Her advice was to create a network of “concentric circles” of people.

Then meet with people in your inner most circle once a week. Meet with the next circle once a month. With the next circle, perhaps once a quarter. And with the outer most circle, meet once a year.

What she didn’t say — and what most people giving networking advice don’t say — is how to decide which people goes in which circle.

Instead, her emphasis was on keeping in touch.

Well, focusing on “keeping in touch” without knowing how or why can cause you a lot of unnecessary grief.

And if you’re using this “concentric circles” approach currently, and it’s not working for you, you’ve already experienced this “grief” first-hand.

So learn how to choose the right people and build your circles first.

Then schedule your weekly, monthly or quarterly meetings.

I was rather taken aback by a comment made by a seasoned and experienced networker.

She suggested to the audience (in the middle of my presentation, no less) that networking was hard. So people should practice finding and talking with one prospect at every event they attended.

Now, you probably know by now how I go on about the fact that “networking” is not the same as “prospecting”.

And I started my presentation by explaining the difference between the two.

What I realized when this experienced networker made this comment, is just how deeply ingrained this confusion is.

I’m curious about your comments on this.

What do you think “networking” is?

And what would you do — if anything — to clarify this to someone who may be confused?

If so, you may be confusing “networking” with “keeping in touch”.

“Networking” and “keeping in touch” are not the same thing.

You keep in touch with people for a variety of reasons. And networking may be one such reason.

For instance, I keep in touch with some co-workers from a past jobs simply because I like them.

I enjoyed working with them, and have good memories. So I like to look them up when I’m in town, just to say hello and see how they’re doing. Or send them a card for New Year.

And sometimes, I may turn to one of these people for help.

Sometimes, I may ask for help with a networking objective — such as, how best to approach the decision-maker within his or her current organization.

I suppose you can think of “networking” as getting in touch with someone for a specific reason, which usually involves asking for something — such as, asking for advice, asking for a recommendation, making a business proposition and asking for participation, and so on.

So, if your only reason to keep in touch with someone is for “networking” purposes, it can get tedious.

After all, if you have nothing else to talk about (besides asking for something) when you get together to “network” week after week, month after month, it can become awkward, mechanistic, and uninspiring.

This is why “networking” often fails.

To avoid this problem and confusion,

• First clarify why you want to meet and make sure that both sides see the benefit of getting together — or staying in touch. This is one simple way you can identify the “right” people to stay in touch with.
• Then together you can decide how best to keep in touch (e.g. by phone, email, in-person, or a combination), how often to connect with each other, what to talk about when you do connect, and so on.

This allows you to stay in regular contact — with the right people at the right frequency — without it becoming a burden.

“I took a full time job and am not involved with networking anymore.”

I was so struck by this comment, that I couldn’t stop thinking about it!

Here’s what I was wondering about:

1. What does this person understands “networking” to be?
2. Why does having a full time job make “networking” unimportant or unnecessary for this person?

I’d love to hear your comments about this.

In the meantime, here are my thoughts on the topic.

For most people, the activity known as “business networking” is really an opportunity to go out “prospecting”. In other words, these people attend business mixers and other networking events to look for prospects (people to whom they can sell).

That’s prospecting. Prospecting is very useful — it’s just that it’s not the same as networking.

For other people, “business networking” is a way to meet people who can help them find prospects. In other words, the focus is on building a “leads/referral engine” to get new prospects.

That would explain the attitude “no longer doing direct sales, so no longer interested in networking”.

So is this the only use for business networking?

Not for me!

• I have used business networking to find jobs in the past.
• Networking has helped me discover publicity opportunities for my business. (I used these to generate well qualified leads.)
• I have made good friends through this process as well. (Many of these people later recommended me to others, told me about opportunities, and given me valuable advice.)

And this is just a short list…

My impression is that most people limit themselves to just getting leads and referrals, when it comes to business networking.

I wonder why that is?

This is a company that is focused on helping people automate and simplify the networking process. Their philosophy:

Why spend time going to long winded networking events when you can meet 15 new contacts in an hour and a half?

I wanted to share the highlights of our conversation, because I think there’s something here for everyone (which is unusual):

Sri: Why did you create this product — what’s the story behind it? And how does it help event organizers?

