Madison Who’s Who Blog

Anywhere between 70 to 80 percent of all job vacancies are filled by people that employers hear about through word-of-mouth. Getting the most out of the relationships that you have taken the time to build is essential to effective global networking. The larger you make your personal network the more likely you are to find out about any positions and opportunities as soon as they become available. The following tips can help you achieve effective global networking for both your self, and for your business.

To be successful at networking, try the following few things:

•Tell every one of your friends and colleagues, as well as business associates and peers that you are looking for either a new position or a consulting project, or some new clients. Try to be as specific as you can while describing exactly what you want.

•Come up with a practiced short sales pitch that can tell people you meet, who you are, and what you are looking for. Let them know, without being over-aggressive and how they can help.

•Go to the professional association meeting, social event, civic or alumni meets. They are good places to network. Don’t forget to bring your business cards, masses of them.

•Always make sure you let your contacts know, early in the call or the letter, that you are calling/writing because you are looking for help. Don’t waste their time going through a long letter or conversation only to find that they are unable or unwilling to do what you want.

•If you have called someone you only know through referral, for the first time, and get an answering machine or voice mail, hang up. Call back later. Leaving a message, trying to explain who you are and what you want can be quite awkward.

•Even when you can get nothing else from a contact, try to at least get one or two names and numbers of people you might contact and permission to use their names as references.

These tips will help you expand your network of associates, who can quickly spread the word about your qualifications and what you’re looking for.

A few years ago small startup companies were really quite limited to working with investors and partners in their general geographical area.  However, because of the global age that we live in, the internet provides many opportunities for expanding our reach beyond geographical lines. Business partners in a small start-up company that may have planned on only networking locally in years past are now able to implement a plan for an effective global networking strategy as well.  Are your products or services marketable overseas and at what juncture do you envision expanding globally?  Is your service executable via effective global networking and what are the implications for your business if you deal on an international level?

Businesses a decade ago, or even five years ago probably didn’t think in terms of effective global networking.  Prior to today’s technological and telecommunications capabilities, effective global networking was the concern of the internationals or the rare local business that had commerce outside of the country

For those who take the time to make the cyber world their own, networking globally is almost standard practice.  The web designer might live in India, but be designing a site for a Florida based business, while the content for the site is being written by someone in Canada.  Because of the possibilities of effective global networking, it is possible for these three parties never to meet in person and yet execute a complete and successful project.

Lately security industry leaders such as Sophos are working to protect social networkers.  They are warning users of the dangers of allowing strangers to gain access to their online profiles.  This comes following new research into the risks of identity and information theft occurring through social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook.

While these sites can help achieve effective global networking, recent research shows that 41 percent of users will share their personal information with a complete stranger.  Information such as email address, date of birth and phone number are bits of information that ID thieves love to get their slimy hands on.  Freely giving strangers access to this information greatly increases a person’s susceptibility to ID theft. While there are few documented cases of ID theft occurring from social networking sites, given their popularity it won’t be long before thieves are fully exploiting them.  Protect yourself by limiting the amount of personal information you divulge to strangers.

The internet has put effective global marketing at your fingertips.  With numerous networking and social marketing websites available how do you choose one that meets your needs?  Here are some things to consider:

- Choose a networking group that’s relevant to your line of business.  To have an effective global marketing strategy, you must be involved with groups who are interested in what you have to offer.  Choose those groups who share an interest in your business.

- Consider your target audience.  Your target audience can vary greatly depending on what your business offers.  Consider those who will be interested in your products or services.  Who are they? What are their likes?  Where do they like to hang out?  Answering these questions can help you network with members of your target audience.

- Introductions come first.  Never launch into a sales pitch right away. This tends to turn people off. Sometimes we get so excited about sharing our business that we forget one key fact. Networking is about establishing relationships first and making sales later.

Finding effective global networking groups not only helps extend your reach to new customers.  It can also be fun. Imagine that, work that is actually enjoyable!

The first time you ever hand out your business card, you are engaged in some sort of global networking.  Effective global networking may occur whether you know it is happening or not.  Every time you select new vendors, recruit for new employees, seek to promote your product/service or expand your market reach, some type of networking is involved.

The focus of effective global networking is to create a positive identity as both a business and a brand or service.  Essentially, effective global networking is operating on your name.  An integral component of networking is maintaining an impeccable reputation with your vendors and affiliates and your customers.  Any poor business practices will become evident in time and if that reputation is damaging, there is no networking that can reverse it.

Effective global networking is one of the many key methods for generating leads.  Someone always knows someone who needs your service/product.  If you have a pristine relationship with your vendors and affiliates, they will gladly recommend you.  Consider coordinating a marketing campaign or event with your affiliates that promote your mutual interests.

