Social Networking with a Delightful Twist!

By Bill Doerr
Sales and Marketing Editor

Bill's section is brought to you by qAlias

15 Second Executive ‘Speed Read’

Social Networking is a long-established mechanism for connecting with other people.

In days gone by, this meant anything from leaving a painting in a cave to being an elite member of a society’s ‘blue book’. Today, it’s more likely to mean a membership on either LinkedIn or Facebook.

What these latest social networks foster are the quantity of connections. But, as some point out, they may do so at the expense of the quality of the relationships they offer.

While no single social network is a perfect solution for everyone, a relatively new entrant to the social networking scene is Perfect Networker.

This site qualifies as a social network, but it is different. Why? The mission and passion of the founders is to teach . . . to teach the members who use it . . . how to build both high quality relationships as well as a significant number of valued connections.

Glenn Garnes, Mac Cassity and Ken Rochon are the founders of Perfect Networker – a new online community that is passionately committed to:
1) growing new and valued relationships

2) generating referrals, and

3) building revenues for an individual’s practice or business

for the people who are members of this young but growing online community.de

THE HISTORY

Glenn Garnes, an attorney by training and now a founder and key catalyst of Perfect Networker, shared some time with me recently to update me on the organization he helped to create.

Like many things, Perfect Networker evolved out of a sense of frustration with the limitations certain local business networking groups seemed to create for many people as well as the founders of Perfect Networker.

“Many business people are attracted to the notion of networking, but find many local groups are more focused on the mechanical rules of engagement than on the mission they were intended to achieve. We wanted to change all that with Perfect Networker”.

Glenn, Mac and Ken learned that networking has a tarnished image among many who are new to it because of a lack of education about what networking really is and how to network effectively with others. “It’s one thing to say, “There’s a plane” and quite another to actually get into it, fly it off the runway and level off safely at 39,000 feet”.

This inspired them to envision an intentional community of people who would be able to develop quality relationships with others and, as a result, be more refer-able themselves.

This immediately suggested a missing element in other networking organizations – despite their protests to the contrary: ‘Education and Training’ . . . in the art and science of how to build relationships, referrals and, as a result, revenues for the networker’s business or professional practice.

Glenn Garnes, who was a successful ‘rainmaker’ for his law firm, knew firsthand the power and value of networking in an offline environment. Ironically, what he did to grow his practice and revenues was also the reflection of his true passion and calling – to connect people with others to foster mutually beneficial relationships.

In 1999, Glenn became interested in the potential value of the internet as a medium for business promotion. In fact, he created various niche websites themed around ‘health and wellness’ and learned how to use them to sell ‘eyeball space’ on his sites to advertisers who wanted quality time with a select audience of qualified prospects.

That experience convicted him (please, no lawyer jokes, OK?) of the potency of the internet as an online medium for connecting interested parties with one another. So it’s not surprising that he began to think of how to use it to attract and cultivate valuable relationships with others. That, along with the input of his co-founders, lead to the eventual birth of the Perfect Networker website and online community.

THE PERFECT NETWORKER SITE and COMMUNITY

Ted Leavitt of Harvard Business School defined the term ‘differentiation’ as the quality of a product or service to be both unique and beneficial. The challenge, of course, is to be both. Over the long run. That’s not easy. If you’re truly beneficial, you’ll be copied sooner or later. And there goes your uniqueness. By the same token, if you’re truly unique, maybe your competitors knew something about the market and its receptivity to your product or service and chose not to make the same mistake you’re making. See?

That’s why I asked Glenn the obvious question: “Why Perfect Networker . . . given the prevalence and extensive market penetration of alternative sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.? In other words, what’s the angle that makes your site viable alongside all the existing players on the the social networking field?”

Glenn replied, “Bill, on a scale of 1 – 10, where 10 means ‘outstanding’ and 1 means ‘ho hum’, how do you think most business people rate the value they’re receiving from these sites? Mind you”, he said, “I’m on LinkedIn myself and use it a lot. I think it’s fantastic for what it does. But not everyone who signs up for such a service is able to use it effectively and benefit profitably from it for their business or practice.”

So what is the justification for Perfect Networker to co-exist with the ‘big boys’ like LinkedIn and Facebook?

“Simple. We designed it, from the start, to create a truly valuable experience for people who become our members.”

I asked Glenn, “How do you do that?” Glenn indicated there are several keys . . .

Key #1: Relationships Before Transactions
The most notable element of Perfect Networker is the philosophy that recognizes the truth that outstanding networkers always seek relationships before transactions.

