Networking Skills and Advice: From Facebook to Phonebook By Waldo Waldman

The following is excellent food for thought when it comes to effective business networking. I'm pleased to share the following ideas from speaker & trainer Waldo Waldman.

From Facebook to Phonebook: How Wingmen Stay Connected...

Like many of you, I recently joined the Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn craze and it's been great. I've re-connected with old friends from high school, college, and my fighter pilot days, and I've also met some very interesting people. And yes – like you, I can easily spend a few hours a day on these sites checking out profiles and looking at cool videos and photos.

Last week, I was driving home from a lunch meeting and was thinking of who I needed to re-connect with. David Greenberg (a personal friend and one of the best speaker coaches I know) came to mind. And I did something crazy. I didn't search for him on Facebook. Nor did I Tweet him a personal message. I didn't even send him an e-mail. I actually called him on the phone, and believe it or not, he answered! We connected, shared some cool business ideas, and I hung up feeling great.

Yes, I know I'm being a bit facetious here. But I have to say that if there is one thing that drives this wingman ‘wingnuts' is when people abuse this whole social networking thing. In many ways, it's gone from "Here's what I'm doing" to "Here's what I'm selling." From "Let me connect you to" to "Let me sell you."

Well, I've got news for you, ye social networking gurus. If I don't know you, I probably won't buy from you. The reason I said ‘probably' is because there are times when we will buy something from someone even if we don't know them. If it has value and can help our business/life, then hey, it's worth a look. And there's nothing wrong with occasionally sharing our great product, seminar, or book with our contacts.

Social networking sites are a tremendous way to expose our market to our value. But please, let's not put our sales links and impersonal offers in EVERY POST we make on Twitter or Facebook!

We need to be careful not to abuse the social networking sites and our connections. They are primarily for networking and making contacts, not direct sales.

I believe our phone book should still remain our primary method for building and maintaining our relationships. One phone call equals 50 tweets and Facebook messages. Phone calls are great at building trust, and trust what a wingman is all about.

So, here are some wingtips to augment your social networking efforts:

1. Make it a priority to call a few of your special contacts every day. Do this first thing in the morning if able. These include your top clients, vendors, and yes, your friends.

2. Use your phone judiciously. Before you head to the airport or Starbucks, make a list of a few wingmen to call while in your car or at the gate.

3. Give something of value to your contact on the phone (i.e. a referral.). Before you hang up, ask them this special question: "Is there anything I can help you with?"

4. ** If you really want to connect with a new e-contact, research their website and call them. I guarantee they will be impressed…and shocked.

In this high speed age of Twitter and text messaging where words on a screen are the norm, we need to hear each other's voices. Voices incur emotion and emotion is what connects people. And when connections are made, trust is built and relationships develop. How people make you feel is what initially builds relationships, not the product they sell.

So, if you want to be a Wingman - a trusted partner - to your network, don't forget to reference your Phonebook in addition to Facebook when flight planning your next mission.

NEVER FLY SOLO!
Your Wingman,
Lt Col Rob "Waldo" Waldman
_____________
Lt Col Waldo Waldman, The Wingman, builds team unity within organizations as a high-energy leadership and inspirational speaker. A former combat-decorated fighter pilot with corporate sales experience, Waldo brings an exciting and valuable message to organizations by using fighter pilot strategies as building blocks for peak performance, teamwork, leadership and trust. His clients include AFLAC, Hewlett-Packard, Nokia, BG Products, NY Life, and Home Depot and his book Never Fly Solo (McGraw-Hill) will be released in Dec 2009.

To download Waldo's Top Gun Motivation mission briefing, visit www.YourWingman.com, e-mail info@yourwingman.com or call 1-866-925-3616.

-Lots of great ideas don't you agree? If you'd like to share your own thoughts please do so in the comments below.

