps in order and build a system that will support these activities.

Using your current database divide your list into 4 categories:

A List: Those clients that will always refer you to others and need little or no encouragement

B List: Those clients that would refer you if asked or prompted

C List: Those new or existing clients that will need more information or time to become A or B List clients.

D List: Delete these because they are a waste of time or are “jerks”. These people never refer you to others and are generally a liability to your company.

The Age of Networking

Without doubt networking has come of age. The huge surge in social and business networking websites is just the tip of the iceberg. On the other end of the scale is the increasingly cluttered advertising space which is driving B2B and B2C purchase decisions further towards trusted networks and word-of-mouth. Combine these trends with the fact that most jobs are found through networking and people are holding jobs for ever decreasing periods before moving on. Clearly, there has never been a better time to be investing in your network and in your social capital.

In order to make it truely work, you need to make it a habitual part of your life. As Tom Peters says, "You have to develop a Rolodex obsession, building and deliberately managing an ever-growing network of professional contacts."