It’s Called Networking for a Reason

Networking Success with Dr. Ivan Misner
Ivan's section is sponsored by qAlias.com

It’s not “net-SIT” or “net-EAT”—it’s “network.” Successful networking is about learning how to “work” the networking process—not just letting it happen.

In many ways, success at networking is the perfect example of the uncommon application of common knowledge. Most people understand that networking is important to their success—they just lack a step-by-step process to get the results they want. Almost no one really incorporates a comprehensive methodology that will build a business through networking. Thus, the need to network is “common knowledge,” and the development of the methodology required to be successful at it is the “uncommon application.”

The word networking has become so overused that some business professionals can no longer define it. Many people think that networking is attending social or business after-hour events, shaking a few hands, collecting a few cards, and, of course, giving away a few cards of their own. Sadly, they actually believe that’s all there is to networking. To be fair, we could say they’re engaging in social networking. That’s never to be confused, however, with business networking.

I’ve found that businesspeople tend to fall into one of two groups when it comes to their views of networking. For many, the current mind-set is that networking is a passive business strategy, not a proactive marketing tool. This attitude results in a scattered, often ineffective networking approach that consequently wastes the business owner’s time and money. Not surprisingly, when people feel they’ve been wasting their time and money on something, they’re understandably not going to continue that activity.

On the other hand, some entrepreneurs do consider networking a proactive marketing tool for their business. How can you tell? They make it a significant part of their marketing and business plans. They have networking goals. They may even have a budget line item for networking. Most important, they practice it and live it every day.

If you share the first mind-set—the passive one—you’re hoping that just showing up at meetings is enough. And therein lies the problem. You need to integrate networking into the way you do business on a weekly basis. This approach truly brings networking into your business as a proactive marketing tool. For examples of straightforward ways to do this, pick up a book that I co-authored with Michelle R. Donovan entitled The 29% Solution. In it, you will find 52 weekly strategies to quickly incorporate networking into your life.

Building these strategies into your life helps you maintain your focus on networking while you work to identify new revenue streams for your business. Before you know it, you’ll be driven by the intention to get new business, and you’ll have the networking tools to satisfy that drive, because—let’s face it—if you have no new business, soon you will have no business at all.

Called the “Father of Modern Networking” by CNN, Dr. Ivan Misner is a New York Times bestselling author. He is the Founder and Chairman of BNI (www.bni.com), the world’s largest business networking organization. His latest book, The 29% Solution can be viewed at www.29PercentSolution.com. Dr. Misner is also the Senior Partner for the Referral Institute, an international referral training company (www.referralinstitute.com). He can be reached at misner@bni.com.

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Posted to THE NATIONAL NETWORKER. To subscribe for your free newletter, go to www.TheNationalNetworker.com. For the complete National Networker Relationship Capital Toolkit and a free RSS feed, go to: http://thenationalnetworkerweblog.blogspot.com.
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It’s Called Networking for a Reason

Going Beyond Networking In-Style

From the desk of Ron Sukenick

Before starting out on a journey, it helps to think about how our destination point. You and I, remember, are going into the Beyond Networking zone, beyond traditional networking, that is, and on to Connection, and then further on, to Relationship. And we don't want to just get there - we want to relish the trip itself, every step of the way.

When I was studying under Dr. Robert Rohm to become a Certified Human Behavior Consultant™, one of the very first things I learned was the Four Main Personality Styles. Of course, the whole purpose of studying these is to be able to really understand what another person is saying, and what motivates that person. No, we're not talking about some parlor game that helps you "guess" what others' styles are, but a way to better connect with all kinds of people. Connection, remember, constitutes the first big leg on our journey to Relationship.

Dr. Rohm uses a model of human behavior called the DISC. You may have heard of the DISC, because so many big corporations use the DISC profile in working with their employees and maximizing the productivity of business teams. The DISC is based on four basic behavior patterns that people tend to use. (By no means is Dr. Rohm implying that each of us always follows one type, because we all use all four styles in different settings and different situations.) What almost all of us have, though is a "fall-back" style of behavior, a way of being that feels most natural and comfortable, a style h we tend to use first, and which we use without thinking about it!

Discovering our own style and learning to recognize others' styles can give us an extremely valuable tool in building connections that work. The DISC has proven to be a very powerful tool for beginning this self-discovery. For today, I'll just mention the four, and then we'll go much deeper into each type later on.

D stands for Dominant, I for Inspiring, S for Supportive, and C for Cautious.

If you're fresh from many years of old-style networking, I imagine that every fiber of your businessperson self is screaming with impatience (if you're still reading this blog). After all, there's business to tend to and deals to close. Who has time for self-discovery? You need results!! Here's what I have to say to you if that's the way you're thinking:

Hold those horses! Remember what we don't want - to keep up this frantic pace of working at networking. We want networking to work for us! To do that, we need to reach beyond networking and go inward a bit. We need to understand what really makes business people "tick", and what makes us tick in "style"!


Posted to THE NATIONAL NETWORKER. To subscribe for your free newletter, go to http://www.thenationalnetworker.com/. For the complete National Networker Relationship Capital Toolkit and a free RSS feed, go to: http://thenationalnetworkerweblog.blogspot.com/.

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Going Beyond Networking In-Style

TNNW, November, 2008, Week 2: "New Writers at TNNW"

By Adam J. Kovitz
CEO, Founder & Publisher

I've always considered November to be one of those transition months, bridging the gap between Autumn and Winter. We start off with the sugar-high of Halloween (and the subsequent crash that follows), turning our clocks backwards and then moving towards the Holiday Season (anyone else seeing ads on TV and hearing carols yet?) as we approach Thanksgiving (one of the major holidays in the U.S. that truly unifies the country as it knows no religion or ethnicity). By the end, everyone is thinking about getting together with the family by the fireplace and "hunkering down" for the winter as the days get shorter.

Well it's transition time for us at TNNW as well. This week we introduce two new writers as we transition our humble publication into something more. More information to follow on that...

In the meantime as the weather gets colder and the nights get longer, we are proud to bring back the warmth and the sunshine of America's Southeast with our newest Bureau Chief, Larry Block. When he's not bringing you the best in networking from the Carolinas, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida, Larry serves as the President of Mobile Marketing Technologies, a firm dedicated to wireless marketing out of the greater Atlanta-metro area. WELCOME LARRY!!!

We are also proud to bring back Douglas Castle this month. Douglas was gracious enough to fill in for me on my featured column last month - the first time in nearly four years that I took a month off. Douglas, aside from being a good friend serves as the Product and Program Development Director for TNNW, helping us to develop new features for you, our readers. Douglas is also a prolific writer, and as such, has agreed to become TNNW's new Political Editor. WELCOME BACK DOUGLAS!!!

Still more to come this month...stay tuned!

As always, I look forward to Networking with you...

- Adam
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Posted to THE NATIONAL NETWORKER. To subscribe for your free newletter, go to www.TheNationalNetworker.com. For the complete National Networker Relationship Capital Toolkit and a free RSS feed, go to: http://thenationalnetworkerweblog.blogspot.com.
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TNNW, November, 2008, Week 2: "New Writers at TNNW"