Posts tagged as:

Chicago Speaker

When Christian Gray and I spoke this week I had no idea that we would be having a very rich, deep, purposeful conversation. This was the first time we spoke and within 30 minutes we were able to get to a place of trust. In fact on a scale of 1-5 with 5 being a very high level of trust, it was easy to see this person was at the 5 level.

So what did he do to create trust so  quickly. Here is an overview of his philosophy:

  1. Talk more about “who” you are and “what” you stand for rather than “what you do” Christian began by very quickly telling me what matters most to him–his children, helping kids who are disadvantaged getting books and learning to read, getting healthy (he wants to keep to his established exercise schedule and forming an alliance network of people who have similar and complementary values and skills
  2. Asked what mattered most to me. In Networlding we call it “The Exchange.” It’s not about just giving. Givers end up actually with less than they intended usually. It’s also certainly not just about taking. Takers end up with lots of connections but poor or mediocre opportunities on an ongoing basis. Exchangers get the most out of their work by spending time exploring “mutually beneficial” opportunities. It’s not an easy thing to do but the results are so much more effective. So when Christian asked me what my five top goals are this year, we were then able to talk about our mutual synergies–where we could work together and where we might refer or introduce one another.
  3. Deliver a “WOW” offer. I will never forget our first meeting as Christian’s “WOW” offer was to give back what he calls his 10X. Take a look at his social networking article on this offer that he has now turned into a signature offer of his that differentiates him greatly from thousands of others I have met.

What signature offer have you created to differentiate yourself from others? How can you both make a living AND make a difference? Who do you know who has made a WOW gift to you like Christian did?

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment, retweet it, or subscribing to the feed to have future articles delivered to your feed reader.

{ 1 comment }

It’s great to see a company that explicity focuses on campaigns that leverage influencer communities to, as they put it, “create mutually beneficial relationships that drive sales, brand awareness and brand loyalty to positively affect every aspect of your business.”  See Word-of-Mouth and Influencer Marketing Agency Buzz Corps Now Ivy Worldwide.

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.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment, retweet it, or subscribing to the feed to have future articles delivered to your feed reader.

{ 0 comments }

What Do Your Values Reflect?

December 11, 2009

What does it mean to have a system for networking? I  created a method to change random, “one-shot”  networking into mutually beneficial and consistently productive Networlding. There are seven steps in total that once mastered will allow you to be an effortless Networlder. The steps will be presented individually because each step must be completed [...]

3 comments Read the full article →

Four Best Networking Tools for Inbound and Outbound Marketing: The 20% that Yields an 80% Return

November 22, 2009

Wondering what works and what doesn ‘t when it comes to “push” or outbound marketing or “pull” or inbound marketing? As Malcolm Gladwell mentions in his third book, Outliers an expert is someone who has had more than 10,000 hours of study in one particular area. Online marketing is my area and there really are [...]

3 comments Read the full article →

Social Networking Leadership Showcase: Linkable Leader Alonzo Russell – Part II

October 26, 2009

I continue with my interview of our Licensee from Phoenix, Alonzo Russell 7.    How do you use networking to support the success of others? When you use the word “connector” that’s what I am. I connect people. I sent out emails today to three people I met on Friday connecting them to others I believe [...]

0 comments Read the full article →

Redefining Retail – Notes from the Future – What’s Coming

October 20, 2009

Just this week Business Week came out with an article called “The Hard Sell” showing that, basically, retailers turning the corner on 2009 into 2010 are all over the place on their strategies regarding what they will sell and what they will sell it for. According to Jena McGregor, Businessweek reporter, it may be up [...]

0 comments Read the full article →

Notes from the Future: Table of Contents

September 26, 2009

i. Prologue – Written by Melissa Giovagnoli – What was the original genesis of the Innovation Center concept?  How long of a gestation period was there?  What earlier attempts had been made?  What was learned from those experiences?  What specific events/encounters provided the catalyst that made the whole thing possible starting in 2009? I. Chapter [...]

1 comment Read the full article →

Three Steps to Networking Success on LinkedIn

September 10, 2009

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 [...]

0 comments Read the full article →

The Promise of Social Networks – It’s Like Baklava

August 25, 2009

I was just recently reading about a Twitter conference that served up the following set of promises that included: building communities providing customer service changing brand perceptions and increasing revenue Now of course there could be more promises but let’s just take these and really think about all the stories you are hearing that deliver [...]

0 comments Read the full article →

A Networlding Star: A Conversation with Barron Evans

July 26, 2009

Now almost 3 years with a Philadelphia area global pharmaceutical giant, former Chicagoan – – and early Networlding champion Barron Evans – – shares that he’s recently been appointed as US Lead / Global Customer Engagement.  This is his 3rd role since joining the company, having started in 2006 with crafting consumer multi-channel marketing strategy, [...]

0 comments Read the full article →