My first blog teaser should have been called NOTworking. Okay, so I wrote a very meaningless blog on a very meaningful topic (especially to me). Did I lose my mind? Has my networking noggin stopped working? I hope not.

So why did I write something that was probably a waste of time to write and a waste of time to read?

Glad you asked. Because so many of us think we are networking when we go through the motions of going to an event, grabbing a business card, giving a business card, possibly even emailing someone after an event with an empty and meaningless email.

So my point is that if you are not successful networking, you probably are doing networking very much like my 1500 words on Networking chapter. I initially was writing the chapter as a humorous look at how we do an action but we don’t do the action with impact. Wouldn’t you agree if you met five or ten people at a networking event and actually connected with them in such a way after the event that you would really be networking?

Networking is not just going to events. It is not just passing cards. And it is not about you!

If you want to take networking to a level you perhaps have never experienced, I assure you this information is worth writing and reading and passing along.

Networking – the next 1500 words

The 7 C’s of Networking: Communicate, Capture, Communicate, Connect, Collaborate, Create, & Continue

First, prepare for your networking event, if you have a name badge that will make you stand you, then wear that instead of a label that doesn’t stick to your jacket.

Second, bring enough business cards that you can hand 2 cards to each person you meet so that the possibility of them connecting you in the future is possible.

COMMUNICATE… by listening and asking ‘perfect’ questions

When you meet someone at a networking event, don’t worry about your pitch, I assure you that it probably won’t be remembered, so work on your listening and if you need to take notes to help you remember, then by all means. The new iPhone has a microphone that allows you to dictate thoughts and actions you can later download on your iTunes to play and remind you what actions you can take to begin the networking process of building a relationship and referral source.

Ask questions that engage the other person so that you can truly learn how you can help them. Questions like:

“Share with me what you do.”

“How did you get into this business?”

“What social sites do you participate with? Facebook? LinkedIn? PerfectNetworker? Twitter?”

“What is your target market?”

“Tell me how I could help you”

This should be enough information that you can make a difference in their life. That is part of what networking is about. If you are going to get something out of networking, start thinking about what you are going to give.

Always get two of their cards so that you can recommend them to someone you meet that evening at the event or later.

After you leave a networking event is when networking really begins. Consider the networking event the start line and when you leave the networking event, you are about to start the race much like a sprinter prepares their stance before the gun is fired signifying the beginning of the race.

CAPTURE… their data so you can begin and continue to communicate with them

When you return back to your home office or your office, it is time to sort your cards into two stacks. One that is for focused conversation and one that is secondary polite. The reason for the two stacks is that you don’t want to feel overwhelmed. Simply place the cards that you felt would be easiest to help succeed. Think of the conversations that were most memorable, the contacts most likely to return the favor when you contribute to them.  The secondary stack we will get to in a moment.

Remember to label the stacks of business cards with a post-it identifying the date and event you met the new contacts. This is important because you want to focus for the next 7 days on developing this contact. The reason you have two sets of each card is so that you can work one stack and start recommending with the other stack.

COMMUNICATE… as soon as possible so that the ball is in their court

If you are short on time, it is important that you at least write the first stack and let them know you really enjoyed meeting them. Look or listen to your notes on that particular meeting, so that you can customize the message so that they see you as a sincere person, and are impressed with you listening skills and memory.

Now for the secondary stack, simply write them an email to demonstrate you are a serious networker by getting the communication going immediately after the event.

If you invite all our new connections to PerfectNetworker.com, your name will be memorialized on their profile as the contributor, thus making a memory stamp for every bit of success they experience on the site. Second you can let them know that they can be featured on the site by simply letting one of the ambassadors know they are ready to be spotlighted on the home page. All you need to have is a complete profile and photo to be considered for this complimentary publicity.

Although this is a little more expensive, I highly recommend writing a thank you note or use send out cards to stand out as someone that is serious about continuing the initial conversation from the networking event.

CONTRIBUTE… through virtual introductions

Look in your network for people that would be great to connect your new contact with and do a virtual introduction via email or on PerfectNetworker. It helps to explain in the email why you considered the connection valuable. Also, you may want to reach out via phone to explain that you are going to be making this virtual connection via email and to look out for the email you just sent.

CONNECT… with them where they like to communicate

Google the names of your new connections and when you find them on Facebook (FB), LinkedIn (LI), PerfectNetworker (PN), and or Twitter, send a connection request. It is important that you get into their virtual life if you want to get into their real life. The frequency and timing of your communication will catapult you from a status of stranger or someone they will not remember to a person they know and feel comfortable communicating with. The number you are trying to get to as quickly as is comfortable without being considered a stalker or a psycho is the frequency of 7.

So you meet them at a networking event - that is 1.

