Business Networking: Ten Essential Principles
Thursday, 18 June 2009 | Leadership Observatory
The Wall Street Journal Europe Future Leadership Institute invites thought leaders, experts and decission makers to write about leadership techniques, research and resources. The below article is about the essential principles of networking by Douglas Castle, Yossi Feigenson and Adam J. Kovitz.
Everybody, it seems, is talking (or "tweeting") about social media and business networking. The term "networking," is spoken of constantly, as if were a newly-discovered form of techno-magic through which profitable business could instantly be made manifest. In fact, networking has been in existence (and has been actively in use) since the very first words were uttered by Humankind, and it offers no guarantees of success unless it is properly understood and put into practice.
Through an extensive study of networking undertaken by the authors under the aegis of The National Networker (http://www.thenationalnetworker.com/) , the company which publishes The National Networker Newsletter and provides numerous services to emerging businesses internationally, ten crucial principles have been identified and are summarized below which are essential to generating a substantial return on any investment of time or resources in networking activity. Learning and adopting these principles at the outset of your networking campaign, and continually adhering to them will keep you from disappointment and help you derive the maximum benefit from your networking efforts.
THE TEN ESSENTIAL PRINCIPLES:
1. Networking is, and must always be seen as a means to an end, and not as an end in itself. Many aggressive neophyte networkers seem to think that getting their names out to as many other business people as possible, or collecting as many business cards as possible is the key to networking. They are absolutely incorrect. Networking is a means to acquiring contacts, cultivating relationships and to transacting business. In brief, and in the terminology espoused by Adam J. Kovitz, the ultimate product of networking is to increase your Relationship Capital ValueTM. Merely accumulating data or throwing your name about at every opportunity accomplishes very little. It is merely the first phase in a networking campaign, like chumming the lake for fish. The prize to be sought is always a mutually-profitable relationship of trust and productivity, where strangers can grow to become friends and business associates.
2. In using social media for accelerating your networking, the messages that you send out or broadcast must contain a hint about what you or your company have to offer, and must also contain an observation or question to the recipients which demands (or provokes!) their participation in the form of a response. This opens the door to true dialogue and eliminates the taint of a mere one-sided, unsolicited advertisement. Don't merely spread spam - initiate true correspondence and potential interaction. Tempt, tease, cajole, encourage and provoke your audience to participate. Force your contacts to become proactive conversationalists. Induce them to respond and to become intellectually and, perhaps even emotionally committed.
3. Engage your respondents and initiate alliances. When receiving inquiries and responses, engage your respondents to discuss their business offerings, needs and how you may use your resources to be of help to them in their endeavors. Offer your help without over promising, and with a view toward responsible expectation management.
4. With all social media, repetition of your name and theme is essential in creating brand recognition, an air of stability, longevity and permanence. Have constant presence on all possible social media and business networking groups.
5. Be unique in your presentation in order to capture attention, and in order to differentiate yourself from all of the other voices competing for eyes, ears, hearts, minds and business of the entire business community. Don't be fearful of using humor, a touch of controversy or a bit of mystique. You must be interesting as well as inviting. Be aware of the fact that you are competing for attention and responses.
6. Follow-through, in the form of individualized thank-you letters and invitations for business furtherance are absolutely essential. It pays to issue a personalized email response (perhaps a simple "thank you" letter) or telephone call to each respondent to your posts and to each person whom you have had a conversation with at a social event. Follow-through shows good manners, interest, and invariably serves to flatter and bring a glimmer of smiling recollection (of you) to the recipient. Best of all, the recipient is made to feel memorable and important.
7. Record, categorize and monitor every networking contact that you make. There are numerous items of software on the market in order to help you to facilitate this quickly. Review every file periodically. Keep names, address, telephone numbers, email addresses and brief intelligence files on each contact. Constantly follow through with correspondence and calls. If your correspondence has photographs of you, or embedded recordings of your voice, this makes you less of a contact, and more of an acquaintance or a friend. Personalize your initial contacts and all subsequent communication to the greatest extent possible by revealing more about your personality and by engaging a greater number of your contact's senses. It is interesting to note that the more that you personalize your communications, the greater the sense of obligation which a contact feels toward you - this affords you easier access and a superior negotiating position.
8. Get in your contact's "face", stay in your contact's mind and become a part of his or her life with frequent, regular communication. A wonderful means of achieving this is to find articles, news briefs or other information which might be of personal or professional interest to your contact, and forward these things to him or her with a personal message or email attached, saying, in effect, "I thought that this would be of great interest to you, especially in regard to your new water purification technology."
