Networking: The Insider’s Guide to Finding and Leveraging Your Best Opportunities

Kim Lysik Di Santi increased her credibility tenfold when she sent me a note, Thanks for heading this up,” she said. The follow up indicated to me Kim walks her talk in networking.

One of nine coaches who collaborated for the book, “A Guide to Getting it: Branding and Marketing Mastery,” (see Monday’s post) Kim’s chapter emphasizes the often undervalued marketing component of networking. One of the important steps to success in networking, according to Kim, is follow up.

Although I’d spoken with her on conference calls, we connected on LinkedIn this week. When I received her note I read her chapter, checked her profile and then “Googled” her for good measure. After all, LinkedIn can be networking on steroids.

There was plenty of proof of Kim’s successes: articles she’d written, newsletters featuring her as speaker, organizations such as National Association of Women Owned Businesses or Business Network International to which she belonged. I had a solid picture of Kim without the advantage of a website, proving the power of social media as a contributor to networking.

On the other hand, I lunched with a corporate executive who lamented that he was invisible on the internet and discussed how that might affect hurt him as he changed careers. I suggest that hurt may be too strong a word unless his total networking effort is non-existent. We move too quickly not to take advantage of every opportunity possible to “stack the deck” in our favor.

What message does your presence send? Even on the Internet (or, especially on the Internet) networking is important.

Networking 101 in 1-08

Ineffective networking? You know the symptoms: you go to an event because you should, half-heartedly talk with people you don’t know, exchange a few cards, and leave wondering what happened. Is there a better way? Fortunately, the answer is yes.

When I attended a recent ASTD - American Society of Training and Development - chapter meeting, Christine Kominiak made a point of asking about me and my business. We chatted during lunch and exchanged cards. Later that day she followed up with an email:

Mary Ellen,

I just wanted to send a quick to say that I’m
so glad we met (officially anyway) today and I’m looking forward to getting to
know you more going forward. Thanks for your openness and willingness to
share. I so appreciate that!

See you at the next meeting, I
hope!

Warmly,


Christine Kominiak
Owner,
Author, Trainer, Consultant

Because of the email, I reviewed her card and added her to my contacts. I noted Christine’s card does not include an address; rather, “By Referral Only.” While it’s not a strategy for everyone, Christine has finessed the networking meeting in my book. As a result of our interaction and her follow up Productive Sense, her company is on my radar.

The more traditional networking one-on-one meeting pales in comparison to Christine’s personal style. Judy Boles, a business broker with Vaughn Company persuaded me to meet for coffee. (Disclosure: I’d been referred to one of Judy’s new business owner’s by a third party.) I’m confident that I now know more about Judy and the types of businesses that make good customers for her. I flipped back and forth between the two company’s websites just for the fun of it: there’s a big, personalized difference.

How do you network?