If you’ve ever been to a business conference, or networking event, you’ve undoubtedly noticed that there are always refreshments. Unbeknownst to many of us, this is your first chance at effective global networking.  However, most of us look around, find the food table and make a beeline for it while making sure we don’t look around and meet anyone’s eye on our way. Then we silently join the line, keeping our eyes trained strictly on the food and drink, while those on either side do the same thing. How foolish! This is your first opportunity to connect with others, and is a key to effective global networking!

It doesn’t take much imagination to begin a conversation. You might mention the state of your appetite, the scrumptious smell of the breakfast muffins or the fact that you really shouldn’t ignore your diet but you will just for today. Whatever you say, the person you speak to will respond, which gives you an opportunity to exchange names and keep chatting as you move through the line. By the time you reach the end of the table, you can move off into the crowd together. Guess what you’ve just joined the buzz, made a connection, and utilized the refreshment table as an effective global networking tool.

It’s estimated that between 70 to 80 percent of all job vacancies are filled by people that employers hear about through word-of-mouth. Getting the most out of the relationships that you have taken the time to build is key to effective global networking. The larger you make your personal network the more likely you are to find out about any positions and opportunities as soon as they become available. The following tips can help you achieve effective global networking for both your self, and for your business.

To be successful at networking, try the following few things:

- Tell every one of your friends and colleagues, as well as business associates and peers that you are looking for either a new position or a consulting project, or some new clients. Try to be as specific as you can while describing exactly what you want.

- Come up with a practiced short sales pitch that can tell people you meet, who you are, and what you are looking for. Let them know, without being over-aggressive and how they can help.

- Go to the professional association meeting, social event, civic or alumni meets. They are good places to network. Don’t forget to bring your business cards, masses of them.

- Always make sure you let your contacts know, early in the call or the letter, that you are calling/writing because you are looking for help. Don’t waste their time going through a long letter or conversation only to find that they are unable or unwilling to do what you want.

- If you have called someone you only know through referral, for the first time, and get an answering machine or voice mail, hang up. Call back later. Leaving a message, trying to explain who you are and what you want can be quite awkward.

- Even when you can get nothing else from a contact, try to at least get one or two names and numbers of people you might contact and permission to use their names as references.

These tips will help you expand your network of associates, who can quickly spread the word about your qualifications and what you’re looking for. 

The first time you ever hand out your business card, you are engaged in some sort of global networking.  Effective global networking may occur whether you know it is happening or not.  Every time you select new vendors, recruit for new employees, seek to promote your product/service or expand your market reach, some type of networking is involved.

The focus of effective global networking is to create a positive identity as both a business and a brand or service.  Essentially, effective global networking is operating on your name.  An integral component of networking is maintaining an impeccable reputation with your vendors and affiliates and your customers.  Any poor business practices will become evident in time and if that reputation is damaging, there is no networking that can reverse it.

Effective global networking is one of the many key methods for generating leads.  Someone always knows someone who needs your service/product.  If you have a pristine relationship with your vendors and affiliates, they will gladly recommend you.  Consider coordinating a marketing campaign or event with your affiliates that promote your mutual interests.

Let’s say you just returned from a business related event wherein you had the opportunity to network and meet new contacts.  Now what?  Well, believe it or not, the key to effective global networking after an event is to make contact with those you met.  It’s vital that you make contact as soon as possible with everyone whose card you have. (Incidentally, that’s why it’s more important to get other people’s cards than to give out yours.) Divide the business cards you collected into two groups: those you specifically want to contact for a purpose, and those you simply met.

For the second group, I recommend a quick note, possibly on a postcard, saying how pleased you were to meet them at the conference and you hope you will meet each other again one day. Mail these as soon as possible after the event, and then enter the information in your database.

For the first group, if you said you would call on Tuesday morning make sure you call on Tuesday morning. Seems obvious, doesn’t it? But most people don’t do it, so you will stand out simply because you kept your word. At this point, you can move from networking mode into sales or job search mode, or whatever is appropriate.

Don’t go to all the effort required to meet new people, and then throw away any potential opportunities by ignoring people afterwards. An effective global network is a living, breathing organism. It should grow and change as you do, and if you look after it well, it will look after you for your whole life providing opportunities when you least expect them.

To those who make the cyber world their own, networking globally is almost standard practice.  The web designer might live in England, but be designing a site for a Florida business while the content for the site is being written by someone in Canada.  Because of the possibilities of effective global networking, it is possible for these three parties never to meet in person and yet execute a complete and successful project.

Also, many partners in a small start-up company have planned of only networking locally in years past, but small businesses today have to plan for an effective global networking strategy as well.  Is your “widget” marketable overseas and at what juncture do you envision expanding to a global reach?  Is your service executable via an effective global network and what are the implications for your business if you deal on an international level?

Businesses a decade ago, or even five years ago probably didn’t think in terms of effective global networking.  Prior to today’s technological and telecommunications capabilities, effective global networking was the concern of the internationals or the rare local business that had commerce outside of the country.  However, in today’s world, global networking is quickly becoming the standard rather than the exception.