We are looking for the best Networlding businesses around the U.S.

How do you know if a business is a great Networlding company?

Please answer the following questions about the company or companies that you think are the best places to Networld.

Help us by naming and answering the following questions for five or more companies and and once a month three winners will receive a gift certificate to Staples for $50.

* Please keep your open-ended responses to two-sentences or less.

1. Does your nominated company have a broad base of pro-active networking employees who come from a place of values? If so, how many can you identify? (Hint: LinkedIn is a great tool to find these people. Hint. Hint: You can go to the “Advanced People Search” page on LinkedIn and type in words like “change agent” and/or “integrity,” for example, to locate people who lead from a strong set of noble values.

2. Does the company value diversity? How does the company show it?

3. Does the company have a positive public perception? How does the company give back to the community?

4. Do the employees of the company “triad”–the term used in the book Tribal Leadership. This is a networking technique that effective leaders use to connect and then refer people they know to one other where it makes most sense with the greatest possibility of success for the two connecting as well as others that could be impacted by their connection.  Think Warren Buffett being connected to Bill Gates by someone who knew them both. These connections are made based on common interests, values, and projects that people you know might want to collaborate on.

5. Open Ideas. Is there something your nomination does that is novel? Tell us about the uniqueness of your nomination

Please have your nominations and answers in by the end of the month.

From your responses we will compile a list of the best Networlding companies across the country!
If you have any questions please email me at melissa @ networlding.com.

In Networlding I make it even more simple for building a network by taking that network down to ten people and referring to it as a your “Power-of-Ten” Circle. Sociologists (which I am one) refer to this circle as your “primary circle.” So to bring your Power-of-Ten Circle to life think of Oprah and her circle. Who would be in that circle or alliance network? How about:

1. Suzie Orman - financial sage and the author of nine books, including her latest, Suze Orman’s 2009 Action Plan
2. Nate Berkus – Nate Berkus is a featured design expert for The Oprah Winfrey Show and a regular contributor to the pages of O at Home.
3. Lisa Kogan – 40 something columnist for Oprah’s magazine.
4. Dr. Maya Angelou - hailed as a remarkable Renaissance woman, a beloved poet and best-selling author, Dr. Angelou has the unique ability to captivate listeners through the vigor and sheer beauty of her lyrics and words.
5. Dr. Katz – nationally renowned authority on nutrition and chronic disease prevention and columnist—is here to help you digest it all. O, The Oprah Magazine
6. Adam Glassman – the creative director of O, The Oprah Magazine tells you what your best friends won’t. Adam fields questions from readers on everything from age-appropriate clothing to how to be comfortable and still look great during a long airplane flight.
7. Martha Beck – life coach and O, The Oprah Magazine columnist Martha Beck has the blueprint to stress-free living.
8. Bob Greene - Bob Greene is an exercise physiologist and certified personal trainer specializing in fitness, metabolism and weight loss.
9. Dr. Oz - Dr. Oz is the health expert on The Oprah Winfrey Show. He is chief medical consultant to Discovery Communications and has hosted several shows, including Second Opinion with Dr. Oz and Life Line.
10. John St. Augustine - He is the author of Living an Uncommon Life: Essential Lessons from 21 Extraordinary People and a sought-after speaker on human potential and purpose. Now, John’s hosting his own show on Oprah Radio, interviewing some of the world’s most influential thinkers, leaders and experts on personal empowerment. (Networlding Note: John was connected to Oprah through someone from Networlding and that is how he made the great connection. He is one of my favorite people and the best talk show host. I met John years ago when I was on his radio show after writing Angels in the Workplace).

Of course there are others, but realistically there is still the phenomenon that exists in the science of networks called “The Law of the Few” which essentially states that it will be the few people you know that will really make the difference in your life. Gladwell refers to people as “sales people,” “mavens” and “connectors.” In Networlding I say that people can have all three abilities. When they do I call them “Networlders.” Also, note that I believe people can also learn and build these skills. Of course some people won’t be as good as others but then they can always surround themselves with a Power-of-Ten Network or Networld as Oprah has.

