This Week on TNNW...

Kansas City Networking
By PETER BIADASZ, Southern Plains Bureau Chief
If you are ever in Kansas City on the first Tuesday of the month, be sure to attend Kansas City's long-running Networking Business Breakfast. Organized by the General Services Administration, the event begins at 7:15AM at a location you can discover by going to http://r6.gsa.gov/breakfast/breakfast.asp or call 816-926-7203. The July 1, 2008 event will be at Embassy Suites Kansas City-Plaza, 220 W. 43rd St.

A Treasure in Idaho
By LORI RICHARDSON, Guest Women's Networking Editor
Treasure Valley Consultants Network is an organization that promotes the know-how of business-to-business consultants, and connects them in the greater Boise area to companies of all sizes in Boise and beyond (as well as to each other). What piqued my interest about this group I found on the 'net is that they fit a specific niche, their website is well done, they have a solid foundation, and they offer a trove of resources for members as well as visitors to the site.

Environmental Entrepreneurism, Part 2
By LYDIA SUGARMAN, Entrepreneurial Editor

Sponsored by Founder Contact We continue our discussion this month with Stefan Doering, a business coach located in New York with a great Weekly Power Booster newsletter. If you aren't already acquainted with Stefan's work, visit his Website. He is also a faculty member of CERC (Center for Environmental Research and Conservation) a division of the world renowned Earth Institute, teaching Environmental Intrapreneurism and Environmental Entrepreneurism at Columbia University.

Understanding Duplication and Momentum in Network Marketing
By CANDY WEBB, Network Marketing Editor
Leverage is a term used often in our industry and it refers to the potential of magnifying your own efforts and productivity by tends, hundreds and even thousands as your organization builds in depth. It is a real phenomenon appreciated by the big earners in networking but most of the "smaller players" or beginning players don't really understand the dynamics of the concept. For one thing, it is greatly related simply to time, and many impatient first time players don't understand the necessity of letting a program mature. Generally speaking, in the first six months of your networking experience, the growth is relatively slow and it may seem like you are doing the majority of the work. But inevitably, additional players will join you who also have a financial dream, and they too will work, and it will grow almost inspite of what your personal effort is. At that point (again, usually in month six to twelve) numbers of distributors and volume begins to douple, and expands exponentially. The chart below is simple and built upon very simple numbers – the concept of you sponsoring just one distributor per month and having each new person do the same.

Feed Your Friends
By CHRIS KAUZA, Technical Editor
Whenever I discuss networking with my colleagues, the topic invariably turns to the "open" vs. "closed" discussion - "Should I just network with anyone?" "Should I invite only those people whom I know really well into my LinkedIn or Plaxo network (which are the de facto Rolodexes of the new century)?" First used in 1967, the term "networking" means "...the exchange of information or services among individuals, groups, or institutions; specifically, the cultivation of productive relationships for employment or business."

I Absolutely Refuse to Participate in a Recession
By IVAN MISNER, Ph.D., Networking Success

Sponsored by qAlias Many economic gurus are speaking the "R" word ... recession. According to them, various economic indicators seem to show that a recession is on its way, if not here already. It's been years since our last recession. For the most part, the economy has been strong and business has been good for many years. However, the fact is, that the global economy goes through cycles and even if we don't see a full blown recession – business is slowing for many people. Unfortunately, every time it takes a downturn, the fallout is felt strongly by salespeople, business owners, and professionals alike. According to the AEA, over 50% of all businesses close down within two years of opening their doors. This number is known to increase dramatically during a recession.

I've Got Your Card, Now What?
By GLEN GOULD, Mastering the Membership Maze
In our last article we discussed the six steps to networking success at big member events like the Business After Hours. To recap, we covered a networking plan for these events that included; a) Think about what type of people you want to meet; b) Plan on meeting only three to five; c) Plan to spend three to five minutes with each; d) Ask questions about them; and e) Ask for a business card. The culmination of those steps was to ask the "Million Dollar Question" and to jot the answer to that question on the back of the business card you received.

Power Thought of the Week
By PATRICIA PARHAM, Ph.D.
PowerNetworking is High Touch - It is better to make 2-3 contacts with whom you know that an exchange of ideas, resources, products or services will be mutually beneficial, than to meet many people briefly and converse on a superficial level. Develop the ability to quickly discern those with whom there's hope of complementary relations and connect with them on a deep level in a short period of time. Move on quickly from others.

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Last Week's Issue was Dedicated to Vincent Wright

The National Networker was founded 3 1/2 years ago with the premise that Networking is an Industry and that TNNW would be the world's first "Consumer Reports of Networking" (albeit positively-spun). In the time that we have been researching what is working with networking across the U.S. (and now, the globe), we have seen major changes in both offline and online networking.

In the world of online networking there have been a few pioneers and prominent figures; independently-minded individuals who, for very altruistic reasons, wanted to change the world for the better through the power of networking. These ultra-connectors truly embraced the "givers gain" philosophy that is prevalent in all the industry, yet often (and I, too, have found myself in such situations) gave more than they received.

And as the Relationship Networking Industry matures and is adopted by corporations with big budgets and shareholders to answer to, some of the long-time givers are not gaining. One such person is my good friend, Vincent Wright, who many of our online networking subscribers know as the driving force behind My LinkedIn Power Forum (MLPF).

