THE POWER OF NETWORKING - PART 4

THE POWER OF NETWORKING

Part 4

I promised to continue this section with why we need to Network. Again, I can only use myself and what I believe in as an example. As a natural networker, it is extremely difficult for me to understand how people don’t feel the need to network. Most of us use networking in some form or another on a daily basis.

Ha got you there didn’t I? Well we do! Ladies, if someone asks you where you got the new dress that you are wearing and you tell them where to go – you have networked. You have recommended that someone go to a specific place in order to purchase a specific item. That is a referral and referrals are part of networking. Gents, if you are telling your buddy about the new golf course that you played on over the weekend and suggest that they play a game there because it was fabulous (ok, so maybe you did not use the fabulous word), you have networked. You have recommended that someone go to a specific place in order to purchase a specific item. Again that is a referral and referrals are part of networking!

So why is it so difficult to do it in the business arena, specifically when it is our own business? Who knows!

Anyway, today that is not the question on the table. The question is “Why do we need to network”. Well I suppose, strictly speaking, we don’t. We could go the really hard route and do the cold calling thing and knock on doors or try and book appointments with CEO’s and Directors of Companies by sweet talking or bribing the dragons called PA's that protect their Lord and Masters from members of the General Public.

Networking is about taking our passion, together with our personal profiles or our own individual Branding and getting it out there, visable, so that people will refer others who need our services, widgets or whatever. Understand that this will not happen for very long if you cannot and do not deliver. So our credibility has to be strong and branding has to be clear in order for us to stand out from the crowd.

My take on this is that Business needs to be fun, and trudging around the planet having one door after another slammed in my face, because they have never heard of me, is not my idea of fun!

So I choose to Network. I choose to meet with people who are of the same mind as me. People who want to do business, who can make a decision and who know what they want and are prepared to go after it. People who make things happen rather than wonder, what the hell happened?

Going to networking meetings organises and structures this and makes the experience all the less painful – particularly if the meeting is facilitated or even partially facilitated. For one thing, there is no hidden agenda, we are all there to do business.

Make no mistake, networking is still hard work, but the bottom line is that you have a foot in the door. That is what a referral and/or lead is . . a foot in the door, now it is up to the individual. What are you going to do with the foot that is in the door.

Many people do not like to network because of their own misguided perceptions. I constantly hear “I never get any leads” (don’t forget to put the whiny voice in when you say these words) or “They’re a waste of time”.

Well that is because the person, who usually utters these statements, has sat in the meeting like a lump of lard and expected relationships to build themselves, or referrals and leads to fall out of the sky like manna from heaven, or to claw it’s way up out of the earth specifically to land as a contract in their laps! To them I say – get real!

Networking is about meeting the right people quickly and effortlessly, so that the business of relationship building can happen quickly, so that business can be referred and deals can be struck and money can be made.

So, do you still think that there is no reason for you to Network?

I will continue this saga next week, with some great tips to Network with. Remember if you would like a copy of Helen Nicholson’s book “Networking: The Unwritten Rule of Business you need to know”, please mail her on helen@helennicholson.co.za.

BRANDING EXPERT LINDA HART'S TAKE ON THE "POWER OF NETWORKING"

Linda Hart said...

Nikki, great words of wisdom. No question that networking is a crucial skill to learn. You touched on the personal brand, which prompts me to comment from my perspective of personal brand coach.

When we talk about developing and communicating the entrepreneurial brand, this is so much easier said than done. One would think that it would be a cinch to haul out your passion and eloquently and emotively describe it to anyone who will listen - truth is, for many of the entrepreneurs or solopreneurs that I work with, being succinct in defining the passion is a real effort and fraught with insecurities, lack of trust in a single message and in some cases negative or defensive "baggage" that causes a confusion of messages.

We are thinking and feeling beings, our only currency is the currency of language. The more accurately and emotively we are able to craft our message regarding our selves, our service or our "widget" and build the delivery that accurately depicts and delivers our brand positioning, the more solid, reliable and trustworthy we become as personal brands. To your point about networking introductions, we want to be fairly certain that through the currency of language, we are getting the greatest return on investment from every introduction we make, if not in terms of tangible business then in terms of building a trustworthy and credible profile that can be referred for future business. To my mind its about clarity and about consistency.

I find many business owners are not as clear as they could be about what they really are all about - hoping that the listener might ask the right question and allow for further exploration which may lead to the chance discovery of some business synergies. Phew! what a lot of hard work and so many missed opportunities as a result. I call it "vocal mechanics" - throw in a whole lot of words in a random way and hope that it will somehow hit the right spot, or be able to solve the problem for the listener.