Playing out this real power network even further by folding into it the element of values-based networking, you don’t have to wonder too much whether the above ten people in Oprah’s network have similar and complimentary values which is what I have found is needed to leverage a successful network. From what I know of the above ten they are all true leaders and create additional value by being part of Oprah’s network and vice versa.

So now ask yourself who should be in your Power-of-Ten Circle? Want to start a circle yourself? Email us at info@networlding.com and we’ll help you get started.

The article continues on to share that this new organization will continue to provide exceptional word-of-mouth marketing programs that leverage the power of their pre-existing relationships with top bloggers such as Liz Strauss Successful-Blog.com.

The company has locations in Austin, Seattle and Houston.  Ivy Worldwide is recommended by community influencers as the best company with the best approach for word-of-mouth marketing. For more information, visit Ivy World Wide.

With Networlding we emphasize that there are “Givers,” “Takers” and “Exchangers.” We advocate that there is a big difference between each of these three. Of course we all know about “The Takers.” They are usually the subject of most talks by top networking experts.

Instead, I focus on how “The Giver” is different from “The Exchanger.” An example is a good friend of mine who is the poster child of “The Giver.” She gives and gives and gives but then, at the end of each year, she often ends up with little in exchange. Why? Because she did not ask for anything in return. And, because she is so busy giving, she doesn’t have time to really realize the benefits of an exchange.

Exchangers take time qualifying others as to  how they can create a more mutually beneficial exchange of support. In Networlding I reference our “Seven Levels of Support” that help people understand what they have to give and what they can request in exchange. In an exchange, just as Ivy Worldwide has made explicit and part of how they implement their online campaigns, the upfront knowledge and agreement as to what a good exchange would be results in a mutually beneficial outcome that can ripple(just like an good networking initiative) beyond all participants most hopeful expectations. The “Network Effect” created then cannot be compared to transactional campaigns that have only a goal for immediate gratification and a limited vision.

Following is an overview of these tools:

Website Grader – Useful tool for measuring the marketing effectiveness of your
website, get a free custom report in seconds with advice for your website

MarketingProfs – A great resource for case studies, insights, and best practices from
peers and experts in marketing

HubSpot Internet Marketing Blog – Articles about business strategy and inbound Internet
marketing

Web ink now – Online thought leadership and viral marketing strategies from award-
winning author David Meerman Scott

HubSpot – Internet marketing software that helps you get found by more prospects and
generate more qualified leads and sales

CrowdSpring – A site offering custom designs that you choose from actual custom designs, not bids. The average project gets
a whopping 80 entries. They have a money back guarantee
25 entries or a full refund, including the small fee for the services. The site boast over 46,000 creatives.

Zmags – The next generation in online publishing. The site is great. Take a look at my ZMag! For more information, view the zmags blog.

What do you think? What are your top ten or fewer favorites of the year?

Now refocus your attention to your existing network and ask yourself the following questions:

1. Who in your network will play to your strengths?

2. Who will cover your weaknesses?

3. What one person would you like to meet if you could network with anyone in the world? What qualities does that person have? List them and then look for people who have similar qualities.

4. What top three industry leaders does your network listen to the most?

5. What top three leaders in all other industries do they most admire?

6. What if the network you had comprised of only top performers? What qualities would they have? What qualities do you have to would complement theirs?

7. How can you listen better every day? Top-performing networkers are top listeners.

8. Who is one person you know who helps others in the organization above and beyond his or her own work responsibilities?

9. What one thing would you like to be doing or do differently that you are not doing now. (e.g. have great meetings that lead to new business or design a program that comes in under budget and on time).

10. What would it look, sound, feel like to be more successful in your networking?

Any of these questions can be used to get you thinking in ways that will help you take your networking to “the next level.” Please feel free to offer up some answers here. I will also be sharing these with my Networlding Group on LinkedIn. Please join the discussion there also by clicking here.

“Hi Melissa. We’ve called you in because we are finding that we just are not getting the same results from our marketing initiatives that we used to get.”

I respond, “Yes. I am hearing that from a lot of company heads. What do you think is happening?”