9. Never miss an opportunity to have a telephone or face-to-face meeting with your contacts in order to solidify bonding and to strengthen relationship-building. Going a bit out of your way in this manner shows a deeper level of personal interest and commitment. It has the wonderful side-effect of deepening your contact's sense of moral obligation to you.
10. Constantly sort your contacts in terms of utility (to you) and responsiveness. Contacts which are always too busy or too difficult to access generally will prove to be a waste of your time. Invest the greatest part of your time and resources in those contacts whose conduct evidences their demand to buy from you, or to work with you. It is far better to invest your resources in identifying and cultivating ready allies than trying to convince the non-believers and the skeptics who have already made up their minds.
Networking is a fabulously efficient means of rapidly expanding and developing your business clientele, and positioning them for high-utility relationships. The most important secret is to be the voice of friendship and reason against a backdrop of foolish, selfish, greedy people, screaming for attention.
Note: This Article is © 2009 by Douglas Castle, Yossi Feigenson and Adam J. Kovitz, with all rights being reserved. Reproduction, dissemination or publication of this article, in either whole or in part must be with the prior written permission of one of the authors. Any other reproduction, dissemination or publication is unauthorized and illegal. Please be at liberty to contact the authors with any inquiries at douglas.castle@yahoo.com, or toll-free at 888.317.6498 (ext. 5).
About the authors
Adam J. Kovitz is one of the world's recognized thought-leaders on Relationship Networking, the Relationship Economy and Relationship Capital. He is the former Executive Director of the Relationship Networking Industry Association (RNIA). Adam is also known as the CEO, Founder & Publisher of The National Networker, a free online magazine that serves as a positively-charged "Consumer Reports of Networking". Adam started the publication with just 900 readers in February, 2005 as a means to inform the public at large who were growing ever more hungry for meaningful networking experiences yet didn't have the time (or money) to find the right ones. This insight, combined with unique content, launched The National Networker (or"TNNW") to national, then international recognition. Today, with readership in the tens of thousands worldwide, nearly forty writers from across the globe, a blog and its own podcasting channel, TNNW has earned its place as the "Voice of the Relationship Networking Industry".
Adam continues to write his own monthly column in the "pages" of TNNW and can now be heard weekly on The National Networker Show,where he interviews various personalities from the world of Relationship Networking. Adam is also a contributing author to The Emergence of the Relationship Economy. He has been a featured speaker to numerous organizations and has been interviewed on several podcasts and radio shows. Adam also serves on the advisory board for several networking organizations. A native of Mercer County, New Jersey, Adam now resides in Bucks County, Pennsylvania with his wife and kids.
Yossi Feigenson is the managing partner of ORB Real Estate Professionals, a firm that specializes in office and retail leasing. They primarily represent tenants looking to either relocate into larger space, or new companies opening their first office. Yossi's specialty is working with professional firms and small business owners across the entire spectrum of industries. He was formerly a partner in a risk arbitrage fund, specializing in Mergers and Acquisitions. Yossi is an avid reader and runner and an aspiring writer. Yossi can be reached at yossif@orbny.com. Yossi is the featured real estate columnist for http://www.thenationalnetworker.com/
Douglas Castle: Education: MBA, Public Accountancy, Hofstra University, 1979; BA, Economics, Stony Brook University, 1976 (Omicron Delta Epsilon). Principal Occupation: consultancies, directorships and advisories in organizational engineering, finance, strategic planning, program and product development, international commerce, leadership training and team-building. Current Affiliations: THE CASTLE CONSULTANCY, Mojave Jet Group LLC, Internal Energy Plus LLC, The Art Of Peace Charitable Trust, THE NATIONAL NETWORKER, and other organizations. Memberships: Linked In; International Society of Transport Aircraft Trading (ISTAT); numerous other organizations. Past Engagements: Associate Professorship at Hofstra University School Of Business, as well as corporate positions. Other: Board Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist, 2002; Practitioner, NLP, Command Therapy, RET, EMDR, and other self-growth modalities; Sensei (black belt), Chowa-Ryu Ju Jutsu (New York Martial Arts Hombu); Soke-Dai (Inheriting Disciple), Chowa-Ryu Kempo Jutsu; Kt.M., O.S.J. The author may be contacted at douglas.castle@yahoo.com regarding consultations, speaking engagements, or interviews.