- Happy Networking, Josh Hinds :-)
(Connect with me on Facebook or Twitter)

*brought to you by BusinessNetworkingAdvice.com

Howard Bienstock interview - Entrepreneur & Founder OneDegreeConnected.com

Howard M. Bienstock is an Entrepreneur and the Founder OneDegreeConnected.com

Josh: How do you define Business Networking and why do you feel it is important?

Howard Bienstock: Business networking should be the sharing of relationships for the betterment of all. This is done by meeting people both online and live and helping them connect directly to the decision makers who you know that they can provide value to, and that they want to meet.

This is important because you not only quicken your sales cycle you deepen your relationship with both the person asking for the introduction and the person you are introducing them to... It's actively facilitating a mutually beneficial connection between currently 'unconnected' individuals.

Josh: Can you share an idea or two that someone could put into practice that would help them to improve their business networking skills?

Howard Bienstock: Practice. Practice. Practice. Did I say Practice? You don't get better at anything unless you practice, and networking is no exception. You need to get good at asking people how you can help them, and in letting them know how they can help you.

Be exact. Don't say; I'm looking for anybody. Instead say; I would like to meet the CFO of XYZ company. People cannot connect you to ‘anybody’, but they can connect you to a specific person or company. Try it, it works every time. The more you network and the more specific you are both in what you have to offer, and then in what you need (in that order), the more successful you will become in all networking efforts.

Josh: Do you see any common mistakes that people tend to make when it comes to attempting to make business connections? If so, what are they and what corrections could they make in your opinion which would help them to be more effective in their approach towards networking?

Howard Bienstock: One of the most common mistake I see is when people go to a networking event (either live or online), and don't have a specific target or channel that they want to meet. If you are not specific I can't help you. The next "big" networking mistake is pushing information overload on everyone you meet. Initial conversations should be about showing that you genuinely CARE about the other person and their needs.

Most initial conversations are a one-sided sales pitch... wrong move!

Make it a habit to, when you first meet someone, ask them what they do and what they are looking for and how you can help them. Once people begin to feel that you are genuine in wanted to help them, most will reciprocate without being prompted.

Josh: Can you give us a brief overview of OneDegreeConnected? What makes it unique, and can you share some specific examples where others have benefited from being plugged into what you all are doing there?

Howard Bienstock: What is One Degree Connected (ODC)? OneDegreeConnected.com is a confidential, permission-based, direct relationship-management website designed by business professionals.

It's geared to provide professional networkers, sales and marketing experts, executives, and business owners with a state-of-the-art alternative vehicle to shorten their sales cycle while improving the level of contact through meaningful relationship management and effective business development. We don't share contact information.

Our proprietary system helps to facilitate personal, credible introductions to decision-makers outside of someone’s current contact base "from" existing contacts with whom they (decision makers) already share a respected relationship!

Josh: How is ODC Different from other social networking tools?

Howard Bienstock: ODC is an online tool designed by professional business people to serve the needs of professional business people. It is not a social networking site, but it provides a means for subscribers to effectively ‘leverage’ their social networks!

ODC is a cost-effective solution to social networks newly developed "Business Solution" membership option. At $500/month, one of the "FREE" sites offer limited open correspondence to a new (unknown) contact.

In contract, for a mere $29.99/month (less than avg. cost of many professional memberships) ODC provides you unlimited access to request an actual personal introduction or direct referral to as many people as you have earned points to request (points earned by the number of contacts you have contributed to the secure global database) - with no expiration date.

There is no external advertising, banner ads, data farming, etc. We allow you to RATE your relationship levels to create more efficient referral requests. We provide the resources to help make sure you are getting the most out of the ever-evolving online referral process.

We help to create a "buzz" about you, your company or product by effectively leveraging fellow subscriber's relationships through multiple, personal introductions. We pay a cash bonus for each new subscriber that joins using your personal referral code referral code.

Josh: How does ODC work?

Howard Bienstock: When you're ready to accelerate your network, you JOIN, then set up your profile. (This is what other subscriber/members will see about you and your company).

