To achieve greater success you need to put the pieces together. Networking, Marketing, PR, Sales, Business Development, Presentation Skills, and Social Media all fit together to make up the puzzle that is your personal and professional brand.
1. If nobody knows you exist, opportunities will not come your way.
2. When you do not partner with others, they will not bring you into projects.
3. People who always spin excuses are passed over for future deals.
4. Spend too much time thinking others are trying to take advantage of you, and you will miss out on many paths to success.
5. Forget to thank the ones who helped you succeed and you will kill your golden goose (those who helped you before will help you again if they feel appreciated).
6. Try to be like everyone else and you will become a commodity (commodities are always purchased from the lowest priced provider).
7. Compare yourself to peers and someone will always be doing better.
8. Live a life that is a lie and you are a fraud (frauds always exposed).
9. Claim you are too busy to invest in relationships and you will be alone.
10. Have no goals and you will have no way of knowing what is a victory.
11. Success takes time. 100% of those who quit never reach their goal.
There is a lot written, on this blog and elsewhere, about the importance of building a network of professional contacts as you build your career. During the rough economy over the past 18 months many business executives have seen that the companies who have achieved the most have benefited from the long-term mutually beneficial connections. Networking is cool again as everyone wants to harness every advantage.
But not much is written about what to do once you have developed an extensive reputation and a large database of contacts. Problems occurs with managing your network once you have achieved high levels of success. Networking is different when you are on top of the pyramid than it is on the way up!
Successful entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, lawyers, accounting executives, consultants, and others rely heavily on networking on the way up the ladder, but once they are on top, they have issues maintaining the large number of key relationships, and have difficulty finding the time to establish new friendships, while simultaneously keeping up with those who are already in their database.
Many quit the process of networking and cultivating relationships. Some forget the reality that it was other people who helped them along their path and start to believe their own press about their greatness. Other are just overwhelmed by the hours it takes to navigate their high-level, high-pressure careers and just drop out of the social scene.
Additionally, once you occupy the corner office you will have a certain level of fame in your industry and community. This means that your phone will ring with several requests to meet for lunch or coffee, as lots of people will want to "pick your brain". Strangers, friends-of-friends, and other admirers will want access to your calendar. While you don't want to be rude, if you let everyone "pick", you will have no gray matter left in the end. This leads to people closing themselves off from the rest of the world.
Finally, with a large network, you will find there many people who are dead weight or too self-oriented to help you succeed (bad networkers who fail to help you, while always expecting you to assist them). These people can be major time hogs and / or sap your motivation levels while they seek your advice, introductions, and referrals. Knowing too many of these types will turn off the most seasoned networker.
Here are five tips to manage a large network once you have arrived at the senior levels of success:
1. Remember How You Got To The Top. If people in your life helped you succeed, acknowledge that your network was an important key to your success. Then make it a point to help others reach their goals. If you make assisting others a priority, you will be more likely to take action when you see a possible connection that would be beneficial for others. Beware of falsely imagining that you are one who "pays it forward", as most people think they do this even when they do not. We all want to be "good people", but it is easy to get busy and fail to take actions that are not part of our immediate to-do list.
2. Have A Little Time For "Brain Picking". When you are on top, people will desire to know you and gain your insight. Set a small amount of time for such meetings. Two short blocks of time per week (30 minutes each) will allow you to talk to 100 people per year. There were people who made the time for you when you were young and they made a difference in your career. You will feel good about yourself if you can materially impact just a couple of those who seek you out. Also, you never know who might bring you opportunity, so one of the people you give your time to might return the favor and deliver you an amazing return.
One executive I met several years ago had a great policy. He was an early riser and got to work as the sun came up. When random people wanted to meet with him he gave thirty minutes at 6:30 AM in his office available. Few people took him up on the time slot, but that was the way he separated those who were worth investing his attention from those who would waste his time. He did this for "brain pickers" and soliciting sales professionals. Only the most motivated would accept the appointment.
3. Host An Annual Event. It is difficult to keep up with everyone when you have a large network. But if you are a leader in your community, people will want to attend your annual picnic or holiday party. While there is an expense related with hosting these types of events, humans are "experiential beings" and if you are known for bringing the "whose who" together, it will translate to good will in your circle of influence.
4. Network Down The Ladder. On the way up in your career you will most likely establish some great friendships along the way. Together you will "grow up" together and many business deals and referrals will pass back and forth. The mistake that many executives make is they continue to exclusively hang around with their peers (both in age and success levels). The problem with this is that as your network gets older, they will pass many of the day-to-day business decisions to younger members in their companies. As those "kids" start calling the shots, they will send the business to those they know, like and trust. If you have ignored them, or treated them like "children", then they will not send the business to you. This happens often, and senior executives expect that their peers will step in and influence the younger players. However, good managers will not over-ride their own team members, thus leaving you without a link to your best referral sources.