People listen in very particular ways, mostly, they are listening with the "whats in it for me" ear. By being clear and focussed about your business, service or consulting service, offering a clear, concise and succinct message that is consistent not only in its language but also in its visual and graphic delivery goes a tremendously long way to building trust in the market that you are targeting. For that very reason, large, well known brands have single messages. Why do we think that since we are relatively small players we need to have one for each market or occassion? Building a brand is about relationship building between you, your offering and your market - but before all that, we need to build a relationship with ourselves, get in touch with who you are, what your passion really is, how will you best deliver it and to whom and then work on the language that will allow you to "orchestrate" your brand message in a unique way, clearly, consistently and with passion. Makes networking so much more effective and unstressful, as you have no need to reinvent yourself for each networking situation. Rather you reinforce and bring top of mind your clear and consistent message every time you use your most valuable currency - your brand tone of voice and language.

7 SECONDS To Make First Impression

Trevor writes:

Said Nikki in her post below: '..you have something like 8 nanoseconds to make an impression etc, etc, etc. Not being a professional on this subject, I will not make any comment on this.'

I sourced a couple of links that can perhaps add further value:

1. Seal the Deal in Seven Seconds

2. First Impressions – Do You Make Your First Impression Your Best Impression

3. Online Networking Tip: First Impressions

4. Making a Great First Impression!

Enjoy!

Regards
Trevor Nel - 011 - 705-2790 - www.innercircleforum.com
trevor@innercircleforum.com

THE POWER OF NETWORKING - PART 3

Finally, I can get into this blog and write my own stuff. Over the next few days I am going to be adding the rest of the Networking post that I have written to get everyone up to date.

Hope this helps!

THE POWER OF NETWORKING

Part 3

I promised to continue this section with Branding. What is branding? I don’t believe that there is any functioning human being on the planet that does not understand what Branding is:

You need only look at the adverts on products like Coca-Cola, with it’s unique logo – it is instantly recognisable anywhere in the world.

But what does Branding mean to you as an SMME and to you as an individual?

For me, branding for my business is all about my logo, the name of my company, the layout of both of these. For example if you had a business that deals with plumbing you wouldn’t have a picture of a mother and a baby. Similarly you would not call yourself “Mother and Child” – you would have something more appropriate like “XXX Plumbing”.

Once you have decided on the name of the Company, the logo and/or any kind of artwork that you have, this should be visible and attached to any and all correspondence that you may have with anyone. Even if you are just sending an e-mail to you buddy down the road, this should be attached – this is advertising for your business. If your buddy down the road, forwards your message, your joke and/or whatever – your advertising goes with it.

Use every opportunity available to you, to get the name of your business out there. Don’t go anywhere without your business cards. Not to the cricket game, or to the pub down the road or to your buddy’s braai. Take your business card with you – you don’t know where the next opportunity is coming from and you have to be ready.

Now on the personal branding: How do you brand yourself on a personal level. Well this is where the “image” people would have a huge amount of stuff to say, like you have something like 8 nanoseconds to make an impression etc, etc, etc. Not being a professional on this subject, I will not make any comment on this. What I can say though is . . . yes! You need to make an impression and it needs to be something that will stick in the minds of people, long after they have forgotten your name. Now that doesn’t mean to say that you need to do a dance naked on the table in front of whomever it is that you are meeting. It just means that for me, it meant just being myself, which means Always, and I mean always thinking out of the box.

For those of you who know me, you know that I am a jeans and t-shirt kind of girl. I don’t subscribe to the fashion magazines and quite frankly it is far too hot to dress in the obligatory corporate suits that most business women wear (I’m not knocking them you understand – I’m just saying that it’s just not me). So I wear jeans and if, as in the case of the Women In Finance dinners, my friend Geraldine does not allow me to wear jeans, I still wear my golf t-shirts! I also love bright colours and designs. Personally I don’t think that we have enough colour in our business lives. To me, business does not have to be dull and boring, in fact it is fun, interesting and exciting!

The result of course is that I go to the Women in Finance (www.womeninfinance.co.za) dinners and everyone is dressed to the hilt! The women all look so gorgeous and stunning in outfits that cost the earth and. . . . they all look just the same. Me, well I stand out in the crowd, because I am different. Ok, before I go any further with this – you also have to comfortable with ‘different’ – if you aren’t, then standing out in the crowd is not going to be comfortable for you! Anyway the point is that people remember me because of this.

I am not advocating that everyone looks like me either – heaven forbid. What I am saying, is find out who the you is that you are comfortable with and go with that. We are all unique individuals and our own ‘inner selves’ will shine our own particular light out.

I have asked my good friend and colleague Linda Hart from Image Craft, who is a Branding Specialist, to make a few comments that can assist you all, with finding out who and what your own particular brand is. So continue to watch this blog, and get the opinion of an expert. Thanks in advance Linda.