Key #2: Training and Development
The second element is the extensive training that Perfect Networker members receive in ‘how to’ build mutually beneficial relationships. There’s a Referral University that offers various documents, audio and video to support the development of each member’s skills so they can become viable, contributing members of this online community.

Key #3: A Committed Community
The third element is the online community itself. If ‘water seeks its own level’ then the founders are attracting other people who, like them, passionately embrace the philosophy that cultivating mutually beneficial relationships is the key to networking effectively.

Key #4: An Open Connection Architecture
This element isn’t unique, but it is valuable. While some social networking sites restrict access to other members of their communities, Perfect Networker actively encourages this by making it extremely easy to find other ‘like-minded’ and/or ‘potentially valuable’ people to connect with online.

“In the end,” said Glenn, “a social network – be it online or offline, is simply a means to an end . . . much like a highway . . . it can connect you with all sorts of wonderful places and people . . . but you need to know how to use that highway . . . you need to know where you want to go . . . you need a means of transportation to make the best use of it. In short, just because a social network exists doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be able to use it to get wherever you want to be going . . . in your life or your business”.

He’s right.

Glenn, Mac and Ken are creating a truly unique (remember the definition?) online community here. It’s young. It’s growing. It will have some ‘pains’ as it grows. That’s to be expected.

What I didn’t expect (but find extremely heartening!) is that they really and truly get ‘it’.

They understand the secret to realizing value from any social network is to be a good citizen of that community, pro-actively reach out to others and seek to build relationships before transactions as a way to build revenues. Their site reflects this. Their actions support it. They are truly practicing what they’re teaching to their members. Refreshing!

Do yourself a favor and check it out for yourself. I think you’ll be as pleasantly surprised at this nascent undertaking in the growing social networking arena as I am.

About Perfect Networker
Founded by Glenn Garnes, Mac Cassity and Ken Rochon, this site helps people grow revenues in their business and value in their lives by focusing on building valuable relationships with others by design, not accident. To learn more go to: www.perfectnetworker.com or call Glenn Garnes at: (800) 306-6488.

Bill Doerr, CCO of SellMore Marketing, LLC is the creator of The Preferral Prospecting System™,


The Expert Directory™, The Client Machine™ and The Ultimate Client Development System™.

Bill uses these services to 
help service providers build their business by leveraging relationships and generating more introductions to new business. You can reach Bill by phone at: 860-798-6964, online: www.sellmoremarketing.com or www.getnewclientsnow.com by 
email: billd@sellmoremarketing.com or through the TNNW Blog: http://thenationalnetworker.blogspot.com

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Social Networking with a Delightful Twist!

The Network Hubs of Hong Kong

By Victor Cattermole

Asia Pacific Bureau Chief

I was really struggling to find an interesting topic this month. I had a few people on my list but with one thing and another I just couldn’t connect with them. With busy days of my own in meetings I started to give some thought to where we meet and why.

My day started with the computer turned on and email and instant messages flicking up before my eyes. Before the first coffee I have 6 people talking with me on Skype, MSN and Yahoo. Top that off with SMS messages on the cell phone and I have hit the day running. At this time of the morning its best to have that coffee first for fear of sending the wrong message to someone as I am still half asleep.

Oh how I have realized the importance of this technology for me to connect my USA, Europe and Asian Pacific contacts together. It gets worse, my girlfriend pops up on screen asking can I help her with a document, she is only sitting 5 feet away (man, she looks so cute in that picture!). I am then reminded of reality as I turn around to see her and hear the rattling noise of her gas escaping, as she describes it.

A trip to central Hong Kong for me and my first meeting is in the local icon coffee shop, Pacific Coffee. This place is a hub of meetings, the whole place is geared towards customer demands, there’s wifi, free computer terminals and in some stores even workstations where students complete their home work. The whole environment is geared towards doing business and supplying coffee while people network. When it comes to arranging a meeting everyone knows where the Pacific Coffee stores are.

From there it’s off to meet one of my HSBC bank managers, he suggests a juice bar near by, called Mix. This place in so many ways emulates the coffee shop, geared towards business networking, wifi, tables which make it easy to lay documents out. The place is full of bankers talking deals and money.

A ten minute walk to my next meeting, it’s in the Marriott Hotel. I have to wait a while for my contact to arrive (I hate lateness) but I make the most of it and spend some time in the foyer watching what is going on. It’s non-stop; taxis coming and going, hand shaking, cell phones, folders, people at tables with documents and plans. My contact arrives, the coffee is crap, yet again its business as usual.