5. Purge The Dead Weight. If you have people in your network who do not mutually contribute, or are simply "takers", there comes a time when you have to move on. I am not suggesting that you "fire your friends" (although sometimes you should), as it is fine to be friends with anyone you enjoy spending time with. But your business contacts whom are not returning the efforts to help you (assuming you are helping them) need to be purged from your "A-List". Review your client list regularly and identify who is helping you find business. Make sure that you treat your best referral sources like gold. Everyone else should always be shown respectful treatment, but you main attention should go to those who understand how to network to help all involved.
6. Surprise People With Something Unexpected. You thought there were just five tips here, but #6 is a bonus. Everyone likes getting a little more than they expected. Often the senior executives stop going to networking events in their business communities because they feel they are "above" such activities. Those at the top claim they "paid their dues" and will skip out on the common folk gatherings that happen around town. But when you are still visible at these events, even on occasion, it positions you as a regular person. Since it is unexpected that you would be there (because of your high level position), you will become even more popular with people. Claiming you are "beyond" networking events makes many view you as elitist, and nobody wants to help elitists achieve more.
Today I spoke on the phone with a potential client who is interested in having me to speak at her company meeting in 2010. We had a delightful conversation, and I am a good match for the needs of the firm.
At the end of our talk I asked her how she found me, as I always like to know who is referring me business opportunities. Her response was; "I did a Google Search for something like 'motivational keynote speaker for a business conference'. It was Google that took me to your blog, and I liked what you had to say".
I searched the term she mentioned and could not find myself in the mix. While I do not know what exact words she used to find me, I do know that having my blog as a Google destination for search has paid off several times. Two weeks ago I got an inquiry on a similar search for "motivational speaker for a professional services firm", and with those words I did show up in the few pages on Google.
The purpose of sharing this is that I often consult with professionals who question why I write a blog and participate in other social media activities. These intelligent and motivated business leaders claim they could never dedicate the time to a blog, as they are too busy. But in the past two weeks I have received two inquiries about my services as a keynote speaker from this exact activity... so I wonder how why in the world I would NOT blog.
Having online real estate that is searchable is necessary for business development. The hardest part is to realize the time frame involved with creating a recognizable social media persona can take several years. I started blogging in 2004 and have never stopped. Only recently has the blog begun to produce financial results (although it has paid off many times over in other ways).
If you want the advantages that come from blogging or other social media platforms, you must get started now. As if it takes two years to build up the momentum... and you wait two more years to start, then you are four years away from the success you desire.
There are no shortcuts to building an authentic online reputation. Content, consistency and longevity are all needed to make search engine optimization work for you.
Several years ago some marketing consultants got smart and realized that CFO's and other finance centric professionals live in a world that is focused on ROI (Return on Investment) and want to run spreadsheets that show the outcomes of dollars spent before committing to the expenditures. Since the money people make many decisions, these consultants and other "gurus" created programs that spoke the language of the finance department and created "ROI" algorithms to sell their services to these decision makers.
By speaking their language they were able to appear more intelligent (key word: appear) and win the business. Left-brainers everywhere rejoiced, as now these disciplines were under their control.
For too long marketing, business development, networking, direct mail, advertising, branding, PR (and more recently social media) were viewed by the left brain professionals as "the Black Arts". They admitted that these were necessary, but since they were more creative and not always predictable, that they were some how less important to the success of a company than the more predictable departments on the org chart.
However, while this trend toward analyzing "return on investment" on everything makes people feel good -- it has paralyzed many companies.
During a job interview years ago I told a CFO that sometimes to find success in marketing you have to try a variety of tactics. I used the old saying "throw some spaghetti against the wall and see what sticks!" The CFO responded that if a marketing campaign could not prove out results in advance, then his company would not do it. "No spaghetti could hit the floor!" The company hired a "ROI" oriented marketing manager (they did not hire me) and the company had minimal success in growing its image. The person they hired lasted 14 months on the job before the company changed direction, yet again.
While you do not want to waste dollars in promoting the image of your company, if you think there is a magic formula that will guarantee success, you will spend your life over thinking every opportunity and you will miss out on the allusive successes you seek. There is a difference between throwing money around and having an instinctive feeling on how to have an impact on your company's positioning in the marketplace.
Instead of spending hours looking at the return on every investment on a spreadsheet, you should redefine the definition of ROI in regards to marketing.
ROI = Rely On Instincts.
Raising the visibility and brand of your company is not as easy as building a new website, joining Twitter, or sponsoring an industry conference. You need to fine tune your instincts or hire someone who knows the landscape of how all the "black arts" actually work together.
