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While at a Tweetup in beautiful Orange County, California, Linked in expert and friend Neal Schaffer asked me about podcasting equipment. I wanted to do a show on networking and how to effectively use social networking with traditional networking, but rather than do the show with my in-studio gear I decided to show off my Edirol R-09HR hand held audio recorder that I got from Cliff Ravenscraft. So Neal, this cast is for you.
I firmly believe that the single most driver of whether your startup will succeed or fail is through networking. In essence, if you can’t build meaningful and trusting relationships with people that can help the momentum of your business, you are toast!
Most people have no clue how to connect with others. They’ll shove business cards into the hands of hundreds, and wonder why nobody is giving them a call. It’s not hard to see why. Would you seriously call a stranger and hope that they have the expertise to help your situation? When you just hand out business cards that’s all that you are, a stranger.
If you want to network successfully, here are some basic but powerful networking tips:
- While you may be networking to drum up business, you shouldn’t meet new people for the purpose of drumming up new business. People are more responsive to authenticity. When I network, my first priority is to build friendships. The majority of people that I meet I would hang out with on a regular basis whether or not I ever do business with them.
- Bring your online friends offline, and your offline contacts online; the former lets you become a real person to those you meet on Twitter and so on, the latter helps you to maintain contact on a regular basis.
- Your networking needs to be targeted. Use Hootsuite to create targeted opportunities meet new people that matter to your business. Don’t just go to every event that comes up near you.
If you are an “introvert” like me, get over it. You have to get out there and become a part of the community. If not, you might as well stick with your corporate job.
