Book Summary: Effective Networking For Personal Success
We are all “self-employed” now. Today there is absolutely no job security. We are living in an age of corporate downsizing, and freelance consultants, or self-employed workers are growing by the day. Networking is one skill you need to practice to get ahead and survive these uncertain times. Wisdom in a Nutshell: 1. Networking is essential for both new jobs and business contracts. 2. Effective networking is 12 times more effective than answering advertisements. 3. Advertising is becoming ineffective except on a large scale. 4. Networking helps you find hidden opportunities and can set you apart from the competition. 5. An indirect approach is better than a direct one. Use someone you know to introduce you to your target contact. Never go straight to your target without a go-between who will put in a good word for you. 6. You can overcome your natural shyness, your fear of using people, and your fear of rejection. The 3 key networking techniques are: 1. Build a network of partners to keep an open eye and ear for new opportunities for You. 2. Reach targeted individuals in two ways: directly or indirectly. 3. Build visibility by raising your profile. Go to every social gathering you possibly can. Building your network is an ongoing process. You need to increase your range of contacts constantly. Planning your campaign: 1. Define your objective. 2. Select the right technique. 3. Understand that “deal flow” or your number of prospects must be great in order to bag one new business contract. 4. Identify your target. 5. Work out your positioning. This is a short statement of what you are about, what you can offer. 6. Think about what you can do for your network partners in exchange for information and contacts. Building Network partners: 1. Talk to everyone you know about opportunities. 2. Clarify what network partners can and will do for you. 3. Know which contacts to build into network partners. 4. Find those friendly network spiders, those types of people who just seem to know everyone. 5. Use the telephone. How to grow and refresh your network: 1. Go out of your way to be where people are. 2. Get into the habit of being talkative. 3. Get the contact details of people you meet. Not just exchanging business cards but stapling information like birthdays, anniversaries, hobby clubs, and key information onto their cards. 4. Choose the right method for the right person. 5. Warm up long-cold contacts. How to find targeted individuals: 1. Focus on what you want to achieve and how people can help you. 2. Use your network partners to find suitable companies. 3. Gather key information on these companies. 4. Figure out who is the one with the power to hire you. 5. Find people connections and common areas of interest. Reaching targets through network partners: 1. Find and persuade the best partner for your targeted individual. 2. Engineer an introduction. 3. Build word-of-mouth exchanges about yourself. Reaching targets directly: 1. Decide if you should write a letter or not. 2. Be able to demonstrate your achievements. 3. Have a line ready to get you past the secretary. 4. Act as though you expect to be put through. 5. Be ready to leave a short, persuasive message for the decision-maker. Your opening line: 1. Be cheerful, confident and straightforward. 2. Exploit connections and recommendations. 3. Mention common interests. 4. Report news of interest to the target. 5. Wait for a response. Know when to shut up. 6. Write down your opening lines before picking up the phone. How to be visible without really trying: 1. Ask a question at a conference. 2. Make a point in a meeting. 3. Write letters to your industry magazine. 4. Introduce yourself to lots of people at an industry show or ball. 5. Buy people a drink at the bar at a lecture. 6. Discuss a book with an industry leader. 7. Wear bright ties. 8. Make people laugh. 9. Have an opinion on everything. (But keep an open mind) 10. Hand out an unusual business card. 11. Recast your CV to be a little different. 12. Take up an unusual hobby. (But not too unusual) 13. Don’t overlook using the email and Internet to communicate your cause. By: Regine P. Azurin and Yvette Pantilla http://www.bizsum.com A Lot Of Great Books....Too Little Time To Read" Free Book Summaries Of Latest Bestsellers and More mailto:freenewsletter@bizsum.com BusinessSummaries is a BusinessSummaries.com service. (c) Copyright 2001-2005, BusinessSummaries.com Regine Azurin is the President of BusinessSummaries.com, a company that provides business book summaries of the latest bestsellers for busy executives and entrepreneurs. |
Other Articles
Networking - It's Important! Networking opportunities are everywhere. Don't let them pass you by.1. Recognize that there is more to networking than greeting people. Develop a step-by-step plan for how you'll build relationships and how you can effectively tell your story. Don't forget your 30 second commercial to tell your story.2. Zero in on specific groups o ...Business Pain Defined Every company has business pain, but the pain does not necessarily mean that they have a success problem. Pain can be anything from a minor dent, as when a marketing event does not produce the anticipated results, to a major process issue, as when reporting is not accurate. As you set out to find your customer’s business pain, you should remembe ...Online Business Networking: How Personal is Too Personal? Online networking has opened up some fantastic business opportunities for solo entrepreneurs. You can open an account with one of the major online business networks such as Ryze, and get to know industrious and inspiring minds from all corners of the world.Many of these networks offer the option to design your own web page, where visitors ...EBooks Create New Profit Centers Have you ever read an e-book or at least had a chapter or two sent to you to read? If you are like most people, you ended up printing the book and reading it that way. E-books have commonly been treated like normal books that contain pages of text with few illustrations. If you are going to produce an e-book, you need to discover the power of us ...What You Should Never Do at a Business Networking Event Networking events can be a source of excitement when we have an urgent professional need. Whether we are looking for a job, or eager to get new customers, we may think that by attending the event, we will quickly jumpstart our career or make that quick deal right there and then. While it not impossible that something like