Dan McComb interview - Co-Founder of Biznik.com

Dan McComb is Co-founder of Biznik, an online business networking community built around member hosted events.

Josh: Dan, how do you define Business Networking and why do you feel it is important?

Dan McComb: Business networking is making things happen for other people so that they'll make things happen for you. In that order (most people get it backwards). Business networking is particularly important to indie biz, because when you're small, collaboration is a much surer path to success than competition.

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

Dan McComb: The single most important tip I can give is this: Stop thinking about what you need, and start thinking about what people you meet need. If you can help the people you meet, whether it's online or face to face, it's only a matter of time before they start helping you.

So spend a little time every day finding ways to connect other people. Hardly anyone does this, by the way. It's actually quite difficult to reframe the world this way - we're all programmed to figure out what's in it for ourselves in almost every situation.

Josh: How can someone make the type of positive impression that leads to being remembered after the event or initial meeting?

Dan McComb: First, be authentic. What you think of as your biggest weakness could turn out to be your biggest strength. Business networking is like dating - it's tempting to try and present yourself in a radiant light, but often that translates into dumbing down what's really cool about yourself or putting on an act that isn't really you.

Trying to be someone you're not is a really bad idea. Here's why: because if they like you, you're stuck trying to be someone you're not, which won't last long and will likely end badly. And if they don't, well, they might have liked you if you'd simply been yourself!

Secondly, think of business networking more as an opportunity to get to know people than an opportunity to sell yourself and your services. If you can get to know someone, you can start to make things happen for them. And when you make things happen for them, they are likely to make things happen for you.

Third, don't take yourself or your business too seriously (unless that's who you really are!). I want to run screaming out of the room when I meet people at events who approach business networking like a serious task. Business should be fun, and business networking should be really fun.

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

Dan McComb: My biggest networking success was meeting John Adair, who is Biznik's lead incredibly talented Rails developer, at a Biznik event. At the time I was writing all of the code for Biznik myself, in my spare time, and I knew that I needed to find someone better than me who could take things to the next level.

We liked each other right away when we met, and we had coffee a few days later, which ultimately led to us deciding to work together. That's also how we hooked up with our attorney, Danny Bronski, and our business consultant, Karrie Kohlhaas. So for us, the big business networking success has been a lot about finding the talent we needed to continue growing the business.

Josh: Dan, you are the Co-founder of Biznik. Can you tell us a bit about it, as well as what makes it stand out from other types of resources in the marketplace?

Dan McComb: We created Biznik as networking for a new generation of business people who are interested in taking their lifestyle, sense of self and priorities into business, as opposed to checking them at the office door.

Biznik is a community that is focused like a laser beam on what we call "indie professionals" - entrepreneurs, consultants, anyone who is self-employed or starting a business. Biznik's flavor is decidedly urban and progressive. It's business networking for the creative class.

Technology wise, we wanted to build an online social network that recognizes face-to-face events are still the best way to build trust. So we've put a lot of thought and effort into creating Biznik's events tools, which allow any member to create events in their community (and keep 100 percent of the fee they set, if any). We have fantastic localization features that I haven't seen on any other business networking site.

And our Action Menu user interface is something we're extremely proud of - it allows you to communicate and interact with other members without leaving whatever page you're on, which vastly improves the user experience of the website.

But the biggest thing that stands out is our commitment to being an open network. Basic membership will always be free, and you don't just get some token features at that level. We've got two paid levels with additional features, but all our members' profiles are available to anyone viewing the site, which means they're fully indexed on Google, which means we're driving traffic to our members' profiles 24 hours a day.

Virtually every indie business person's biggest problem is getting noticed, so our privacy setting is very simple: on or off. Sites like LinkedIn have to deal with the fact that half of their members are just as concerned with being invisible as being visible (think someone who is looking for a job but doesn't want their boss to know, for example) which makes for a very confusing and complicated permissions system. By staying focused on this niche, we've been able to eliminate complexity and to create a very simple, powerful and low-cost platform for networking.