UPLOAD your contact database to our secure server. You will earn points based upon the completion of your contact info (i.e., names, titles, rating, etc.) the more thorough the info the more points you earn to request introductions and referrals.

CONNECT. Search the member contacts for someone you need to meet (by name, job title/position, and/or company). The ODC search is specific which is how we can provide multiple, personal introductions.

REQUEST AN INTRO/REFERRAL/RECOMMENDATION: You can see who (fellow subscriber/members) knows the person you need to meet and send a system generated request for a personal introduction and/or referral based upon how well they are connected with that person (via the 5 star rating system).

Prior to granting your request, fellow subscriber/members will/should look at your profile to learn about you and how to best introduce you to their contact - then they will send you the contact info and e-mail the person you've requested to meet that you will be contacting them directly.

Receiving intro requests will cost you points.

GRANT AN INTRO/REFERRAL/RECOMMENDATION REQUEST: Fellow subscriber/members may need to meet someone in your circle of influence and request an introduction from you. If it's someone you don't know, then check out their profile to determine whether or not to approve the request to meet.

Approving intro requests will earn you points.

ODC WORKS because each subscriber/member is leveraging the others' existing relationships. When you facilitate getting people together with common interests/needs everyone wins. Existing relationships are enhanced, new relationships are formed and business gets done!

You can also INVITE your existing non-member contacts to JOIN One Degree to help them accelerate their networks as well. When your contact becomes a member, everyone can see his/her profile but more importantly, everyone is now only "1" degree away from all of his/her contacts as well!

Subscriber/members will earn $10 cash bonus for each new member who joins ODC. You can send a system invitation which tracks your member ID and will generate a check quarterly for bonuses due on all new members who've joined via your invitation. Additionally, you can invite anyone to join the website using your ID and earn unlimited cash referral bonuses!

ODC has helped its subscribers to double and triple business in less than a year. Example one of our subscribers a bookkeeping business wanted to me CPA's she new that if she met 1 CPA per week over the course of a year she could double her business. To do this she would need to spend 10 hours a week networking to be able to get the one meeting a week she needed to grow her business.

With ODC she was able to spend 30 minutes on the site each week and was able to be introduced (with multiple referrals) to the CPA's she wanted to meet and was meeting 4 per week so she cut her time down from 10 hours to 5 hours and raised her face to face with CPA's from 1 to 4 per week. So in the half the time she met 4(four) times the people and was able to meet and exceed her goal in 16 weeks vs. 52.

This has happened time and time again One Degree Connected is the most powerful Business tool available for the serious person wanting to get key introductions and referrals to the decision makers they need to meet.

- Happy Networking, Josh Hinds :-)
(Connect with me on Facebook or Twitter)

*brought to you by BusinessNetworkingAdvice.com

Bill Tamminga interview - Founder of Tamminga Marketing and Consulting

Bill Tamminga is the founder of Tamminga Marketing and Consulting. Bill also recently started an online social networking group for service business owners. The community features dozens of free marketing tutorials along with the opportunity to share your expertise and meet other business owners. He received his MBA from the University of Colorado and lives on the outskirts of Denver.

Josh: How do you define Business Networking and why do you feel it is important?

Bill Tamminga: I define business networking as any activity where there is 1:1 communication going on between two professionals.

I work primarily with service business owners and I know how critical networking is - especially as you get into higher-ticket services like law, consulting, and medicine. Generally, the more you charge for your service and the more competition you have the more you will rely on networking to build your business.

Face to face interaction helps people understand that there is a person behind the company. When it's done right, it brings our natural defenses down and allows a relationship to begin outside the confines of financial expectations.

Josh: One of the catch 22's in a typical professional networking environment is that people don't want to focus only on themselves and what they do, but at the same time, they do want to communicate what they do to the other person. With that being the case, how can someone go about getting across what they do in the most effective manner?

Bill Tamminga: You've touched on a basic problem with networking today. Networking is often viewed as a short-term strategy or one-time event when the reality is that it's a long-term strategy.