Take social media for an example: The term is getting a lot of attention in business circles, but it is not magic. Just like advertising, PR, networking, marketing, or branding alone will not make you rich.... social media is just another tool (although a trendy tool as this is being written). There are many "experts" advising companies on ROI in this medium, but I have seen few who can deliver the goods they present in a brochure. The real success here comes from hands on involvement of the company's executives. You can't outsource authenticity.
In a vacuum none of these marketing related disciplines will rocket your success toward the sky. But when strategically used together, they will have the long lasting power to help bring in new business.
If your instincts are rusty on these right-brain activities, then you need to do a little work and experimentation. You can learn to understand how to help promote the image of your firm by paying attention to the world around you. A good lawyer does not stop studying new laws and statutes that come into play and just rely on what they learned in school. They keep fine tuning their practice. (Note that it is called a "practice", which means they never master it... but keep working on the whole process!). Likewise an accountant will not rely on tax law from 1989 to prepare their client's return this year (at least you would hope not!).
Embrace the marketing world for the power it has to help your company, rather than try to cram it into a pre-structured spreadsheet. If the world worked that way then you would not be frustrated by lack of marketing success... and your competitors could buy the same structured program as you, and thus make you both a commodity, anyway!!! (Feeling like your product or service is becoming a commodity? Hmmmm, maybe there is a connection to the lack of creativity in your efforts!!!)
I expect this post will not be well accepted by those who want the world to be viewed in black and white... and by those who use fancy words and spreadsheets to win the business from left brain decision makers. But I am not attacking, as much as I am asking people to love the gray area for the possibilities for growth that are living there.
This week New Year Publishing hosted the 1st Annual "Authors Conference" for those who have published, or are working on publishing, their books with the company.
It was a great event. We had dinner on Thursday night, followed by a half day seminar where we discussed many topics that are important to authors and speakers.
As the company grows we look forward to continuing to work with executives, professional speakers and children's authors in assisting them on creating quality products that help them to promote their brands.
I would like to take a moment to publicly thank those who presented at the conference: Markia Flatt (PR by the Book), John Moore (Brand Autopsy), and Jim Comer (When Roles Reverse). They each provided amazing advice on PR, Social Media and the book & speaking businesses.
Another thank you goes to the Austin Office of the Andrews Kurth Law Firm. Several years ago I worked at Andrews Kurth as the director of business development, and they graciously provided me with a conference room to host the "Authors Conference". Lawyers often receive the bad end of jokes and comments.... but these attorneys are good people who are willing to help a friend! The firm has a long history of serving early stage and start-up entrepreneurs, and this continues today.
We look forward to additional years of the "Authors Conference" as the New Year Publishing family continues to grow.
Join the Austin Business Journal for an informative seminar on how to make the most from networking at holiday parties and planning your business sales and referral goals for 2010.
The busy few weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas are full of opportunities to network, meet new people and strengthen business relationships. However, many people are overwhelmed by the amount of merriment and waste the chance to give their networking efforts a boost.
Additionally, the change to the new year is a great time to set business goals and make plans to extend your referral network.
This seminar will be full of tips on how to make December and January your launch pad for a more successful 2010.
I am fascinated by how many people do not know their neighbors. When I was a kid all the people on the block knew each other. All the children knew that everyone was watching them (and would report back undesirable activities to mom and dad).
Today the connectivity amongst people on the block is not as strong. Sure, there might be some people you know, and the courtesy wave is popular when folks walk by... but many people don't know that much about those who live close to them.
It is worse at work. Do you know the people on your block? In your building? In your elevator bank? How about on your floor?.
There is no excuse not to know the people who work on your floor. If your work for a company that is not so large as to occupy the whole floor... and you don't know the workers in the business next door -- then shame on you. This gets you an "F" in Networking 101.
But you can bring your grade up. With the holidays coming... make this the point that you meet the neighbors. Invite the other companies on your floor to your office for lunch. No agenda, just people meeting people. Cater in sandwiches and have everyone go around the table and explain who they are and what is their role at the company.
Maybe they will become a great referral source. Maybe not. Either way, next time you are waiting for the elevator you will be able to talk to each other instead of staring at your shoes. Making friends is always a good thing.
Same idea for those who live on your block or in your apartment building.
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About Thom Singer
Thom Singer
Austin, Texas, United States
Thom Singer is a nationally recognized professional speaker and the author of five books on the power of business relationships and networking. He is also the co-founder of New Year Publishing, a growing company that assists senior executives, entrepreneurs, and professional speakers to expand their audience and present their messaging to even larger number of potential customers through books and other products.
