The questions below are examples of those you can use to start engaging conversations. Your goal in meeting others is to help them feel at ease and at the same time, generate some conversation that will serve as a springboard for future conversations. You are searching for what we call in Networlding, “Points of Commonality” (things you share in common) and “Points of Credibility” (things that make this person unique and valuable to your network. Take a look at the following questions and think how you could use these questions to start your own engaging conversations. With each question, I add suggestions as to how you can use it to open up further exchange.

So what would be a good first question when you are out social networking. Try asking something like, “What was it that interested you in attending this evening (today, etc.)?

This question is particularly relevant to get someone to talk about something positive. For example, say your connection says, “I came here to see how I could expand my technology company. I specialize in helping other businesses integrate their IT initiatives together so departments are more in alignment with one another.” Now let’s say that you do business with the types of companies this person would like to connect with; now you offer, “I would enjoy meeting with you outside this event to see how we can support one another in meeting companies that could use your skills.

A second great question is, “Who is the best networker in this organization? Hopefully, that person will be at this event and you will be able to get an introduction to him or her. You also want to ask why they chose this person. You will usually find that most people have met great networkers—people who have networks that reach wide and deep and who, in general, enjoy meeting new people and networking with them. Interestingly, though, you will also find that often great networkers don’t’ know or connect with other great networkers. This is one of the best questions as you can be the “connector” to bring these people together, and, in doing so, become part of their networks and a great networker yourself.

Finally a third great question is, “What is one thing you are really looking forward to accomplishing in your business (or career) this year?” The reason this question works so well is two-fold. First, it is positive and directs your conversation to a subject that should add some great energy to the conversation. Second, it should yield one of the best replies you could receive from a question. An example of this question occurred during a networking event we did for a large bank recently. We facilitated a networking event with business owners of companies between $5-$50 million in sales. The result? The bank yielded about twenty business owners who replied that they either were planning to expand their business or that they were planning on purchasing some large piece of equipment. Now, there were business owners that would probably go back to their existing banks for loans for these purchases but we prepped the bank ahead of time to offer themselves as the backup bank. The results were great. The targeted question allowed them to offer support more specifically and effectively.

Who is one person you admire most in your industry? This is a particularly good question to find other top influencers and, hopefully, great networkers you would like to meet. You are looking for those influencers who are “ready, willing and able” to network with you. By asking this question you Great networking starts with great questions, so the next time you go to a networking event or you just want to brush up on your networking skills, try asking one of these great questions and see what happens. How do you open up relationships when you are social networking? Do you think social networking in person is still more effective than online?

A Japanese company ( Toyota ) and an American company (Ford) decided to have a canoe race on the Missouri River . Both teams  practiced long and hard to reach their peak performance before the race. On the big day, the Japanese won by a mile.

The Americans, very discouraged and depressed, decided to investigate the reason for the  crushing defeat. A management team made up of senior management  was formed to investigate and recommend appropriate action.

Their conclusion was the Japanese had 8 people rowing and 1 person steering,  while the American team had 8 people steering and 1 person rowing.

Feeling a deeper study was in order, American management hired a consulting  company and paid them a large amount of money for a second opinion. They advised, of course, that too many people were steering the boat, while  not enough people were rowing.

Not sure of how to utilize that information, but wanting to prevent another loss to the Japanese, the rowing team’s management structure was totally reorganized to 4 steering supervisors, 3 area steering superintendents, and 1  assistant superintendent steering manager.

They also implemented a new performance system that would give the one person rowing the boat greater incentive to work harder. It was called the ‘Rowing Team Quality First Program,’ with meetings, dinners, and free pens for the  rower. There was discussion of getting new paddles, canoes, and other  equipment, extra vacation days for practices and bonuses. The next year the Japanese won by two miles.

Humiliated, the American management laid off the rower for poor performance,halted development of a new canoe, sold the paddles, and canceled all capital investments for new equipment. The money saved was distributed to the senior executives as bonuses and the next year’s racing team was out-sourced to India .

The End.

Here’s something else to think about: Ford has spent the last thirty years moving all its factories out of the US, claiming  they can’t make money paying American wages.

TOYOTA has spent the last thirty years building  more than a dozen plants inside the US . The last quarter’s results: TOYOTA makes 4 billion in profits while Ford racked up 9 billion in losses.

