Tag Archives: networking

The Main Point of the Internet

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Hugh MacLeod really cap­tures it some­times, even if you some­times have to pause a minute to decide whether you agree or dis­agree, and in what way. That’s how it is when he explains the main point of the Inter­net.
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Per­haps the Inter­net has helped rede­fine “social­iz­ing” as well. But it’s just that — the Inter­net is all about con­nect­ing. What­ever your ulte­rior motive, it’s about con­nect­ing first. And even if the Inter­net really only rep­re­sents a poten­tial cash cow in your mind’s eye, if you don’t con­nect, really con­nect, it won’t ever become that for you. So con­sider what it is you’d like the Inter­net to be for you, then ask your­self: “What kind of con­nec­tions do I need to make in order for that to take place?”

Three Keys for Exchanging Business Leads

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Being in busi­ness and net­work­ing rolodex_card_holder for any length of time inevitably leads to refer­rals, and these are the best form of busi­ness leads to con­vert into clients. It sur­prises me at times how non­cha­lant some peo­ple can be about giv­ing or receiv­ing these rec­om­men­da­tions, so here are three solid tips for exchang­ing leads:

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  • Get the Ball into Your Court. When some­one is telling you about one of their con­tacts who needs your ser­vices, don’t just pass along some busi­ness cards and wait for the phone to ring. Pass on the busi­ness card, but get the name and con­tact infor­ma­tion so you can ini­ti­ate con­tact and ensure the ini­tial con­ver­sa­tion actu­ally takes place.

Cronies of a Feather

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I’m think­ing today about the ben­e­fits of hav­ing cronies. by_a_beer Not in the pejo­ra­tive sense of the word “crony­ism” but in the sim­ple business-oriented sense of the term. Look­ing back over my career, I can spot a num­ber of invalu­able con­tri­bu­tions from var­i­ous friends and busi­ness acquain­tances shared over a beer.

The value one can get from dis­cussing busi­ness prob­lems and ideas in an infor­mal con­text with a few trusted col­leagues can’t be over­stated. This doesn’t have to be a meet-with-your-guru kind of thing, though some­times it is done with a coach or con­sul­tant. But if you have or can find a few busi­ness own­ers or pro­fes­sion­als like your­self to meet as peers and toss around ideas or pick away at chal­leng­ing prob­lems, it can be enough to keep you in the game when you seem to his a wall — and it can do the same for them as well.

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