MLPF is a Yahoo Group of over 8000 members and about as old as TNNW. Vincent started it to develop discussions around LinkedIn, an effective networking tool, but lacking the necessary discussion model that is part of most online networks today. Vincent and their members worked (sometimes with even LinkedIn employees and executives) to provide constructive feedback, share thoughts and make a difference.

It is because of MLPF, rather than LinkedIn, that I have connected with such great people as Jay Deragon, Jason Alba, Norm Myers of RNIA, Terry Bean, Margaret Orem and a host of others, many with whom I continue to collaborate.

In my own conversations over the phone and as a reader of Vincent's work, I found him to be quite the eloquent wordsmith. He also divulged to me his desire to get over his "allergy to money" on several occasions. I was also hoping to get Vincent to agree to doing an interview with me on The National Networker Show.

I, along with 8000+ other MLPF members, were shocked the other day, to receive a brutally honest and disturbing message on Friday, May 30th from Vincent entitled "Prelude to a Suicide: Vincent Wright is Dead". It was written at approximately 4:00 in the morning and outlined his decline in all the time he was running MLPF. He spoke of people who worked to ruin him, living in one of the worst sections of Hartford, CT and not having enough money to literally keep teeth in his mouth.

MLPF members sprang to action. By the end of the rather tense day, we were relieved to find that he was alive, but about to be evicted from his residence. An outpouring of posts from members from all over the world were offering ways to donate, requests for those who could find him a job, a place to stay in upstate New York to an all-expense paid stay with one of the members at their place in Bangladesh for 6 months with paid dental care.

We would like to salute Vincent and his passion for networking, his overall eternal optimism and his role as one of the pioneers of the Relationship Networking Industry. BE STRONG VINCENT!

In the end, effective networking is the salvation of us all.

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

- Adam J. Kovitz

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Last Week's Issue was Dedicated to Vincent Wright

This Week on TNNW...

The Eighth Law of Relationship Capital

By Adam J. Kovitz, CEO, Editor-in-Chief

Last month we introduced Intellectual Capital into our ongoing discussion of Relationship Capital. What makes Intellectual Capital so interesting is that when compared to Relationship Capital, there is a considerable amount more study and discussion that have taken place as evidenced by areas of law that concentrate upon Intellectual Property as well as business valuation. Even the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has begun to address what we have come to know as “intangible assets”. And where the Seventh Law introduces the subject, the Eighth Law ties together the unique relationship between both Intellectual and Relationship Capital......more

Sponsored by SalesConX

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Networking and Endometriosis
By Victor Cattermole, Asia Pacific Bureau Chief
Lone Hummelshøj publishes the largest online global resource in endometriosis. Her website provides evidence based facts on endometriosis and serves as a platform for the exchange of news and information amongst clinicians, scientists, and women with the disease across the world.

’Jolly-Old’ England Meets New England
By Kathy and Louis Emond, New England Bureau Chiefs
The British American Business Council of New England (BABCNE) is a non-profit international business association with a membership of more than 100 New England-based companies and individuals involved in, or want to be involved in, transatlantic trade. It was launched in September 1986 by HRH The Prince of Wales. To us Americans, he’s better known as Prince Charles.

Networking Etiquette – What Questions Cross “The Line?”
By Jason Alba, Career Transition Editor
Recently I’ve received e-mails and phone calls from people who have a sensitive question… a question that perhaps they shouldn’t ask. Actually, that’s how they pose the question. They don’t want to jeopardize a relationship with me by asking the “wrong” question.

Connection 2008
By SCOTT R. FORCINO, Esq., Legal and Real Estate Editor
This month I had the pleasure of learning more about Connection 2008, a two-day event held in Philadelphia in April. It was described as a “collaborative format to discuss the challenges and define the path of how the MLS industry can serve the changing needs of its members.”

10 Things That Will Grow Your Clientele and Revenues (Part 3)
By Bill Doerr, Sales & Marketing Editor
In Part 1 and 2, I discussed the first six (6) marketing goals you’ll want to accomplish. Now, in Part 3, let’s look at the last four (4) goals on our ‘Top 10’ List:

"Beyond Networking": Being with Ron Sukenick
Contributing Writer
While various combinations of interpersonal skills, focus and commitment have been proven to accelerate the relationship building process, they can only be effective if we understand how we currently operate and how we currently think. How we think impacts what we do in relationship. Albert Einstein said, “The world that we have made as a result of the level of thinking we have done thus far creates problems that we cannot solve at the same level of thinking at which we created them."

Strategy: What Say You?
By Jay Deragon, Contributing Writer
A business is in itself a social network of people connecting to create value collectively both internally and then delivering the value externally. If the value creation chain breaks down internally it affects the value delivery externally.

Power Thought of the Week
By Patricia Parham, Ph.D., Contributing Writer
PowerNetworking is Low Key - When you’re networking, you’re not trying to sell any products or services. You are trying to build relationships. In order to do that, you want to discover what excites your contacts and then be the first one to share an idea or a resource or simply a listening ear. In the beginning, it is about listening well, asking the right questions and sharing sparingly. Make it all about each one you meet.

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