Ford folks are still scratching their heads.

IF THIS WEREN’T TRUE, IT MIGHT BE FUNNY !

—-

The real question becomes, however, what are we going to do about how our companies perform going forward?

Although business allows one to use their brain for all kinds of things, her creative side was only being fostered and used primarily for problem solving.  In 2004, Laura’s world changed and she left the CEO position of managing an outsourced call center to become a consultant to the industry.  She added teaching direct marketing at DePaul University, consulting with Wall Street on telephony and call center technology and a few other things to her repertoire.

The creative side yearned for more.  and Laura started to cook…….with a vengeance.  She says that there’s a certain Zen to all of that chopping. Certainly, there is also a satisfaction when her friends and family LOVE the food.  She became engaged in studying the craft and learned that there is a lot to really understanding the culinary arts.  The next expansion came when Laura and I were brainstorming about what to do with the cooking and her love of writing.  The dining blog was born!  At first, Laura was only a participant.  She would write reviews of restaurants and send them along.  Now, she is the writer, content aggregator and chief bottle washer for www.bestofthebestdiningchicago.com.  The blog is flourishing and continues to grow.

All of the creative juices were going to cooking and writing – so why not painting!  Laura began to paint (abstract on canvas) in March of 2007.  Like Forest Gump, she kept going.  She had the vision of being in a gallery and selling her paintings to anyone that could see the energy and magnetism of what manifested through the brush.  Mission accomplished! Her work is featured in Hayley Gallery in Columbus, Ohio.  With the help of very supportive friends and family, she has also sold many paintings and she has a blog:  www.laurahansenartgallery.com. 

This is a story of transformation.  It’s funny how little courage it really takes to do what one is compelled and driven to do the effortless work by your passion and spirit.

Since I’d only found out about the event within the past 48 hours, I
thought that there was no way that I could clear my calendar enough to
go.

But then, I decided to go – ONLY because I wanted to offer my
undeniable support to a local friend who made it clear that he needed
support.

In a nutshell, here are my take aways from going to this meeting I
didn’t want to go to:

1. Met the Mayor of Hartford
2. Met Hartford’s Chief of Police and a Councilwoman who happens to be
a writer whom I admire
3. Reconnected with a Board of Education director whose family I know
almost as well as my own
4. Met 10 local business and community leaders whom I’d ordinarily
relish meeting – Believe me, I RELISHED meeting them!
5. Visited one of my favorite sites in Hartford (The Artists’
Collective) Great improvements coming to the neighborhood.
6. Heard a local live band play some classic jazz (Haven’t heard some
of those classics live in a very long time)
7. Witnessed some young men and women do AMAZING classical African
dances.  AMAZING.   My eyes were happy!
8. Saw a beautiful dance excerpt from the Lion King
9. Saw a young man do a breathtaking hip hop dance (He jumped on a
dinner table with a lit candle on it – don’t know if it was planned.)
10. Got a small, one-day contract
11. Met the wife and son of legendary saxophonist Jackie McLean
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_McLean)
12. Engaged in really good conversation the entire time  (I LOVE good
conversation! )
13. Met a Criminologist whose views are so clear that it would be a
crime to keep them private!
14. Found a venue tor monthly networking events – which I’m ECSTATIC
about starting!!!
15. Free dinner!

And, yeah – supported MY FRIEND!

I really think I need to get out MORE!
–
Thanks,
Vincent Wright
www.VincentWright.com
www.MyLinkedinPowerForum.com (Yahoo)
www.MyLinkedinPowerForum.biz  (Linkedin)
www.MyLinkedinPowerForum.net (Facebook)
www.MyLinkedinPowerForum.org  (Ning)

Anyway, Networlding is a cool concept that provides true mutual gain to two or more users.  Here’s the paradox.  With limited time to get everything done in a day, the Internet is a tremendous tool to improve productivity.  Professionals can communicate, conduct research, pay bills, shop, and promote on-line with ease.  Yet, most professionals don’t understand yet that there is a "Matrix" like world out there in social networks where the connections to almost anyone already exists–it just takes a little digging to find the right pathway to contact almost anyone.  The six degrees of separation are fast morphing down to two degrees of separation.

