CC Marco Bellucci

Individual relationships are an incredibly valuable asset in all stages of business development. Having said that, I also have to state that quantity doesn’t equal value in that case. But I want to make a different point now – did you check how is your network distributed, regardless of it’s size and ‘objective’ quality? Who do you actually know?

You may know influential people in the finance/banking industry, because of your job history or education. But right now you’re trying to grow a business that has products for corporate IT departments. And all of your contacts are sitting in the trading rooms or marketing divisions. Passing a message through several ‘ears’ in an organisation is usually good enough to seriously distort it, or completely loose it – before it reaches someone you should really talk to. Quite often it’s better to find another ‘lead’ into the organisation rather then try to push the message internally.

So I encourage you to do a quick check, and really evaluate your network in terms of your current goals. Be honest with yourself, don’t rate someone high just because you had (more than) a few drinks back in the days. And if you find that some important parts are missing, you can always ask your current contacts for direct introductions to highly relevant people. If not, you can go and read my post on growing your network here :)

CC: drcorneilus

People don’t listen. In general. But you might get them to remember one thing. That’s why it’s always important to have a clear message about your product. Where it really comes into play though is in your direct communication. When you meet someone in person, you can see or confirm that they understood you correctly. When you talk to them on the phone – you can ask. With e-mail, twitter and other forms of written communication – it’s harder. I noticed that people seldom read e-mails from start to end, so this is what you can do:

• always put important stuff in bullet points
• if it’s more than three – you missed the point
• ask for one thing – and only one – at the end of the message

This will give you two important results:

1. People will actually start doing what you ask them to do
2. You will build continuous relationship with them

Getting an email from someone with a bunch of requests quite often ends up in a ‘to-do-later’ bin. However, if you give people small actionable tasks – you will make them more eager to work with you, but also it will create an impression of your relationship moving forward and being fruitful.

So remember – one thing at a time :)

Photo credit: soylentgreen23

This came to me last night, at one of the events I attended in London. Quite often on a business related event you end up in a situation when you’ve spent some time talking to a person, and you know that the conversation is heading nowhere. Sometimes you know that even thought the relationship you just created is valuable, you have to catch someone else at the venue, before they leave (or you forget about them), or just meet more people, because that’s what you should do. Anyway – you want to smoothly end the conversation, without offending the other side, and jump into a new one.  Here are a couple tips on how to do it:

• Physiological breakers: I need to get a drink (would you want one?). I need to go out for a cigarette (works great, because out there you can meet more people, and then break the conversation again because you’re heading back). I need to go to the loo (only if you’re running out of options). – downside – you have to be genuine (really get a drink, go to the loo etc. – otherwise they’re too obvious).
• ‘Help me’ breakers. You simply ask the person, who else should you talk to at the party/venue, and even ask them for the introduction afterwards. Works best in an environment you’re new to, but the other side is familiar with.
• Bridging. Now, this is my favourite one – taken straight from the PickUp Artist guides. Instead of breaking the conversation, you take it with you, asking the person – I need to talk to ‘X’ as well, will you join me? Sometimes that’s the point when they’ll break the conversation, by backing out, but in other cases, you get an instant opener to the next person. You simply say, hello I’d like to introduce Y to you. Oh, you don’t know me probably, I’m Z, and I’d like to talk to you because…

Well, I hope this helps. If you have other smooth ways of managing conversations, drop me a note or post a comment below.

1. Go out, meet people. Can’t really put it any simpler – you need to meet people face to face. It’s a web world, but people are social creatures and there is nothing more social than having a few drinks at 4am in a dodgy bar. Kidding, but seriously, check out meeting oriented sites like Meetup.com or relevant events on Facebook and LinkedIn – sign up to at least one event a week for starters, you can be more selective later.
2. Be prepared. Get decent business cards, even if you’re just thinking about creating a startup. Make them meaningful, so people know who you’re after they get sober the following day (you can use MOO to get different graphics on each one of your cards). If you run out of cards, get a pen and paper to take notes or fire up your phone whenever someone gives you his/her details. Check the list of people attending before the event – look up those that you need to meet the most. Start the event by talking to them – they might leave early.
3. Work the crowd. You never know how the person standing next to you might be useful. Or how you might help that person. Don’t wait, move around. Start talking to people for whatever reason – they are all there to talk to you anyway. That’s the sole purpose of those events.
4. Get tailored information. When talking to someone don’t hesitate to steer the conversation in the direction that is important to you. For instance if you have a product for community managers ask people, how they manage communities of their companies/products. You have the right to be interested. If you’re not, you should switch the product you sell ;)
5. Ask for leads. The person you’re talking to might not be the best contact in this company for you. But chances are (rather big) that he/she can advise you and introduce you to the right people. You’ll be surprised how eagerly people will help you. Also ask, who else should you talk to at the party, or in this person’s network.
6. Give back. ALWAYS think of the ways you can contribute to other person’s business or situation. It might be by referring a business or service that might be beneficial or referring a contact/customer that might need the person’s services or products. Give, even if you didn’t get anything out of interaction – referring people makes your network stronger (if relationships are beneficial for both parties of course).
7. Exchange cards/contact info. This is an important moment, because you need to be able to get back to the person. As obvious as it sounds, sometimes we don’t feel comfortable about asking for a card, especially if the other person is of a ‘higher status’ then we think we are. Be serious about it, give the card with proper emphasis and make it obvious that you expect one in return. If the other person is hesitant, ask for the card – usually after people have a couple drinks they forget about simple things like returning the courtesy.
8. Follow up. No later than next day: send a ‘thank you’ e-mail, make introductions you promised (be sure both parties want them), deliver information you think will be useful to the person. To finish, store the information in a networking service like LinkedIn or Xing.
9. Add your own step in growing networks – in the comments section please :)

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