If you join a group that meets monthly, but you only show up once or twice a year you'll probably feel pressure to tell people about what you do. But the year progresses and regular attendees start to build strong bonds with each other, the short-timers are forgotten, regardless of what they do or what they said at the events they went to.

If you are going to really network effectively, it begins with a conversation about the other people in the room. Ask good questions about their family? What do they do outside of work for fun? Where do they live? Where else do they network? Where did they grow up? Those are the questions that help you get to know someone and build relationships and I've found that the people who spend time asking those questions get the most out of networking events.

Josh: In your opinion, what would be the ideal design for a business card, from the point of effective networking. That is, what are the absolute most important elements one needs on their business card?

Bill Tamminga: The essentials of a business card are your name, title or occupation, company name, phone number, email address, and website/webpage. Beyond that it's nice to have a physical address, social network (if you've started one), and your social networking pages on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter.

The point of the business card is to make it easy for a prospect to learn more about you and continue a conversation at their convenience. One of the reasons why I don't talk a lot about myself and my business at networking events is because it creates a certain amount of mystery for prospects. I'll give them my card and expect that they'll do their own research to find out more about what I do. I make sure to leave plenty of ways for them to do that on my card. Some people can go crazy with their cards. I choose to keep it really simple.

Josh: Based on your experiences, which places and activities have you found best for meeting new people and expanding your business network?

Bill Tamminga: My strongest networking events are the ones at which everyone has a common bond beyond being entrepreneurs or business owners. Events like non-profit fundraisers, Tweetups (for those who are on Twitter), and alumni groups have played an instrumental role for me.

Josh: Can you share a personal "networking" success story with us?

Bill Tamminga: I'm a big believer in building community. Any time I am able to strengthen a bond and get another person in my corner so to speak, I consider it a success. I can usually tell if that's happened when I am still communicating with that person after the event via phone, email, social media, or what have you. That happens frequently and it sometimes results in incoming business in the short term. Other times it results only in a solid friendship, which is equally important.

-Yours in Networking Success! Josh Hinds
Let's socialize -- connect with me on Facebook or Twitter

*brought to you by BusinessNetworkingAdvice.com

Lynn Pierce interview - Speaker and Author

Lynn Pierce, the Success Architect, has taught people how to combine business and personal development to reach the pinnacle of success and live the life of their dreams for over 25 years. In addition, she is also the founder of one of the most exciting annual events for women entrepreneurs, "Women's Business Empowerment Summit".

She shares her keys to success and life mastery in "Breakthrough to Success; 19 Keys to Mastering Every Area of Your Life" and on her blog at YourBreakthroughToSuccess.com/blog.

Josh: How do you define Business Networking and why do you feel it is important?

Lynn Pierce: Business networking to me is building rapport first and then building a relationship based on how you can support someone else before you ever consider asking them to do anything for you.

Relationships are what life is all about and your business is an extension of who you are. The way you network is just your way of showing you care about other people. Nothing is more important than that.

It's not about how many business cards you can hand out or how great of an elevator speech you've created to tell people what you do.

Josh: Can you share a couple of ideas that someone could put into practice that would help them to improve their business networking skills?

Lynn Pierce: The first rule is to be sincerely interested in the people you meet, really want to get to know them.

It's important to bond with the person you are meeting and really connect with them personally, not just as a representation of their business. This is accomplished the same way in business as in becoming friends socially.

Find areas of commonality by asking questions in a conversation that show you are sincerely interested in who the other person is. Forget about the business end of it at this point. If you develop a real relationship, the business side of it will come easily.

I know I'm very shy in situations where I don't know people and lots of other people are nervous about standing alone and not knowing how to start a conversation. They would really appreciate you walking up to them and helping them to feel more comfortable by asking them about something they will enjoy talking about. It only takes 1 or 2 questions to find that commonality.

In the 25 year career I had in sales the way I always found myself at the top year after year was because I was able to build relationships instantly.