Antony: We have created an online software solution to help events organisers to run and promote speed networking events.

Originally it was created to help us run streamlined speed networking events ourselves but it was always designed with a view to helping others.

The speed networking concept has been around for a while now, but many organisers who attempt it come across the same problems:
- How do we manage the logistics of the event?
- How do we promote it?
- And once it’s finished, how do we measure its effectiveness?

We have created a solution which lets the events organiser get on with promoting the event while we have automated all the tedious administration elements.

This includes an online CRM to help manage prospects and customers, with batch html emailing to both groups.

We have an e-commerce facility to take payments for all the events upfront so there’s no chasing cheque after the event.

For the event itself, we have a dynamic table planning solution which maximises the number of ‘new’ meetings at every event. This means that on average over 90% of the time our contacts are matched up with people they have not met at the events before.

This is a real selling point for regular networkers who are frustrated with meeting the same contacts time and time again.

Sri: You mentioned that this product could be used within large companies to improve internal communications. Can you say more about this? How might this work?

Antony: One of the major pitfalls of growth is the inevitable reduction in quality communications.

Time an again when employees of large organisations are asked what could be improved they come back with the answer ‘communication’.

Speed networking is a very fair way of levelling out natural imbalances in large organisations.

By having regular speed networking sessions with a rotational system, (over time) everybody meets with everybody else for 5 minutes.

This means that all employees can feel that their needs and concerns are given a fair amount of time with the boss (and perhaps their boss’s boss).

It also gives employees a holistic view of the organisations so they can understand their place within it and how their actions affect the success of the business.

There are many ways in which organisations attempt to improve communications but there aren’t many that could be so easily integrated into the working day.

We’re pushing for organisations to hold speed networking sessions one a week / once a fortnight for just 1 hour to improve the way they communicate.

We believe that this will help every employee to have a finger on the pulse of the company so they can drive it forward in a cohesive direction.

Sri: Since satisfied clients are great referral sources, business owners are obviously interested in encouraging this. I wonder if your product could be used to encourage client referrals? What do you think?

Antony: Definitely!

We’ve got a product called DIY speed networking which is aimed at any group who just want to get started with speed networking.

Companies could use it to invite their contacts together and create synergies and new business opportunities for their clients.

Sri: Is there anything else you want to add?

Antony: If there are any readers who are interested in finding out more about speed networking or running their own events (either in conjunction with their own business or stand alone) please get in touch by visiting www.contact25.com or emailing avila@contact25.com.

Planting a garden with my son

Seeing the spiky leaves poking out of the ground, I remembered the day last fall when my son and I planted our flower garden.

I remember remarking to my neighbor that planting a garden is just like building a business.

Or cultivating a networking contact, for that matter.

You have a vision of what the end result will look like, and accordingly, you pick and place your plants (or select and time your business strategies and tactics, for that matter).

But you don’t get to see that end result for several months.

And when you do, you are sometimes surprised at how it looks.

Sometimes you may be surprised because in the many months of waiting, your original vision changes, or your memory of the vision fades.

And sometimes you’re taken aback by unexpected things that pop up! For instance, I have some mystery bulbs in my garden. And I’m really curious to find out what they are.

What does my garden have to do with your business or your networking habits?

Well, I don’t know about you, but I like to see results quickly. So gardening is my way of practicing patience.

Seeing the sprouts and the buds always give me hope. And the flowers, besides making me happy, remind me of why I planted the garden in the first place.

And those mystery plants — they remind me to be curious about the unexpected turns in business and the unexpected actions of people. (I find that to be far better than getting worked up!)

So, what is your way of practicing patience? How do you remain curious and open to new possibilities?

It’s hard to beat the genuine enthusiasm of delighted customers.

And yet, many people invest a lot of time and money trying to generate referrals through other means — while ignoring this excellent source of qualified referrals.

Here’s what I mean:

When looking for a recommendation about a product or service, most people look for someone who has already had some experience with that product or service.

They want to have a sense of what their experience might be like with that product or service, before they spend their money on it.

So what would you do in this situation?

