#networking offline

By: Lee Blaylock

With the advent of the internet and social sites, professionals have new ways to build relationships and conduct business.  Some networking principles have never changed, like being honest and trustworthy along with giving before asking. How you take advantage of these avenues is important in making a first impression.  When looking to expand your network or deepen your relationships, be aware of the signals you’re projecting so you’re putting yourself in the most positive light.

Initiating the conversation.  When you walk up to someone at an event, or get an introduction, you immediately make a first impression.  This is no different online. There are many ways to initiate the conversation online vs offline.  Online, you can like their post, retweet/favorite a tweet, send a friend request (much more forward), reference them in a blog post/tweet of yours or comment on their blog post.  These might capture the attention of your prospective new relationship.  That is new. 

What is not new is how you come off during a first impression.  I’ve found the best way is to comment on a blog post of theirs in a thoughtful way.  They’ve stated something they have an opinion on and that can be a good way to initiate a conversation.  Some of my most valuable relationships came from approaching them online and then taking the conversation offline once I’ve built that political capital.  Folks who come on too strong repel true professionals.  

Many companies say it is beneficial and that their apps will help people forge new connections and meet someone they perhaps should know. App stores have been flooded with such tools in recent weeks. 

Kismet, Glancee, Highlight, Ban.jo, Meeteor, Pearescope, GetGauss, Intro, Qrious, Mingle and Sonar, hope to transform the smartphone into a social dowsing rod that delivers an alert when it detects other people nearby who share interests, friends or career goals.

Many of these services made their debuts or released fresh versions right before the opening on Friday of South by Southwest, the technology, music and film conference in Austin, Tex.

They want to catch the eye, and thumbs, of the throngs of technology enthusiasts, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists who flock there to see the latest in start-ups and innovative ideas. What they really want is for that concentrated crowd of early adopters to return home and influence everyone else to use their apps. That strategy worked for Twitter and Foursquare, after all.

Wa.ag in the news! Show and Tell 2.0 - Events Designed to Foster Meaningful Connections.

Please watch footage above from Tuesday nights event which featured Long Island's "First" true coworking space - Business Corners.

We are pleased to report that in addition to helping provide Business Corners with some really good ideas for their business, the Work as a Group interaction led to some real meaningful connections and opportunity such as: One person was offered a job, Business Corners found a possible vendor to outfit their space, two former co-workers reconnected for the first time in a decade and plan to forge an alliance of their agencies and wa.ag received some great feedback regarding how we can improve future events.

If you are not yet a member, we encourage you to sign up now to receive invitations to future events.

If you are interested in being considered as a featured company please email me: dave @ wa.ag

You have THE meeting. The CEO has agreed to give you 30 minutes. This is the opportunity you have been hoping – working – for.

Now is the time to hone your presentation to perfection… or is it?

Do you honestly think the CEO wants to hear you rant for 30 minutes?

First of all, he or she will most likely decide in five minutes or less if you are someone he wants to do business with. And second of all, whatever you’re selling, chances are he already knows about it.

Now is the time to prepare a greeting, an opening exchange, and 10 killer questions that separate you from the competition.

And you better figure out what the brief opening exchange will consist of.

You gonna give the CEO your business card? Or worse, your literature?

You probably believe you have the best product or service in the market – now tell me your business card is the BEST you have ever seen. And that your literature is the same: BEST.

Yeah right. Your literature is self-serving, and your business card is somewhere between a joke, and embarrassing. Certainly not BEST.

Networks are essential for collaboration, innovation, and career development. But too many executives have networks that, while they may be large, don't have enough diversity to be effective.

For the past fifteen years, I have asked the executives I teach to list the people with whom they have discussed important work matters over the past few months. Then, I ask them to fill out a grid in which they identify who knows whom among the people on that list. Invariably, most of the people they talk to also know and talk to each other. This kind of network, while cozy and cohesive, is, simply put, inbred. It also tends to be internal, operational (not strategic), and historical, an artifact of the executive's past work history and not his or her future possibilities. It turns out that this kind of network is also deadly for collaboration.

...So how do you branch out? Here's my list of the top 10 ways to expand your network's collaborative potential:

Spend time at a start-up within your business sector. Consider why incumbents rarely lead the way in new products and services.

Attend a conference you have never before attended. Meet at least three new people. Follow up with them afterward.

Start a LinkedIn or Facebook group. Be the connector for this group of people.

We cannot ever forget how important and powerful people getting together for face-to-face interaction is and can be. Nor can we allow sending e-mails or texts to replace that face-to-face interaction. The importance of blending your online and offline activities is important simply because it is equally where people are communicating and engaging. They are inter-dependent and inter-related today.

If I meet you online and strike up an online relationship that has value and interest to me, then taking it offline is going to enhance and progress that relationship. If we meet in person, then staying connected online is going to enhance and progress our relationship until we meet in person again.

After many months of site iterations, brainstorming, trying to read the tea leaves based on ideas/suggestions/feedback we've received, and let's not forget mistakes, we have finally clarified the mission of wa.ag. 

And that mission - To help facilitate Networking That Doesn't Suck!

Over the next few weeks/months we will be rolling out new features that we hope bring use closer to achieving this mission.

We would love to hear what your version of Networking That Doesn't Suck looks like. To submit your suggestions go here.