It's a learned skill of being sincerely interested in people and how you can help them. It's also learning how to ask the questions that will engage the other person in a real conversation, not one that sounds like a sales pitch.

You also network through the first impression you create, it's another point of bonding.

In person, the first impression you create is with your body language and the way you dress, before you say a word. Online or in print your photo does the talking for you before someone reads or listens to a word you say.

Always use your photo where you can, not out of vanity but as a point of connection. People feel they know you when they can see you.

Josh: Can you share some of the ways you use the internet for business networking?

Lynn Pierce: On my blog, in my ezine, on Facebook and Twitter when I interact with someone, I treat it as a conversation and approach that conversation the same way I would in person.

People need to connect with the real person, not just the expert or business owner. People don't connect with businesses, they connect with people. They also don't choose to do business with you unless they feel that connection.

I learned in the first year of writing articles for my ezine that some of the things people remembered the longest were stories about my life. That's because those are the points of personal connection that allow people to feel like you have things in common and you understand each other.

It's really important to be conversational and to be real. You don't want to finally talk on the phone or meet in person and find out that the person you connected with was not who you thought they were.

When people meet me I want them to feel like they already know me from reading what I write.

I would never let an assistant do blog comments or facebook comments or tweets for me. I don't care how familiar they are with the way I speak, they can't get in my head and respond authentically the way I would respond.

In my opinion, hiring someone or automating the process goes against the whole reason for networking, which is to build a relationship. You can't build a relationship if you're not even really there.

Josh: How do you generally engage a person in conversation upon first meeting them? I realize this is a bit of an open ended question, so let's assume it's someone you've just met in a semi-professional setting such as at an event, or local Chamber of Commerce type of meeting.

Lynn Pierce: I would introduce myself and ask them about their experience with this event or group to initially break the ice. Normally that's all it takes to build a conversation based on their experience and then sharing how my experience has something in common with theirs, or how I can help them feel more comfortable at the event. I would never start with, "What do you do?"

In the rare instances where there's nothing to talk about from their answer I can always find another question to ask to discover a commonality we can build a conversation on. It can be something as simple as asking if they live nearby. That question fits almost any networking event you find yourself at. And the conversation flows from listening to what they say in their response that you can build on.

It's so much easier with Twitter because you can just join in a conversation that's already taking place. You can make connections quickly by commenting, connecting and sharing who you are.

Josh: Can you share a personal "networking" success story with us?

Lynn Pierce: Networking through relationship building has been the source of just about everything I've accomplished in my business. When I first started on my path of becoming an author and speaker I quickly became friends with people considered to be gurus. I think it was because I met them as real people I was interested in instead of the "guru".

Those personal relationships opened business doors because they recognized my sincere interest in them as a friend and not a means to an end. In many instances I was able to connect them with people they hadn't met. So don't ever think you have nothing to offer to someone you perceive to be on a higher level in business.

With online networking, last year I offered two speakers I had met on Facebook opportunities to speak at Women's Business Empowerment Summit. I had 5 other speakers referred to me by people I had met on Facebook. Learning how to effectively network benefits everyone.

- Happy Networking, Josh Hinds :-)
(Connect with me on Facebook or Twitter)

*brought to you by BusinessNetworkingAdvice.com

Liz Lynch interview - Networking Strategist and Author

Liz Lynch is the author of Smart Networking: Attract a Following In Person and Online and a sought-after speaker who brings a practical and insightful perspective to networking that has connected with a global audience. She’s appeared in the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and USAToday as well as on Fox Business News, ABC News, CNBC.com and Businessweek.com.

Liz is also founder of the Center for Networking Excellence, a company that develops products, programs and seminars to help entrepreneurs and professionals get clients, build their businesses, and accelerate their careers through networking. Her bottom-line approach grew from her experience in corporate America working at some of the top firms in their industries -- Goldman Sachs, Disney, Booz Allen & Hamilton, and Time Warner.

Josh: Liz, how do you define Business Networking and why do you feel it's important?