1. If you were about to buy a house, and needed to find a home-inspector, whom would you ask for a recommendation? Your realtor, or your friend who just bought a house?
2. And if you got 2 recommendations, one from your realtor who hadn’t personally used this home-inspector’s services but knew that he was very good, and one from your friend who was delighted with their home-inspector’s services during their house buying process, which inspector would you choose? Why is this?

My point is this: If your customers are delighted with you, they’re much more like to whole-heartedly recommend you, whenever the opportunity arises.

And you will get a great referral – because that person will most likely trust their friend’s judgment and go with what he or she recommends.

By the way, the opposite is also true: how many times have you avoided doing business with someone, or buying a product, because a friend told you about his or her horrible experience with it?

But you know what? You probably you know all this already.

So, if you’re using business networking to mainly get referrals, are you tapping into your customers’ network?

Are you cultivating this most effective source of good quality referrals? If not, why not?

I replied saying that I had a client (based in the US) who is an expert consultant on the topic. Would she be interested in talking with him instead?

Well, here’s the email reply I got:

“Thanks Didi….YOU ROCK!!

I’ve written to Tom, asking him how much he would charge for a consultation on this project. Am now waiting for him to get back to me.

Hopefully I can get this ball rolling soon. Am very excited. Hope he can help!”

And you know, this email made my day! (I know, simple things make me happy.)

So why am I sharing this story with YOU?

To make two points:

1. First, this is an example of business networking in real life — outside business mixers and networking groups.

   You have no control over when such opportunities will show you. But when they show up, and you can act on it, it really makes a difference to all the people involved.

   My sister-in-law is clearly excited, my client Tom will be happy to get new business I’m sure, and as I already mentioned, it made my day to connect these 2 people.

   Also, even though I didn’t gain anything tangible in this interaction, I gained something very important (besides personal satisfaction): goodwill — with 2 people.

2. Second, I was able to refer my sister-in-law to Tom because I have a good understanding of exactly what he does.

   I know it sounds obvious — but think of how many times someone has told you what they do, and you have no idea what it means.

   For instance, many years ago at a business mixer, a gentleman told me that he runs a “full service print shop”. When I heard this I wondered, what does “full” include, and does that mean there “partial” service places? And why would a business offer partial services?

   My impression is that most people in such situations don’t ask for clarification (although if you did, that would be an great way to start a worthwhile networking conversation).

   My point is, if you’re not clear about what a person really does, how can you recognize an opportunity to refer business to him or her?

So I’m curious to know: what has been your experience in this area?

It’s called the “Create the Dream!” magazine. Here are the highlights of the January issue:

• Fusion Marketing
• Small Business Collection Strategies That Work
• Copywriting For Those Who Hate It
• Effortless Networking
• Testing & Tracking Your Marketing Efforts
• A Little Known Small Biz Tax Deduction
• Book Reviews
• “Brand” New You in 2008
• Do Your Potential Customers Forget About You?
• Tricks of the Ebay Powersellers
• Selecting A Retail Location

Click here to download this issue.

Happy reading!

“[My biggest challenge in business networking is] Motivating my referral partners to enthusiastically refer a steady stream of clients to me every single month.”

Here’s the brutal and honest truth:

1. First, it takes long time to build up a “referral engine”.

   You have to find the right people — those who have access to the kinds of leads you want.

   Then, you have to make sure these people are willing and able to send you quality leads.

   Just because they can, doesn’t mean they’re ready to do so. You have to demonstrate your credibility and earn their trust first.

2. Second, even after you build this “referral engine” there is no guarantee that the referrals will flow in regularly and consistently.

   You really have no control over this.

   Influence, yes; control, no. You can encourage people, provide incentives — but, in the end, you have no control over what they actually do.

   Think about it: how often (and how consistently) are you able to send referrals to people in your network? Why do you suppose this is?

3. Before you despair, here’s the third fact.

   The best and most effective referrals come from your satisfied customers.

   This is something over which you have a LOT of influence. So cultivate this source of referrals.

   I recently published two success stories from business owners who do just this.

   Check out Sandy’s story and Jeremy’s story to see what they do.

The good news — I think — is that you can use networking to accomplish other things while waiting the referrals to flow in. I cover this in Lesson 5.

In a nutshell: you can network your way to other business building opportunities, that work quicker.