Delete your duplicate profiles

One way for you to annoy your online networking contacts is to clutter sites like LinkedIn with duplicate (often outdated) profiles of yourself.

Wait…aren’t we already linked?
LinkedIn says I should link to you. Now I have to look it up…or invite you again…or was that on one of the other several sites where I have to maintain a profile? (What a pain.) Ah…I am linked to you already…how unprofessional this makes you look. But maybe it’s not all your fault.

LinkedIn won’t do it for you
LI’s valuation is based on their user base. They now boast 55+ million users. I bet you can safely lop off 10% as bad profiles. (Another 15% are probably single-contact profiles, which is okay…users have to start somewhere.)

LinkedIn should guard their integrity by aggressively merging/deleting duplicates and requiring indentity checks on famous folks.

Is Kevin Bacon really on LinkedIn?
Three times? Some of my contacts are linked to him/it/whoever…I could create any fake profile, as is popular on MySpace, and nobody would know the difference.

Probably easier for them to clean the junk up as they go along, rather than wait til later. Do the right thing, LI.

Better for you to delete your duplicates sooner rather than later, too. At least you won’t have to give up millions of dollars to do so.

Pay it backward

In recent days, several clients and friends have told me that they are finally doing business with companies I introduced them to about 3-4 years earlier. Some of these fall into the category of “easy money.”

It’s very gratifying to see one’s time and effort pay off. Those were warm referrals in the right ballpark…and some right on target. As always, I’ll continue to try to make the most of all of my contacts.

When someone does that for you, remember to pay it backward. People call it reciprocity. This may sound like going a different direction, but it’s really the same thing as paying it forward.

Are you autonomous enough?

On one end of the spectrum, we have the business networking chapters and members who follow procedures and go through the motions throughout their networking life. After all, certain methods propagate because they work. Or we follow them because we’re told they work.

On the other end of the spectrum, we have the members who simply must go their own way and (often) rail loudly against the establishment. For whatever reasons, they need to do their own thing…hopefully with a careful look at their motivations and the repercussions. Whether the urge to strike out for new territory is born of ego or creativity will remain to be seen.

Your chapter needs a mix of both worlds. Use the proven methods as a framework…most of us need this framework…but don’t assume that the frame is the final work of art. Take creative liberties where it makes sense for the growth and strength of your group.

Dynamic groups are better suited to weather times of attrition or turnover. Who would want to join a stale group that’s procedurally correct but lacks an entrepreneurial business spirit?

In a way, your group must be self-seeking, or self-protecting. You fight for each other and turn away even your own parent organization if its activities take you away from your business focus. (Their goals will not always mesh with yours. For example, have they ever started another networking group right on top of yours? Or take over your meeting with a long sales message? Is that helpful to you, or do they compete against you?)

You can push back and still have a healthy relationship with your organization. You can play by the rules and venture out of the box. You can…you must…be loyal to your business family and still maintain some autonomy. Try it, and you will be a stronger, more profitable group for your members and your parent organization.

You may annoy them at times, but you’ll make your parent proud.

Give the minimum…and take FFR’s help to the max

Doesn’t your heart go out to those who have been beaten down by natural disasters and the financial woes of our current economy?  You’re busy with your own life, but you can lift them up right now for as little as $8.29.  There are many ways for you to help…but here’s an affordable way that helps people to stand on their own…and networking plays a major part!   

When disaster hits a town, small businesses play a critical role in the recovery.  (After all, half of the people in the U.S. are employed by small businesses.)  If the business community can get back on its feet quickly, then it provides income, stability, and a base for new growth. 

Fast Forward Restart needs your help 

Immediately after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast and put so many lives in disarray, a small group of businesspeople formed Fast Forward Restart (www.FastForwardRestart.org) and jumped in to help local businesses recover. 

Since then, 220 businesses have been guided by expert coaches through recovery and into stronger positions.  These efforts have bridged social and economic differences and brought entire communities into a new era of prosperity.  Now, many of these companies want to “pay it forward” and help others in their time of need. 

Projects are underway in Louisiana, Texas, Chicago, and Atlanta, as well as other areas of the United States where small businesses have been affected by natural disasters and by the crushing impact of our current economy.

Your micro-donation can make a big difference 

Every bit helps and adds up.  And our sheer number of donors will show our support for Main Street, USA!  Will you give a donation of $8.29 or more?  Please make your gift by May 1st.  Donate here: http://www.firstgiving.com/jayrowland (or you can set your own goal and create your own donation page).  My goal is a modest one, but I hope your generous support will make my expectations seem very small.  Will you help? 