Liz Lynch: To me, a network is a support system that you can turn to for advice, ideas, information and feedback. So networking then is simply the process of building and maintaining that support system.

The main reason you’d want a support system in your life is to give you maximum flexibility to pursue the goals that you want to pursue and have a high probability of achieving them. Want to change jobs, start your own business, or do something completely different with your life?

As independent-minded as you may be, if a goal is big enough, you can’t get there alone. You’re going to need the help of other people and your network is a valuable source of that help.

Josh: Can you share a few ideas that someone could put into practice that would help them to improve their business networking skills?

Liz Lynch: I think mindset is the most important thing for successful networking. Tactics and technique without the right intentions will leave you spinning your wheels and potentially alienate a lot of people. Once you develop an intuitive sense for building relationships, you can get almost anything done. So here are a couple of tips for getting there:

First, think about being a connector rather than a collector. When you meet new people it’s not about getting their business card, but about making a personal connection on which to form an authentic and supportive relationship. This means you need to have a conversation and get to know them. Let that be your goal rather than just collecting another business card.

Second, if you want to get someone’s attention you have to take the attention off of yourself. For instance, here’s an example of a Facebook friend invitation I received the other day:

My web site is [url removed to protect the guilty]. Subscribe to my newsletter. It’s free. I CAN HELP YOU! Check out my book on Amazon.com. The book is for males AND FEMALES. I will be posting content for you soon."

Hmm, how’s that supposed to entice me to want to network? That message tells me that he’s only out to help himself and doesn’t care about me at all. Not a great way to start off a relationship. Needless to say, I didn’t accept the invite. Whether you’re networking in person or online, it’s important to put your agenda aside. Think about what’s going to pull someone into your network, rather than what you can push at them.

Josh: I get the question a lot from people who say, "those ideas all sound great, but they wouldn't work for me because I'm an introvert." What advice can you give folks who just aren't comfortable getting out there and connecting with others?

Liz Lynch: I’m an introvert too! One of the reasons I wanted to write this book is to let people know that you don’t need to be the life of the party to be successful with networking. You don’t even need to do it all the time, as long as you know how to be highly effective when you do get out there.

So if networking is uncomfortable, you can at least minimize the time that you have to do it while still getting great results. This is what smart networking is all about.

In my experience, I find that introverts may have a slight edge over their extroverted friends because they’re less prone to hogging the spotlight. Turn your introverted tendencies to your advantage when you meet people and ask lots of questions. People love to talk about themselves and will feel more connected to you because you’ve shown interest in getting to know them.

Josh: For some people knowing where to go to network in the first place is a problem. Can you share some specific resources, events, or places that you have found helpful for meeting new people and growing your business network?

Liz Lynch: I’m a huge Facebook fan for business networking. But again, I think there’s a trick to using it and some people just don’t get it. I feel people are more responsive when you post things about yourself (pictures, status updates, videos, blog entries, etc.) and let those who are interested in what you’re doing find their way to you, rather than trying to market to people directly by sending messages, inviting them to events and groups. It’s also important to engage people in conversation by commenting on things that they post, which helps you start to build rapport.

I’m also now starting to explore Biznik.com, whose tagline is "Business Networking that doesn’t suck." Not only have I met the nicest, most supportive people there, but it’s a company that believes in what I believe: that the best of business networking is the combination of online and offline. In addition to the site, they host events in different cities so people can meet face-to-face.

For in person networking since there are so many options, the best thing to do is ask your target market where they network and what groups they belong to.

Josh: Do you see any common mistakes that people tend to make when it comes to attempting to make business connections? If so, what are they and what corrections could they make in your opinion which would help them to be more effective in their approach towards networking?

Liz Lynch: Even though social networking is becoming more and more popular, remember that online sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. are just tools. They don’t do the networking for you. All the same principles of building relationships offline apply to building relationships online because there’s a real person behind that profile. Don’t spam your "friends" with overtly promotional messages and don’t waste their time with frivolous applications and irrelevant event/group invitations.