that might happen, it i ...Networking Events - Use Your Time Wisely Networking events provide an effective way to meet and connect with potential clients. What you need to do when you attend these networking events, though, is quickly determine if the person you are talking to is a "sweet spot" client.Is this person part of your small business target market? Is he or she a decision maker or influencer? ...Being Proactive in MLM Is The Key I am currently reading Stephen R. Covey’s classic book entitled “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”. Even though this book has nothing to do with Network Marketing, there are principles found here that would be of giant worth to us if implemented in our businesses.Perhaps I’ll write more articles as I read further into the book, bu ...How to Keep from Sounding LIKE Totally Stupid June is reality check month. Lots of the resolutions have been made and most are already broken. It’s time to take a hard look at where you are going in 05 and beyond. One of the most important things you can do for yourself is to update all your personal credentials including your bio & your resume.Have you done your spring cleaning (pro ...Speed Networking - On Your Mark - Get Set - Network First there was speed dating - now speed networking - it's all about the numbers, right? Maybe yes, maybe no. If you have an ineffective approach, all the numbers in the world won't help! (On either front!) I recently attended my first speed event and I learned that to fully utilize this format, preparation is in order ...Pass That Lead Along Instead Of Saying No! I just got a lead from someone who left a message saying he wants to have appointments set on his behalf.I used to consider these inquiries a nuisance, because it would bother me to ignore them, and I didn't feel I could benefit from them, directly.But now, I take a different tack.For example, at present, my firm doesn’t do ...Effortless Networking: Can You Network In Your Sweats? A few years ago, someone asked me whether it was OK to network if she was not "dressed up" for it.For instance, she said, if I'm at the checkout line at a grocery store in my sweats and a networking opportunity arises, should I go for it?I remembered this question recently because I found myself in a very similar situation.I ...Starting a Conversation is an Art Almost all of us have been there. We meet a new person, we run into someone we have met once before, or we see someone we’ve spoken with numerous times. We want to start a meaningful conversation for myriad reasons; yet, we find ourselves asking those trite questions:. Is this your first time here?. Did you have trouble finding t ...How to Form a Relationship with a Newspaper How do you make a good relationship with a newspaper so that you can get new contacts?Newspaper relationships are probably the most difficult relationships to form. Often a newspaper will have different departments that look after advertising, human interest stories, editorials and daily news. If you know one person in a department, it do ...How to Make a Conversation Flow We all seem to know someone with the gift of gab. The just seem to naturally know how to make a conversation flow; even if it’s with someone they are just meeting for the first time.Here are some tips on how to make conversation flow by concentrating on why we talk to each other in the first place.1. The golden rule.The reas ...Break the Networking Code: 5 Simple Steps to Building a Stronger Network Networking online seems simple enough, just find a spot and step right in… or not. I’ve taken advantage of the opportunity on several fronts, occasionally floundering along with the rest, or being inducted into the leadership (occasionally kicking and screaming all the way to the prized throne), and even on several occasions finding my very own ...Effective Networking The process of finding out about a job, getting interviewed, and eventually receiving an offer for employment starts with networking. By networking I don’t mean sending out hundreds of copies of your résumé unsolicited to H.R. managers throughout the country, but by establishing contacts with people who may be in a position to hire you or refer ...The Value of Forum Networking Outside of Your "Comfort Zone" Many of you with small or home-based businesses already understand the value of networking online. One of the quickest ways is to join internet forums that are comprised of members just like you within the same industry group. There you can rub shoulders with your peers, exchange various marketing tips, and generally lend moral and technical sup ...Effortless Networking: A good starting point for best results "Where to start?" is a question that comes up often.Usually, this is a question someone asks when he or she is just getting started in a new business or job, or simply starting to seriously network for business purposes.However, it can also occur to someone who is comfortable networking and has been doing so for a ...Nine Ways to Network More Effectively No matter what business you are in, you also have a second job... you are a marketer. That means you are responsible for letting others know about how you can help them. One of the best ways to get those opportunities to convert prospects into customers is by networking. Here are some simple strategies for making your networking more effective. ...User Administration - The Good, Bad and the Ugly Administration encompasses many things for a Network Manager.For instance, in really large shops a network manager may have one function; server maintenance and someone else would be responsible for users.So for now, You and I are the only Network Managers and we are responsible for everything on the Network.For now four are ...What Are You Selling with Your Elevator Speech? The number one marketing rule is "Sell Benefits" The products and companies that excel are ones that push benefits, not features.The origin of many business relationships is the elevator speech. Those first few words that set the stage for putting two people closer together that may result in a long term and very profitable business relat ...Networking for Cleaning Companies: How to Plan Ahead Networking is a great way to market your cleaning business, and in order to do it effectively, you need to plan ahead so you know what you want to accomplish at each event. You also need to grow and nurture your network to keep it fresh!Networking isn't about seeing who can collect the most business cards. How many times have you attended ...
|