Enter the big question everyone asks around networking. Just how many referrals could you get in one year? There are certainly a lot of number floating around out there, but according to a survey I have done with a number of the networking experts (see the article below) I have queried, the numbers that I am hearing and that I have witnessed are between 30-50 referrals.

But there is a catch! There is always a catch, of course. The catch, here, is that you need to set up some form of structured networking group to yield a return like 30-50 referrals. I would also add, coming from my Networlding world, that you need to first focus on the quality of the referral source amd second, on the quality of the referrals from your sources.

First, when choosing the quality of your referral source, consider the following:

1. people have networks that reach wide a deep. If the people you are networking with are new to networking and don’t have a vibrant network, they are very unlikely to be able to provide many referrals.
2. people who are ready, willing and able to make connections for you (and you are ready, willing and able to make connections for them).  So, for example, if the people you network with are so busy on current projects or have personal issues that take up their time, they are not in a position to be good referral sources.
3. people who are in some field that is complimentary to yours. In other words these people will be coming in contact with possible prospects they can refer.

In upcoming segments I will share more about how to ask for referrals and how to provide enough detail so that you turn your referral sources into a supplemental sales force. Of course you need to be prepared to do the same for them. But, when you have the right group of networking partners and have vibrant exchanges where you prepare your sources as to just what you are looking for you will find yourself creating a much richer and more successful pipeline. It’s all about the process.

- Melissa Giovagnoli, Networking Coach, Speaker, Trainer and Thoughtleader on the Science of Networking and Networks

For more information, email me at melissa@networlding.com.

If you spend any time online, for work or play, chances are pretty good that you belong to at least one social network.  Whole blogs are devoted to the subject of social networking and making the most of these communities, and many experts have weighed in on their choice for best networking sites.

Some of my favorite sites are:

Ignite Social Media

123 Social Media

PR 2.0

Social Media Explorer

Going Social Now

But what I’d love to do is hear from my readers about which network they have found the most useful in their marketing.  Is there a site that offers something unique that has made all the difference?  Have you found the users on a particular site to be more receptive to making new contacts?  Is there a site that gives you the best collection of networking tools?

Leave me a comment with a link to your profile on your favorite networking site.  Next month, we’ll announce the winner with a post that brings together the collective comments for the top three social networking sites–the sites that have what we would term  a true Networlding community experience.  This is your opportunity to voice your opinion, and hear with other users have to say about their Web 2.0 experience.  So vote today and tune in for the results to see how many others agree with you!

–
Melissa Giovagnoli
Founder and President
Networlding: Helping You Build Better Business Faster
Speaking, Coaching, Online Marketing Consulting Leveraging the Science of Networks

There are literally thousands of sites that you can use for social networking.  Some of them cater to specific interest groups such as an industry (technology, fashion, non-profit) or location (city, state, country), while others are diverse in their members’ interests and used for socializing on a global scale.  Obviously everyone has heard of MySpace (www.myspace.com)  and Facebook (www.facebook.com).  These two sites hold the Alexa Ranks of #6 and #8 most popular websites in the world–and for good reason.  They have a set of characteristics which make them extremely valuable from a personal and professional standpoint.  However, there are other networks that have similar characteristics and which are gaining in popularity.

Orkut.com (www.orkut.com) is a Google owned and operated social networking site that is coming up fast with an Alexa page rank of 11.  Hi5.com (www.hi5.com), Friendster.com (www.friendster.com), and Skyrock.com (www.skyrock.com) are also in the top 50.  It seems like there are unlimited options—and a Web 2.0 marketer may feel like a kid in a candy store with all these great sites to choose from.

But one of the most important elements to successful social networking is being consistent and really building your network based on personal interaction.  All too often you see people creating profiles and logging in once a week to blast out a generic message to their network in a spam-like fashion.  This is simply not going to get you anywhere in Web 2.0, and in fact, it is going to work to your detriment.  One of the most important elements of social networking is the genuine connection that your contacts must feel for you and your company.

That means that unless you have unlimited time and resources, you need to be able to pick a small handful of networks and genuinely cultivate your contacts without wasting time.  The question then becomes, “which ones are the best?”  Join me tomorrow for Part III where I will discuss: “The Definition of a World-Class Network.”