-Happy Networking, Josh Hinds :-)
(you can follow me on Facebook or Twitter)

*brought to you by BusinessNetworkingAdvice.com

Mike McAllen interview - co-founder of Grass Shack Events & Media

Mike McAllen is one of the cofounders of Grass Shack Events & Media worldwide boutique production company based in the San Francisco Bay Area with offices in Honolulu and New York City.

Mike spent several years running the production department of the largest corporate production company in California before starting Grass Shack Events & Media.

Grass Shack concentrates on communicating clients messages through corporate events & meetings, videos, and new media. Grass Shack has been involved with Social Media initiatives for several clients via podcasting, setting up blogs and other technology based communication tools to further the communications of their clients.

Josh: How do you define Business Networking and why do you feel it is important?

Mike McAllen: The landscape of interactions has changed dramatically in the last few years. With the addition of technology based sites for networking it has only enhanced the face to face meet up opportunities for all businesses.

I feel business networking is the foundation of good sales and marketing. Most all sales are relationship driven so always expanding your network is essential.

Josh: Can you share an idea or two that someone could put into practice that would help them to improve their business networking skills?

Mike McAllen: I think picking an online business network and a face to face network and concentrating on getting the most out of them is the best practice. For example join LinkedIn and a couple of industry groups in Linkedin and really get involved. Same with a face to face group such as the American Marketing Association or what ever industry association that correlate to your business. And get involved! Volunteer to help.

Josh: What is your favorite (preferred) business or social networking site? In your opinion what are the key features which are most valuable to you? What makes the resources you use most appealing to you, as opposed to the other online networking resources and sites that are available?

Mike McAllen: I built a blog/podcast called MeetingsPodcast.com which targets my companies industry this past year and have been joined by two industry friends. This site has been a great way for me to get involved with my community. We as a team have weekly roundtable podcasts and also weekly interviews with industry folks.

We also branch off and use Linkedin, Facebook, and twitter to enhance and find like minded people in our space. The Key features are to build relationships and help others in our business and to make friends. The most appealing thing about the networking sites we use is we are comfortable with them and they are the most popular sites.

I get a constant stream of new networking sites daily and you have to draw the line somewhere. But find the one or two you enjoy and stick to them.

Josh: Do you see any common mistakes that people tend to make when it comes to attempting to make business connections? If so, what are they and what corrections could they make in your opinion which would help them to be more effective in their approach towards networking with others?

Mike McAllen: I think going to a networking site and blurting out what your company does in every message you send or write has a negative effect and falls on deaf ears.

I read somewhere that you should treat social networking sites like a cocktail party. Would you walk up to a group of people and blurt out what you do for a living? Or would you say hello, listen for a bit and then comment and join the conversation? This is how I try and network.

Josh: How important has networking been in your own professional life. Can you share an example of how it has made a difference?

Mike McAllen: I have so many examples or finding a resource in some city I am visiting but just putting out on LinkedIn or twitter that I need some help. Just recently I was in Dallas for an event and needed a production assistant I had four great leads in an hour. But of course I try and spend time helping the community also.

Doing a little research to help someone when you see someone looking for help pays dividends. First it feels good to help someone and second you just made another connection which as you know could lead to more business. Plus that person is now part of your community.

- Happy Networking! Josh Hinds
(Follow me on: twitter)

*brought to you by BusinessNetworkingAdvice.com

Stuart Tan interview - NLP Trainer and Corporate Consultant

Stuart Tan is one of Singapore’s foremost NLP trainers and peak performance specialists. He is a highly sought-after motivational speaker and corporate consultant in training and development. You can reach him at www.StuartTan.com

Josh: How do you define Business Networking and why do you feel it is important?

Stuart Tan: Business networking is about looking out for and acting in the interests of other people, while holding on tightly to the people who are looking out for you by building a deeper understanding of them and reciprocating.