Fast Forward Restart is proven to have a direct impact on the length of time it takes for businesses to again make a positive impact on their community. Please make a donation to Fast Forward Restart by Friday, May 1^st.  $8.29 or more.  Donate now…while it’s on your mind.  Your tax-deductible donation can be made here: http://www.firstgiving.com/jayrowland.

Your fellow citizens thank you!

Please participate in the recession!

Have you said, “I refuse to participate in the recession”?  If you’ve made that claim, what you probably mean is that you’re going to keep networking and making sales so that your business isn’t harmed by the recession…and perhaps even grows.  Nothing wrong with that. 

But you are participating.  Unless you’re doing something truly groundbreaking or growing the market as a whole for your type of product/service, the sale you make comes at the expense of someone else.  So, you may be taking bread out of somebody else’s mouth…or forcing them into foreclosure. 

Instead of refusing to participate in the recession, how about pledging to help beat the recession.  Take the focus off of yourself and put it on others in need.  Give to others.  Network for the sake of others.  Create jobs for others.  Go beyond the reciprocal thinking of Givers Gain.  Just give, and find new ways to do so.  

These may be tough times, but don’t stay in a bunker by yourself.

Let’s rethink our business sphere relationships

The term “business sphere” generally means people who are in similar or related industries.  Networking groups tend to use this general language to formalize the bonds between members who have common business interests.  But members are often confused or torn between spheres, unsure of the proper interaction. 

A key phrase in the previous paragraph is “common business interests.”  Within a small, sales-oriented group, our interest is not an industry.  Our interest is in making a sale. 

Thus, a business networking Sphere is best defined by a common sales target.  If you and I both call on the same type of person, then we can more easily qualify the customer and introduce each other.

In the illustration above, we find that six basic spheres will nicely accommodate 24-48 members (with 4-8 members per sphere).  This is a manageable division for the average chapter.  One member may actually participate in 3-4 spheres, with one sphere serving as home base. 

Two initial, overarching spheres would be labeled B2C and B2B.  Some chapters fight to be one or the other, but most chapters contain a blend.  Even with this simple division, a number of members would be able to stake a claim to either sphere.  That’s fine.  Spheres are not intended to exclude members, but to highlight areas of potential strength. 

Two spheres likely to arise from the B2C sphere are the subspheres Residential Real Estate and Health.  Folks in Real Estate sell to homeowners and other people in the home buying process.  Health members also sell to individuals, as do the members who remain in the more general B2C sphere.  Their success lies in selling to common clients.

The B2B sphere may hold an equally wide variety of members.  Subspheres include IT, which also sells to the CFO and operational side of a business, and Marketing, which does not.  Marketing’s tie-in to the other B2B members is often strongest when selling to business startups and relocations.

Financial and legal professionals are good examples of chapter members that are likely to serve either B2B or B2C clients.  They anchor whichever of those spheres they consider to be their primary focus. 

A great prize for any networking chapter is the member who can either get the ball rolling on a deal that impacts many members…or the member who calls across functional areas within a company and can involve several spheres. I have an idea of what some of those occupations would be, but I’d like to hear your thoughts.

Also, let me know what you think of our illustration of sphere relationships.  The ChapterTracker.com^TM program currently uses these spheres, so your feedback is certainly appreciated. 

Have a great day!

You know you like to count your money

Some people look at the ChapterTracker.com program and say, “We wouldn’t use that. Tracking numbers isn’t fun.” 

Nonsense!  Here are three reasons why… 

1. Please…Don’t tell me you hate to see your investments increase in value.  If your next portfolio summary shows a 50% increase, you’d probably break into tears while falling on your knees and thanking God.  Right?  When you’re making money, it’s fun to count it. 

2. Many of us truly enjoy analyzing numbers.  Aren’t you glad your CPA, financial planner, IT guys, etc. like numbers?  So…instead of ignoring the benefit of tracking your chapter’s performance, encourage your “numbers people” to jump in and do the tracking.  If they’re good at what they do, they’ve probably already assumed this task.  Tell them about ChapterTracker. 

3. Even if you insist that tracking numbers isn’t fun…and for some reason you don’t involve your “numbers people”…you need to track anyway.  Refusing to measure your business is a copout that will lead to mediocrity at best.

