• LinkedIn Consulting
  • Sales Coaching
  • Speaking
  • Books
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact

February 22, 2017

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...]

Filed Under: Networking Plan, Professional Networking

July 12, 2016

How to Network Above Your Pay Grade and Move Up the Ladder Yourself

kid businessman with laptop

You might feel comfortable networking with your peers, but what about networking with professionals who are more senior in age, experience, job title, or reputation?  It’s easy to think of networking as “peer-to-peer”, but the real world is rarely that simple.  Learning how to interact and engage with people who are more established in their careers is a key skill. It’s the same conundrum that you face when looking for your first job: companies want to hire someone with experience, but how can you get experience if they won’t hire you?  First of all, remember that you don’t need a network of CEOs and presidents to be successful. You can … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Networking Philosophy, Professional Networking, Relationship Building

May 12, 2015

5 Ways to Incorporate LinkedIn into Your Offline Networking

smart phone with empty screen

When I talk to professionals about social media, I often get a litany of complaints (especially from veterans in the industry): "It's a waste of time!" "All I see is kids on their cell phones all the time - I don't have room in my schedule for that!" "The next generation is going to have a hard time talking to people because they're so used to just texting everything or Facebooking their life!" Even though each of these has some measure of truth, I also hear a little bit of jealousy as well. Those born after 1980 are considered digital natives because they've grown up with technology integrated into their lives. It's easy for them … [Read more...]

Filed Under: LinkedIn, Online Networking

April 28, 2015

The Right Way to Make a Networking Introduction

Connect the Dots

Remember "connecting the dots"  when you were a kid?  Starting with a page full of random points, you ran a line from dot to dot (following the numbers, of course) and got a picture of a flower, animal, or your favorite cartoon character. The "hidden" picture had revealed itself and you had a piece of art to hang on the refrigerator. Good networkers approach professional relationship-building in the same way.  They find ways to make connections to create something that wasn't there before. One of the most fulfilling parts of networking is making connections between two people who could benefit from knowing each other.  When you look … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Professional Networking, Relationship Building

June 4, 2013

Why I Think it’s Dumb to Not Use Business Cards

I was at a conference sponsored by a large high-tech firm, and because they were a high-tech firm, they were going to be fancy and high-tech and put QR codes on everyone's namebadge with their contact info. In theory, you would scan the QR code with your smartphone and download their info directly and this would make networking more efficient. In practice it was a pain in the ass.  I got tired of aiming my phone at someone's badge and trying to keep everyone physically still enough for it to work.  And it was a huge interruption in the flow of the conversations I was having.  And then there was the afternoon my phone battery … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Networking Philosophy, Professional Networking

July 29, 2012

Quickly Boost Your Networking Results with This Simple Checklist

Over the past 15 years, I’ve found that people either love the idea of business networking or they think it’s a complete waste of time. How is it that some people build flourishing businesses based on the power of their network, while others fail to build any sort of connections at all? After helping hundreds of professionals leverage business networking to build their careers, I’ve found that most struggle for a few simple reasons.  If your networking isn’t as effective as you would like it to be, it's important to figure out where the block is. The 3 Networking Questions to Ask Yourself If you are struggling to build a network that … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Networking Follow Up, Professional Networking

October 24, 2011

5 Important Networking Tips You Can Steal from Your Dating Life

If you have ever stepped back and watched the action at a business networking event, the resemblance to a singles bar is uncanny (and slightly unnerving).  Think about it, there's a bunch of people wandering around, nervously approaching people they don’t know because they’re hoping to meet that special someone that will make their life better.  And most prefer to stay with the group of people they already know (or by the bar) because it's more comfortable. Professional networking has a lot of similarities to dating - which shows you why a lot of people don't like networking, because let's face it, dating is hard.  But if we look at the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Professional Networking

  • 1
  • 2
  • Next Page »
Sales Hall of Fame

Become a Sales Sherpa!

Hyper-Connected Selling

Amazon.com

Improve Your Sales in 5 Minutes

Get Your Copy of 19 Ways to Immediately Skyrocket Your Sales Network

19 Networking Ideas Cover

 

As Seen On:

Listen to the Latest B3 Episode

What Do You Want to Learn

Hyper-Connected Selling

2241 Glenview Rd
Glenview, Illinois 60025

773.490.5367

Connect with David

  • Email
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Pages

  • About
  • Blog
  • Books
  • Contact
  • D. TV!
  • David J.P. Fisher Speaking and Media Info
  • Hyper-Connected Selling
  • International Speaker Sharing the Sales Sherpa™ Path!
  • LinkedIn Consulting
  • Sales Coaching

David is an internationally-recognized keynote speaker, sales trainer, and business coach.  He focuses on bringing the human-to-human back into sales, social media, networking, and entrepreneurship.

He is the best-selling author of 12 books on sales, networking, social media, and entrepreneurship.  And he is also a prolific contributor to blogs in the sales and marketing space.

His goal is simple: help people become RockStars in their professional lives so that they can have a positive impact on those around them.

  • Social Selling
  • Professional Networking
  • LinkedIn
  • Sales Coaching
  • Sales Management

Copyright © 2023 RockStar Consulting