Networking

If you are a net worker and want to become more efficient on meeting the right people, well then let me suggest not being the first person at the event or party. You see it makes sense to let the crowd sort itself out first. You can allow the shameless sales people and hardcore party pitchers to make their sales spiels and let the party separate into groups.

Then when you come in some folks will be bored talking with the same people they talk to each week and the party crashers, free food groupies and shameless sales people will have separated you see? Then a quick glance of the room and a few one liners with the host and you will see exactly who is worthy to talk with and which group will come find you anyway later on.

Without trying to sound rude, I think it necessary to lay out the reality. How do I know this? Well in my life I have gone to networking meetings in communities in 23-states and over 100 cities and most of these human get togethers are quite similar and now when I walk in a room it is fairly obvious to immediately tell who is who and with a little practice I am certain you can too.

Not by what they wear, but rather by how they stand, what they say and the wisdom they purvey. I hope this article does not piss you off or upset you, you will learn with time if it does and someday you will agree with me and understand. Be well and have fun networking take my advice if you will and I ask that you consider this in 2006.

Lance Winslow

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Which questions do you need to ask to even get a hint
if you really want to know something about another person’s business pain?

We define business pain as a problem that a business needs to have a solution for. The pain may be that they do not have enough sales, or they do not have an appropriate process in order to track their forecasting. The pain could even be that they cannot hire the appropriate staff in order the handle daily requirements. Most often when you are at an event, the business person will talk about what is bothering them at work. They do not talk about their successes (especially if they are being heard) and they do not talk about other wins. They will talk about their pain. It is through asking questions that you will find out what that pain is.

One good question would be to ask: “How are your sales doing this quarter?”, or this year. You may also ask them what they are currently working on in order to improve their business processes. There are a host of other questions you can ask in order to get the answers you are looking for. When asking questions, you do not need to get into specifics; you need to generalize as you want to make the appointment to go deeper into what their company does. The goal of diving into the business pain is not to find out what the pain is per se, it is to find out that there is pain and in what areas. If you are specifically interested in sales, then the questions should generally be directed around sales and not the HR questions. You must be specific about what you want to know and not what the person is leading you towards. There is often pain in more than one area of a business.

Now that you have asked all the important questions, you will receive the answers. These may not always be the ones you are looking for; it may be that you have no chance at doing business with this person. The important thing is to make sure that you listen carefully to what they have to say. You should not take notes as it is distracting to the speaker; you should spend your time practicing your listening skills.

Bette Daoust, Ph.D. has been networking with others since leaving high school years ago. Realizing that no one really cared about what she did in life unless she had someone to tell and excite. She decided to find the best ways to get people’s attention, be creative in how she presented herself and products, getting people to know who she was, and being visible all the time. Her friends and colleagues have often dubbed her the “Networking Queen”. Blueprint for Networking Success: 150 ways to promote yourself is the first in this series. Blueprint for Branding Yourself: Another 150 ways to promote yourself is planned for release in 2005. For more information visit http://BlueprintBooks.com.

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Change your attitude, change your life

In my experiences, I’ve found that opportunities are awarded most often to the person who had the best ATTITUDE for the job, not the most APTITUDE for the job. By changing your attitude to be more positive, people will want to talk to you, and you’ll get more opportunities. More opportunities means more chances of success, more chances of success means more success, and more success means a better, changed, life.

Only you can make your life better. So I ask you, will you settle for average, or will you do what it takes to Make it Great?

Quote of the week

A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds. — Sir Francis Bacon

It really is amazing to think about how much control you have over the luck you have. This quote sums up exactly how I feel every day, and why I am able to stay so positive. Knowing that the opportunities I encounter are a direct result of the efforts I put into things really helps me keep things in perspective.

You might be wondering, “I’m too busy to make opportunities. I need someone to knock on my door and put an opportunity in my hand.” Or you might believe that opportunity knocks on your door, albeit only once. Both can be true, but again, I find that more often than not, opportunities come to those who are doing the knocking, not to those listening for it.

Site of the Week

One of my favorite sites is from a good friend of mine, Kirk Weisler. Kirk offers a T4D (Thought for the Day) that I read every day shortly after I wake up. You can feel the love in every one of Kirk’s newsletters. I encourage you to subscribe to Kirk’s newsletter, and read a few of the books he recommends. I promise you, Kirk’s newsletter will change your life. I know it has changed mine! Read more about Kirk at his self-titled website http://www.KirkWeisler.com

Until next time…Make it a GREAT day!

Phil Gerbyshak

makeitgreat@gmail.com

http://www.miginstitute.com

414.640.7445

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