If your business networking chapter isn’t tracking revenue and referrals member-to-member, then visitors (and the members themselves) are left to wonder why.  The two most likely answers are that you’re either ashamed of your group or you’re too unprofessional to measure your performance.  Please don’t leave that impression! 

Ask any business coach: “Should we track our business, or should we muddle through blindly?”  (If they say you should muddle along, please don’t hire that person as your coach.)  Yes, you need to measure your performance.  You need to pay your taxes.  You need marketing.  This is Business 101. 

Measuring your networking group’s performance is a business basic.

Trusting others means you may take a bullet

Trust is a huge factor in passing really nice referrals.  Hazel Walker’s recent blog (click here to read it) highlights lessons that many of us have learned the hard way.  Then I received the following quote in an email from my friend, Randy Brunson:

“Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence.” 
-George Washington 

[A quick aside: Randy has a short, weekly email commentary that mixes financial and moral viewpoints...click here to visit his site...just email him and request it.] 

Here’s the rub.  We guard our best clients and contacts very closely, and our associates must prove themselves before being introduced.  AND with newer clients or contacts we don’t know well, we’re still unsure about introducing a new associate.  BUT…especially if you’re in a closed networking group together…people need to jump in and try the new member out.  Likewise, you want them to try your services or products. 

Give them a try personally.  It’s probably safe to guess that you’ll be thrilled 20% of the time, that service will be average 60% of the time, and that you’ll wish you had kept your money the remaining 20% of the time. 

You may have to “take a bullet” to find out.  Here’s my horror story…  My wife and I hired a handyman in our group who had received many positive reviews to remove wallpaper and paint our master bathroom.  His new employee tore into our sheetrock, tried to paint over wet primer, and spilled paint in our tub, shower, and floor grout.  The insurance claim was several $thousand, and I had to rebuild the bathroom during my wife’s 9^th month of pregnancy.  Sweet. 

Such extreme “bullets” are hard to take initially.  But in most cases, giving a person a try has many benefits: 

1. In most cases, the business boosts your group immediately.
2. You find out if you can recommend the person.
3. That person will (hopefully) reciprocate.
4. You provide your group with positive or negative feedback that over time will help strengthen the group…whether through trust or removal. 
5. Everyone speeds up the trust process.   Speed has its own value. 

You allowed the person to join your group, so go ahead and risk a flesh wound.

Plaxo needs to be LinkedIn

Both of these sites offer some terrific, simple benefits. (Most folks are still trying to figure out the more complex benefits.) I’ll mention two benefits later and get to the point of this post.

LinkedIn and Plaxo are two different faces (not really even different approaches) to the same end. I don’t mind that they want to remain independent, viable businesses…but how long will they make us do double the work? If you’re on both, aren’t your networks on each one basically the same, although one may be larger because you use it more? This is like using two accounting packages. It’s a pain.

So, LinkedIn and Plaxo…figure it out. Try to share (login, database, etc.)…and compete with your other services and products.

Here are the two simple benefits I mentioned. If you don’t have a profile on one of these sites, you need to get with the program.

1. You are much less likely to lose track of individuals as they change companies, email addresses, etc. This goes both for friends and for people you contact infrequently.

If you’re into business networking, you’ll find that a tremendous number of contacts go bad within 4-5 months. But…if they have a LinkedIn account and update their profile, they stay in your network. Or, if you get laid off and are locked out of your work computer, you can still contact everyone.

On the personal front…have you ever had a pretty good friend who moved, switched email addresses, and didn’t let everyone know? In today’s society, we keep charging ahead, and that person falls off of our radar. It’s really too bad that LinkedIn didn’t exist when I was in school…just think how large my contact base would be right now!

2. If you’re somewhat active on these sites, you maintain a presence in the minds of your network members. When you post what you’re doing today, or connect to another person, or write a blog entry…your network can see what you’re up to. Like when I post this blog, many folks will see the title and click through if they’re interested.

Show a little life, and people will think about you. What they think about you is up to you.

Introverts value, work their network

There’s been a fair amount of discussion recently on the subject of introverts and networking.  Fueling the flame is Ivan Misner’s recent blog post in which he is shocked to learn, decades after founding BNI, that he is an introvert…but a situational extrovert.  I’d say many people are in the same boat, and this is likely to be the subject of his next best-selling book. 

Introverts can be some of the most amazing givers.  So if giving is key to networking, then we shouldn’t be surprised that introverts can be good networkers.  They may have fewer people to give to, but they make the most of their network.