“Well, I think that people just aren’t reading the magazines, newspapers or other publications like they used to; I think, instead they are searching online. for services like ours”

I respond, “It could be. But what other evidence do you have that they have shifted their attention to online search?”

“Because there isn’t a week that goes by that I am sent some kind of email from someone I have met somewhere that mentions things about me like ‘I know you are an avid golfer.’ or ‘In that talk you gave at The Executive Club you shared some great insights on new product devleopment.’ or ‘Congratulations on that 10K race you ran.’ They are getting this information from online sites. There is no question. People are searching online for me and our organization.”

So now that these companies are “awake in the network” what can we do to make social networking more successful? Simply, focus on mutually beneficial opportunities versus the “what’s in it for you” mindset. What would this look like? Taking the time to really get to know what unique problems your prospects and clients are experiencing. From the conversation above, I know that my prospects and clients want to know what to do to keep up or even ahead of the curve around social networking. My goal is to not just push my services but to provide solutions that address their current needs. One quick example would be the upcoming presentation I am making to heads of pubic relations for about 45 top colleges. I spent the last weekend analyzing each school’s website to see who was on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. I then went through each participant’s LinkedIn profile to see how developed each was or was not. I did searches on Google on each school to see what they were doing outside of their main site. I was looking for a good snapshot of the quantity and quality of their social media activites.

Now I have a much better understanding of the gaps they have created and are in need of being filled with suggestions I can offer and by doing so, ad great value. The process is the same for you and your industry. What else can you offer here? What gaps are you seeing in your industry? What solutions do you have to offer that others would benefit from receiving?

Fortune 500 Series: FedEx delivers success through social media …
By Jennifer Leggio

Blogger, Jennifer Leggio showcases The FedEx Citizenship blog that provides insights from their employees into FedEx global citizenship programs and the The FedEx Cares Week blog is an internal blog that chronicles the annual global philanthropy event by having team members share their stories about the community service projects. …

Hill and Knowlton’s New Blogging Code of Conduct

Hill and Knowlton publish their blogging “Code of Conduct.” This is a nice model for other organizations to use.

The Top Six Reasons Companies are Still Scared of Social Media

This article showcases the reasons why companies are afraid of social media. Whereas they are typical reasons that make sense, the article is good at aggregating the most common reasons. The hurdles for companies are getting lowered by organizations like SAS who take on the risk, trusting and encouraging their employees to blog and prove that it is still better to be “out there” than to hide behind corporate walls.

My Take

I spoke with a couple of social media experts this week and found that, once again, myopia is still alive, well and living in peoples’ minds still. By this I mean that many see social networking as their ticket to great success. They think that because there are so are confused how to make social networking work that there is a huge market out there and that they can just put a shingle out that states they are social media experts overnight. Recently someone shared they had a construction worker friend who is now teaching LinkedIn.

I’ve been teaching people social networking for more than a decade and up until last year many still didn’t understand the basics of business networking. Now there are five times the number of experts on the subject than there were even three months ago. What a strange time this is! It will be interesting to see how all this shakes out in the next couple of years. I remember when I use to hold networking events and there was an over abundance of bankers; then came the plethora of coaches. Now everyone is a social networking and new media expert. Hmmmmm.

What does it look like to build trust online? Maybe showing rather than telling will be more helpful. Let me start with an actual campaign I am currently implementing.

Event: A live event in Chicago teaching social media

Target market: Lawyers

Date scheduled: Last two weeks in October

1.  I started by going through my network on LinkedIn
2. I limited my search to those in my network
3.  I discovered I had 318 lawyers in my network
4. I created what I call a two-step email–first a query to find out if there was interest, and
second, if interested, an email to present the workshop offering.

I have used this approach, again and again, to connect with people that I know as well as those I don’t. My approach is to ALWAYS be as authentic as I can be and to create a connection.

What else? I also really work on my emails to these new connections making sure I make my request simple and short. So a script might look like this:

Dear X,

I am currently in your network and wanted to reach out and ask if you might be interested in a social media workshop I will be hosting in Chicago at the end of October? I have over seven years of experience helping thousands learn to leverage social media tools like LinkedIn. Please let me know if you would like me to send more information.