My day ends on Skype, MSN and Yahoo as the rest of the world fits in to my workable time frame.

Oh how we interact with each other has changed, my online conference calls conducted in boxer shorts, then in a chain coffee shop millions of dollars of deals are being discussed while women with babies talk with their girlfriends and kids gather together doing their homework. I realize the bankers are leaving their offices for the comfort of a more social environment, the juice bar, and the suits are still schmoozing in the big name hotels, pressing the flesh, talking the talk and between you and me ….they are still wearing boxers under that suit just like me in front of my computer.

The environment we network in is changing, the market place is where we stand.

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The Network Hubs of Hong Kong

Lawyers Not Behaving Badly

By Scott R. Forcino, Esq.

Legal Editor

This month I had the pleasure of examining a Networking Forum that spans the globe. You might think that lawyers speaking in many tongues would be confusing but there is a collaborative effort in place.

The ILN (International Lawyers Network) Regional Meeting of the Americas took place this summer. It was reported that the Network has almost 90 firms, with approximately 5,000 lawyers. As the Network has grown dramatically, its focus has moved from being one of only referral development to one where the ILN looks to help member firms to expand the reach of their firms. Lowell noted that this would be a theme throughout the Regional Meeting of the Americas and said that as the ILN works towards implementing a strategic plan for thenext few years, having an international link that can be used for marketing and as a real tool for clients will be important.

Then came a discussion of the referral activities of the Network. It was noted that referrals are an

important component of the ILN, and a discussion of the referral report is a way to understand some of their value.

The most recent referral report covered the period of January to July 2008, which showed an increase in referrals.

It was stated, however, that it is still difficult to obtain accurate referral information, but said that the report serves

as a gauge to show a continual increase across all regions. It was also stated that inter-regional referrals continue tobe the most active, which reinforces the importance of regional meetings. It was estimated that

the figures are under-reported by at least three times based on his conversations with members about referrals

that are never officially reported. Yikes..

Corporate referrals remain the highest category of types that are referred, followed by litigation, tax, labor and employment and real estate.

The monetary value of the referrals is a difficult number to assess, as many of the reported referrals show only the initial estimate, which is often very low. The ILN doesn’t have a method for capturing the future value of the referral as of yet, and so the majority of the referrals appear in the smaller valued bracket. The total valued is also believed to be under-reported, and a conservative estimate is that the total referrals could be $7.5-$10 million per six monthperiod.

Keeping track of referrals, especially in the larger firms, is very difficult and members are asked to work closely with the contact person at their firm to ensure that the firm has some knowledge of thereferrals that are occurring.

The offices of the ILN can offer to the members, another service, which is a referral from a lawyer that obtained a judgment in a community and needed to enforce the judgment in four or five locations. One method of handling this would be to go to each of the ILN contacts there and asking each of them to handle it, but a more effective way of handling this is to go directly to ILN, itself, and have it delegated appropriately.

ILN would simplify the process by getting those locations squared away and ensuring that the job gets done,

acting as the facilitator on a multi-jurisdictional problems.

The ILN officers had visited over 20 firms in 2007/2008, which he noted is a very important part of its recruitment.

The response is tremendous, even at firms who are knowledgeable about the ILN, because it gives the partners a chance to sit down with the organization.

It should be added that the referral request is a six month snapshot, as an example, a referral will come in and will develop only $5,000 worth of fees by the time the request is circulated, but could turn into $150,000 matter over the next year. The referral report doesn’t capture to what extent the referrals lead to additional business from that client or relationship and that the ILN has worked to come up with different ways to capture the data. The ILN

Administration can accept referral reports at any time and reflect that approximately 20% of the referrals lead to ongoing client relationships, which is a significant amount.

Another way that ILN members are beginning to use the offices of the Administration is to market their services to existing or potential clients to show the global reach of their firm through the ILN. The Administration has been contacted by firms who are having client meetings and would like to express the capabilities of member firms in the jurisdictions where their client does business. When contacted in this regard, the ILN Administration will contact the relevant firms in the group to get the information.

The ILN is proud of their website, saying that it’s a source that all ILN members use, in addition to

their partners and the outside public. Currently, the website has 50,000 hits a month, which is quite substantial.

The statistics that the Administration gets allows them to see which pages people are visiting, and these include

membership information such as the practice areas of firms, as well as the articles that members contribute to the

newsletters. These articles continue to be referenced every day, every month, and even years after the article is

written when the subject becomes relevant again.

This is a powerful, far-reaching organization of lawyers designed and implemented for the benefit of the legal community and their clients.

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Lawyers Not Behaving Badly