My prediction–the millenium generation will GET this, whereas the baby boomers are fairly locked into what has worked for them for 20+ years.  Therefore, in the next 10 years, there will be nearly 100 million people on business networking sites, perhaps LinkedIn.  Everyone will explore connections for either business, volunteer activities, charities, sports clubs etc.  In fact, this era will become the Networld without a doubt, as the Internet unites almost everyone in the world.  Therefore, Networlding techniques and training to cover the basics and all the new emerging technologies such as OPEN SOCIAL will be a must.

STAY TUNED!
Craig Wilson, Guest Author for Networlding
President, American Recruiters

Melissa,

A Brief Meditative Contemplation About Extraordinary Potential

I think Linkedin is better than Linkedin thinks it is.

Surprising statement perhaps.   But bear with me for a moment.

You see I believe I look at Linkedin a bit differently than most people do.

I haven’t talked with Linkedin about specific numbers and I intentionally didn’t invest the time to do exhaustive research on specific numbers.

Those two things aside, let’s take some very broad numbers and contemplate some things that make them worth considering.   Things that make you go, "Hmmmm!!!"  At least they do that for me!

If we say that Linkedin is a networking environment for business professionals and then say that the average Linkedin member has 10 years of experience and then say that there are now 15 million users, that’s a total of 150 MILLION YEARS OF WORK EXPERIENCE!   

Sitting there. 

Sort of like oil fields, or goldmines, or spice islands, or "acres of diamonds". 

Just sitting there. 

Hmmmm!!!

Correct me if I’m wrong, but if my memory serves me correctly, I believe it only took 962 person years to build New York’s Empire Station Building.

If there are 150 Million years worth of experience on Linkedin, that could mean:

1. hundreds of thousands of years of business building experience
2. thousands of years of artistic experience
3. thousands of years of computer experience
4. thousands of years of entertainment experience
5. thousands of years of medical experience
6. thousands of years of nonprofit experience
7. thousands of years of scientific experience
8. thousands upon thousands of years of communication experience
9. thousands upon thousands of years of executive leadership experience
10. thousands upon thousands of years of problem resolution experience
11. hundreds of thousands of years of teaching & coaching & counseling experience
12. MILLIONS of years of networking experience

Hmmmm!!!  I wonder what would happen if those thousands, if those hundreds of thousands, if those thousands upon thousands, if those MILLIONS of years of experience could talk, could communicate, could be put to SOME USE? 

I wonder and I wonder and I wonder!!!

Hmmmm!!!

–
Thanks, 
Vincent Wright
www.VincentWright.com
www.TeachUsAbout.com
www.ForumActionDay.com
www.MyLinkedinPowerForum.com
Skype = MyLinkedinPowerForum
Jaxtr = WrightHandNetworker

First, think of the very best vendors you have bought from. What sticks out in your mind most about them? If you are like most of my clients they would first say what great people they were BEFORE they commented on the services or products they sold.

Second, ask yourself if you were ready to buy something that you have been wanting for awhile, looking forward to buying, almost salivating at the mouth to buy, but, unfortunately, you meet up with one of the worst salesperson you ever met. I mean this salesperson is rude, ignorant and disinterested. They almost go out of their way to make you miserable in purchasing something you were so excited about purchasing when you went to the buying table. At this point would you want to buy that product? I bet you would think twice.

Third, imagine vendors who, instead of treating you with disinterest or disdain, do just the opposite. They call you regularly to see if they can be of service. They email you with insightful articles or resources that compliment the work they are doing with you. They are proactive and responsive. They connect with you socially as well as professionally. They are good business friends.

These examples just help us realize the importance of someone who is good at building relationships. They are good at making you look good and, in return, you enjoy doing business with them. These are good networkers and the reason they can be so effective is because they are “exchanging” with other people in their network resources, connections and professional support on a regular basis. The net effect of their networking is that you benefit because they know how to network well.

And, now, more than ever, because of online social network tools like LinkedIn, Facebook and others, you can connect more effectively, looking like the best sales people in your own business or career. It’s all about getting started with your own community of learning a practice.

What’s New? We are now offering you the ability to start your own Networlding Community of Learning and Practice. Email us info@networlding.com for details or call us. We would be happy to have you call us 312-421-4213.