Best,

Melissa Giovagnoli

—————————————————————

But, of course, each campaign you create is unique and should be as tailored as possible to create the best “first impression.” That takes some time and thoughtfulness, but, if you build a network of connections, one good first connection conversation, at a time, you will go a long way toward starting a “trust continuum” that will have a long-term payback.

I have been working with executives on LinkedIn since its beginning and have found, again and again, that people need help figuring out how to leverage its power for their job search. With the statistic floating out there that 86% of the way people get jobs is through networking a tool like LinkedIn that has over 40 million professionals on it with the average age between 40-42, one would have to pay attention to this tool. But what’s the 20% focus you should have to yielf an 80% return. That’s where you start.

First, make sure your profile is as strong as it can be. It should have key words that hiring professionals would use. One of the best ways to figure out what these words would be is to do a key word search by clicking on the “People” page of LinkedIn (top left-hand corner in the navigational bar on the site). Search for keywords you would think would be used in searching for your job but also think out of the box. For example, since leadership is something that many employers search for in a candidate, if you are seeking a management position, put a keyword search in that includes some variation of that keyword. I just searched on the keywords “leader” and “marketing” with the title of Sr. VP of Marketing. I found 16,356 people referenced with those closest in my network listed first. I then reviewed a number of the profiles to see how they were constructed. There were hundreds of great models to emulate.

Second, explore the Company pages of LinkedIn to further compare your profile with others at the targeted companies you have chosen and to identify the right “Tipping Point” of connections you can make into those organizations. Again, let’s take the terms marketing and leader at the Sr. VP level. This time I search through organizations like Intuit, a top software company out of San Francisco. I found they currently have the following number of employees on LinkedIn:

* San Francisco Bay Area (500+)
* Greater San Diego Area (500+)
* Tucson, Arizona Area (500+)
* Greater Los Angeles Area (500+)
* Dallas/Fort Worth Area (500+)
* Reno, Nevada Area (278)

I was able to get a great snapshot of the organization. I found this company has thousands of active employees on LinkedIn. This means that I should be able to gather deep wisdom about what that company wants in an employee and, further, to connect with enough people who can help me network my way into the organization.

Third, get yourself a support group with whom you can share your job search experiences. I always say the best group to start is your own. This could look like a weekly call with others who are in a job search mode or a face-to-face meeting where you keep sharing your search techniques. My clients are constantly telling me how tough it is to face the daily loneliness they feel during a job search. But you don’t have to do it alone. Reach out and connect.

There are so many strategies you can use to accelerate your job search. I’ll over more in upcoming weeks. The important thing is that you do have a process and you do have a support network who will help you with direction and connection. So many of my clients find that they are able to learn and master networking when they have a sound framework that is tailored to their unique backgrounds. Finally, the best news about learning how to network better and to use all the new low-cost no-cost, online tools is that networking is something they can always use in their new positions to grow their careers. In other words, networking is a skill you never want to have get rusty. It can always be useful.

Bonus Point: If you who purchase the program I created that contains the comprehensive tools–the combination of the networking process and LinkedIn strategies and basic and advanced usage training (all for the low price of $79) you will receive a free coaching session with me to even further tailor your job search. However, this offer is good for only a limited time, so if you are interested, visit http://budurl.com/6figurejobsearch.

Career Coaching Experience

Helped over 4000 people on their LinkedIn Profiles
18+ Years of Experience
Specializing in Senior Managers and C-Level Professionals
6 Figure Jobs – partnership as “The Networking Coach” for more than six years

Reid has kept that question at the center of his life as he continues to grow LinkedIn into an organization that benefits millions allowing them, as he puts it, to become “sofware entrepreneurs.” He illuminates the fact that the working world is changing making every person “somewhat entrepreneurial” especially when one is looking for a job.

Reid, as he has stated in past articles (I read as many of them as I can) has said that he is still trying to get people to realize the day-to-day benefits of LinkedIn. Well, this article pulls Reid’s vision forward just a little more. For me, I see LinkedIn as much more than a software tool for job seekers. I see it as an integral part of building successful careers, businesses and communities. But, of course, it is also incredibly beneficial to job seekers! Stay tuned!