Tim was excited for his wife. She got a promotion with a new title and a nice raise. The only problem: They had to move from Atlanta to Denver. He's a freelance website designer and can work from anywhere, so he figured he can work from Denver just as easily. But once he gets there, he realizes that the network of colleagues, clients, and cohorts he had been plugged into is now missing. He's struggling to find work, doesn't know who to connect with, and a little depressed. How can you make sure that doesn't happen to you when you move to a new town? Starting Over Instead of Adding On It can be daunting enough to go to a party or … [Read more...]
How Ambitious College Grads Can Network Better
The first few years after college can be exciting: The freedom, the friends, the fun. It's also stressful. You have to find your place in the world, figure out how you're going to pay the rent, and what you want to do with your career. Building a strong professional network around you is important for your short-term career success. More importantly, though, it's how you can plant seeds that you can harvest the rest of your life. This is especially true because the work world continues to become more and more mobile. If you're a recent grad, you’ve probably seen statistics quoted with the average number of jobs you will have in … [Read more...]
American Idol Networking: How to Completely Waste Your Opportunities
Are you tired of the networking articles that tell you that you have to connect with the rich and powerful to get value from your network? Does it seem completely inauthentic and skeevy? Do you use it as just another reason why you shouldn't waste time building your network? I call this the American Idol approach to networking. It makes it seem like the only way you can be successful is if you can get the "Simon" in your field to like you. Bleech! The idea that networking is about meeting powerful people and befriending them is not only incorrect, it's harmful to careers. It keeps people from starting and cultivating the real … [Read more...]
The #1 Reason Why Your Sales Network Sucks: You Only Network When You Are Desperate
In a hyper-connected world, the new opportunities that you are looking for in your career are going to come from the people you know. So if you want to expand your access to opportunities, you have to expand the number of people that you know. And if you want access to new opportunities, then you need to make some new connections. There's a trick to this, though. Instead of hastily reaching out to build new relationships only when you need something, you can plant seeds and cultivate new relationships before you even know where they are going to end up. That's right, you can start a new business relationship without a specific, … [Read more...]
The Easy Technology that Super-Charges Business Relationships
Let me ask you a question: How many hand-written notes did you receive in the mail in the last week? Or maybe the better question would be: Did you get any hand-written notes in the mail last week? Getting mail isn't too common these days. And I'm not trying to point out how few friends you have. I'm also not trying to start a rant about how letter-writing has become a lost art (which, sadly, it kind of has). I am pointing out the opportunity to stand out that every master networker and salesperson takes advantage of. They send physical, personalized, hand-written notes. Stand Out By Doing What Others Don't In a world … [Read more...]
Drive Your Sales Success with 5 Easy Networking Conversations
I've been speaking and training on networking for years, and in all that time, I've only met a handful of people who feel they really have their hands around their networking. Most people sullenly acknowledge that having better professional relationships would help, but stress that they just don't have the time or attention. Too often we wait until we need something from our network before we reach out. That never works since it comes off as self-serving and desperate (because it is). But you don't have to wait. Even if you don't need anything, in fact especially if you don't need anything, you should be investing in the important … [Read more...]
4 Simple Questions Most People Forget Before Networking
There's a cart. And there's a horse. One of the most important things you can do in any professional endeavor is to put those two in the proper order. That's certainly true when you build a network of professional relationships. Too often, professionals start "networking" without asking a few important questions. Before you dive into building and maintaining your network, you want to put a plan in place. Think of this as a marketing plan for “You, Inc.” A good networking plan acts as a map, so you know the best direction to focus your efforts. Instead of making it up as you go along (and getting haphazard results), you’ll outline a … [Read more...]
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