I will continue this saga next week, with why we need to Network. Remember if you would like a copy of Helen Nicholson’s book “Networking: The Unwritten Rule of Business you need to know”, please mail her on helen@helennicholson.co.za.

The POWER Of Networking - Part 2.

Nikki is writing a great series on 'The POWER Of Networking' on her blog - When Reality Bites - here is Part. 2 which seems to have disappeared into the ether from her blog:

Nikki writes:

So now you have found your passion and you are rushing around madly trying to find work, build relationships and then do the work. What’s next?

Since I have discovered that the majority of people are not natural networker’s, I turned to Helen Nicolson’s book “Networking: The Unwritten Rule of Business you need to know” for inspiration, and discovered that it would probably be a great idea to zone into and then emulate what Great Networker’s do. Helen writes:

“Great Networkers:
· Identify and zone in on their strengths,
· Build their brand around their top 10% strength base.”

So what does this mean to me, as a natural networker. Giving this some thought – remember I like to simply things and if I am going to use myself as a case study (God forbid I should use someone else and get sued for something like slander or liable or one of those uglies!)

In my opinion, some of my strengths are (and if you have know me and have a different opinion great! Keep it to yourself though, because remember – “other people’s opinions of me are none of my business!)

1. I am a ‘doer’ – I get so sick and tired of going to meetings that just go around and around and no decisions are made. Going to a meeting to set up another meeting, makes no sense to me whatsoever and wastes my time. So get the ball rolling, make a decision and get going!

2. Making quick decisions, based on the information that I have available at the time that the decision is made. Another pet hate of mine. People who agonize over making a decision. Then before the decision is made they ask everyone and anyone, what they should do, until they hear an answer that sounds vaguely like what they had in mind. Then that’s their decision – you see they can then abdicate the responsibility if something goes wrong, because they got advice from somebody else. For goodness sake, make a decision and if it’s wrong – correct it and move on!

3. Change! It’s going to happen whether you like it or not. If you don’t get with the program it will drag you along with it or you will get left behind totally. For my own part, it is easier or the nerves to keep up and not be like a salmon and swim against the water flow! Look, let’s be realistic – I am not going to change something just for the sake of change – it definitely has to have a reason and the result must be either the same as what I have or better – or no change. Be prepared to have an open mind though. Someone else may be able to do it “better” than you or have a better idea than you.

4. Judgement! Don’t be so quick to judge someone by the way that they look, or speak (or don’t). You don’t know them. You have no idea what their lives are like or what trials and tribulations they have gone through in life. One of my best clients today is someone who I met in a pub, wearing dirty shorts and a stained, dirty, smelly, torn t-shirt. He had just come back from a fishing weekend and they had run out of beer and he was dying for an ice cold one. The man runs 4 businesses, has a yacht, a helicopter and several speedboats! Don’t judge until you know the person better.

5. Listening. My friend Geraldine always tells me that her mum used to tell her that “God gave us two ears and only one mouth for a reason”. If you are talking all the time, you miss out on listening to not only what the other person is saying, but also what they are needing. Quite often, what they are needing is some help in their business which either you can give to them or one of the people in your database can assist them.

6. Opportunities. I can go crazy when I hear people saying “ work is scarce”. Actually it is the other way around – there is a huge abundance of work out there and an even greater abundance of opportunity out there – it’s just a matter of recognising it. Once you have recognised it – do something about it. It’s not going to just fall like manna from heaven!

7. Networking. Because I am a natural networker – it stands to reason that networking is one of my strengths. During the course of my ramblings on the subject, you will get to understand hope fully the nature of the beast and be able to work with it.

I will continue this saga next week, with your branding. Remember if you would like a copy of Helen Nicholson’s book “Networking: The Unwritten Rule of Business you need to know”, please mail her on helen@helennicholson.co.za

Does Crime Affect BUSINESS Psyche?

Trevor writes:

Am reading Nikki's latest blog entry: COPS WARN OF NEW SMASH + GRAB TACTICS and wondering what goes through business-peoples minds as they witness such events happening right under their noses in peak-hour traffic.

The commitment to fighting crime seems to be thwarted by conficting messages in our economy, see:

1. Interpol raves over Selebi

2. Selebi and the cop mafia

3. Controversial Selebi receives praise from Interpol

4. New anti-crime initiative unveiled

Seems to me that if one wants positive peace of mind, one has to take POSITIVE ACTION to make something happen within one's own sphere of influence - see Lonehill Community Stakeholders.

Here's a parting question: What can be done to turn the plight of robot-beggars and smash & grab thieves into a positive social project? Imagine our streets clear of such individuals sticking their hands and faces into car windows. What's in it for them to conform?

Regards
Trevor Nel - 011 - 705-2790 - www.innercircleforum.com
trevor@innercircleforum.com