Our environment controls us to an extent that we are not aware of. You behave in constant reaction to your surroundings. So, it's essential for you to create an environment that is suitable for you.

We are influenced heavily by the people around us. More importantly, their ideas can become thought viruses. Do you want to hang out with people who have a negative outlook of life? Or would you rather hang out with high achievers?

Since people affect us, we might as well find people who affect us in a powerful way.

Josh: Can you share a few ideas that someone could put into practice that would help them to improve their business networking skills?

Stuart Tan: The first thing is to never network more than you can respond. It's literally a sin. By building deep and intimate understanding with a few people, it helps you create a high quality in the relationship. I've seen people spend 10 seconds with people and make their business decisions just based on that. I mean, what kind of a moron does that?

A lot of people take business networking like some kind of commodity to be traded. If we simply started to treat people as people, be sensitive to their needs and empathize with them, it would be easier to find that networking isn't as mercenary as some people put it out to be.

Josh: We hear a lot about the importance of creating value for the people who we want to develop strong networking connections with. Can you share some ways people can go about creating value in the eyes of those they want to cultivate stronger working relationships with?

Stuart Tan: That's a simple question. By paying attention to what they have ahead of them, and helping to make the way easier for them.

Don't just say you'll support them, surprise them with action. If someone wanted to launch a product, do a pre-launch to help them with the buzz. You can take initiative and still benefit from it by simply feeling good that you've done a good thing.

Josh: Can you share some of the ways you use the internet for business networking?

Stuart Tan: Twitter is a great platform to use. Social networks like Facebook and MySpace are also great. I usually seek out interesting people to interview, just like what you're doing, Josh. This not only helps me to learn a thing or two, it also gives me a bit of time to really connect with my interviewees.

More importantly, I've learnt about the importance of conversations and what this does to us. It's no longer putting up a blog post, or a newsletter. It's about the "back and forth" interaction. We need that. As humans, I think we crave that.

Once I get to know people, I don't jump in and ask for a business contact. Okay, that may be stupid to some people, but I really need to know enough about someone to actually do something with them. That way, I can anticipate what to expect.

Josh: Can you share a personal "networking" success story with us?

Stuart Tan: I have a few funny stories to tell about people I networked with in the men's room. Won't mention names, but as a newbie, it was great to have a captive expert in the urinal next to me and I just had lots of questions answered.

In 2006, I had the chance to meet Alex Mandossian because the person who was his event organizer had spoken to me and my partner about doing something together. I later volunteered information that helped to increase back of room conversions. Alex later offered to speak if I could organize a group of people (he was practicing), so I had 118 people registered in 4 days of promotions due to the "partnership".

This paved the way to more things to come. It was July 2007 when Jay Conrad Levinson was in Malaysia delivering a training program. I volunteered to emcee the event (something I learnt from Alex) and ended up making friends with the Father of Guerilla Marketing, and had the great fortune to spend some time being educated in the ways of guerilla marketing staying at his place in Florida just this year in June. He's an awesome guy to learn about life - not just marketing - from.

Josh: Stuart, thank you again for doing the interview. If there are any other ideas on this topic which you think are worth including please go ahead and include them.

Stuart Tan: Yeah you're welcome. I just wanted to add that some people might think that networking is not "them". That's just sad. If you didn't network, you'd be a social outcast.

Maybe that's just your comfort zone, and I guarantee that your quality of life is just not going to improve. Anthony Robbins once said the quality of your life is the quality of your communication. I'll add on to say the quality of your life is determined by the quality of your connection and connectedness.

I used to be introverted, and thought I was a social outcast in school. Just because you think you are introverted does not give you the excuse to not network. Introverts network in warmer and deeper ways, and allow you to forge stronger and deeper relationships.

Wherever you are, whatever you do, network for networking's sake. Expand your thinking by meeting people who think in different ways than you. You'll be wiser for it, and you'll be grateful for it someday when you connect the dots looking back.

-- Happy Networking! Josh Hinds

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