*brought to you by BusinessNetworkingAdvice.com

Tatsuya Nakagawa interview - co-founder of Atomica Creative Group

Tatsuya Nakagawa is co-founder of Atomica Creative Group, a specialized strategic product marketing firm. He has assisted Bridgestone, Hitachi and other global companies in their early stage deployments and has been involved in many successful product launches in North America, Europe and Asia in several industries. He has co-authored Overcoming Inventoritis: The Silent Killer of Innovation.

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

Tatsuya Nakagawa: Business networking is about learning about people and finding opportunities to make a difference in their professional or personal life. This usually involves being proactive and making the first move.

At the end of the day, it’s all about people and the relationships you have with them. When you are successful in adding value to people’s lives then you gain the most important thing in business, their trust.

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

Tatsuya Nakagawa: One of the key things I focus on is increasing my capacity for helping people. I do this by creating a list of all the ways I can help people and then I identify some areas I can improve on.

I review the list often and constantly look for opportunities to be of service. The focus is on quality first and then quantity. When connecting two people together I always try to ensure that I make a Perfect Referral.

"Perfect referral. When you talk to both people, get permissions and also confirm the fit before going forward. Followed by a confirmation (maybe by email) and a follow up on how the meeting went and possibly attending the meeting itself. This is what a perfect referral looks like. Your process needs to cover these elements."

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

Tatsuya Nakagawa: I am an avid user of LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, StumbleUpon and primarily use these tools to learn about people.

You will be surprised at what you can learn by looking at someone’s profile or looking at what tools they use. For instance, a person that wants to connect will tend to disclose more about themselves and leave various contacts information on their profile. You can tell what their priorities are by how much they write about their job or business or how open there are to discussing hobbies or personal life.

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

Tatsuya Nakagawa: I was an early adopter of online networking tools, so a colleague of mine invited me to speak at a few local business groups. After my initial talk, I realized that the best way to grow my business network was to give talks how to build an effective online network and then connect with everyone that attended my speech.

Over the next year, with the help of people including Daryl Alford, Donna Willon and Robert Sanzalone, I gave 27 speeches on online networking and connected with thousands people. This led to various opportunities such as new clients, board positions, media plugs and successful alliances.

*brought to you by BusinessNetworkingAdvice.com

Becky McCray interview - Entrepreneur and Blogger

Becky McCray is an entrepreneur, business consultant and blogger at Small Biz Survival. She created her first blog in 2003. Becky started blogging to share some of the terrific small business resources available. To share her skills, she helps businesses maintain their web presence.

Josh: Becky, how do you define Business Networking and why do you feel it is important?

Becky McCray: Business networking is reaching out to people. Business is all about people and relationships. If you aren't actively reaching out to new people, you are stagnating within a static pool of people, and your business probably shows it.

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

Becky McCray: Think about others first. Focus on how you can render them some service. I just read a good tip from Tatsuya Nakagawa to mention your new contacts in relevant blog posts you write. That's a small contribution to their overall presence online.

A second bit of advice, this time from Chris Penn, is to begin thinking of yourself as the hub of your own network. That helps you to be aware of not just new contacts but also connections you can help make happen.

Josh: What events, places, or resources (online or offline) have you found to be especially good for networking? And based on your experience what makes them stand out?

Becky McCray: I've found that many people are now "friend sourcing", or getting recommendations, through Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. The feeling of connection through those services has contributed to this trend, I think. Offline, I make terrific connections as a member of the Business and Professional Women. It brings together women of all professions.

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

Becky McCray: I don't advertise my business consulting at all. Every single bit of it is done by networking, and this year it has really grown! I can point to one single person, Jeanne Cole, who has steered more business my way than anyone else. She has connected me with two new website customers, plus a major contract position. Jeanne does this because she believes in my abilities. So learn to spend time with people who truly believe in you, and make sure you perform up to their belief!

*brought to you by BusinessNetworkingAdvice.com.