You email them after the networking event to let them know it was a pleasure to meet them and possibly invite them to PerfectNetworker with your link - that is 2.

You make a virtual connection for them as a contributor to their success - that is 3.

You google them and find them on FB, LI, and Twitter and connect with them – that is possibly 4, 5 and 6.

You wish them a Happy Birthday when their birthday reminder is sent to you on FB and you search for their birthday on PN.

COLLABORATE

You invite them to meet with you for a one-on-one to learn more about how you might be able to work together and help one another. When we work together with someone to create success, a synergy is formed a desire to win together and a bond is formed. Success minded individuals become more driven and inspired to succeed when they work with other success-minded individuals.

Try it… you will like it a lot more than working your way by yourself.

CREATE… a future

Stay in touch, keep the communication alive and a relationship will form. Remember that you create your future, your relationships, and your success. Since the ball is in your court, you must not wait for the other person to decide to communicate or contribute to you. That is your responsibility, and through this responsibility you have control to shape your life and your success.

CONTINUE… to do all the C’s, especially communication and contribution.

Continue to contribute even if you don’t see anything coming back to you. This isn’t about a short-term relationship. This is about you being a Perfect Networker. Your identity is contributor, you are thought of as a person that makes a positive difference, a person who cares, a person that leaves people in a better position after they meet you, a person that will go the distance… a professional networker.

CONCLUSION… only to this chapter

Many times when we meet someone at a networking event we believe that when we leave that our impact was so amazing that they will want to start sending clients to us right away. I hope you see that type of conclusion to a networking event is really very unrealistic.

There really is not a conclusion to networking, it is continuous set of actions and conversations leading to hopefully a referral source. So where most people leave the networking event thinking the networking is over, you are now equipped to actually start networking by applying the 7 C’s of networking

When you apply the 7 C’s of networking, you will see the benefits and look back and laugh at how what you called networking was really NOTworking.

Networking is about playing big, playing to win… and most of all playing together.

I was asked to provide some insights on networking in an upcoming book that I am excited to be a part of. We agreed that each chapter would be at least 1500 words in length, so I could not wait to get to work on this chapter. I am including my chapter in this blog in hopes that if I have missed anything on the subject of Networking, that it is brought to my attention before this book is released. As you know 1500 words is enough to cover most topics, but nonetheless a challenge.

Allow me to formally introduce myself. My name is Ken Rochon, and I will be writing a chapter in this book. I was not formerly a writer, and I don't consider myself famous. I am a good writer and I will be writing this chapter about networking. Here is a little information on Networking. Networking is good and I mean really good. And networking is important. Furthermore, I like networking and so do other people that I have met when networking. I am almost done with my first 100 words, but not yet. I have only three more words… done.

Now I have to write my second 100 words without using any material from the first paragraph. That will be challenging because the first paragraph had a lot of information I know really well like my name and information about my writing history. What can I write about that hasn’t already been covered? Well I suppose I can write about networking. I only have 40 more words that I have to write in this paragraph, so I don’t have a lot of time to go into networking at this point because the paragraph is coming to a close right now. 

This is actually not too difficult at least from the first 2 paragraphs. I already am about 10 percent done with this chapter if I am writing 2000 words. But I would prefer to eat, so I will only write 1500 words. I think this paragraph will be longer than the others because I can talk about how many children I have. I do not have children, but if I did, I would teach them about networking. Networking is like a box of chocolates, you never know who you are going to meet. The longer I am networking, the more fascinated I become with the topic of networking and its lifelong effects. In my adult life I have networked by reaching out to associations, groups, communities in order to better understand the realities of relationship building, marketing and even more if you can believe that. This was a huge paragraph compared to the first two. This one is actually so far over 100 words that I think I am going to go for a 200-word paragraph. Honestly, I didn’t expect this to happen, but I was having so much fun I lost track and next thing I knew I was typing this word here which just put me at over 200 words. The exact number of words I have typed already is 431 words counting this one right here.

I have not covered networking entirely because I am saving some of the material for later in this chapter. Kind of a suspense business book if you will. I don’t want to build it up too much, but I think this could be one of the better paragraphs that I’ve written in for this chapter, even though this paragraph is very short at this point, I am going to make a nice segue from the previous paragraph on children to my parents. Here goes… My parents are my Mom and Dad. And they raised me. I was a very little person and they fed me and I grew, and grew, and grew. It was exciting, but it took a long time. Already this paragraph is taking my childhood to adulthood and I could stop here and it would be a great paragraph. So that I can get into the meat of this chapter, I will close this paragraph off very soon at 600 words, which is almost half way there.

This paragraph is like the build up of the middle of the chapter. This is where a lot of readers pretend they are reading but are not. The reason why is that almost everything that needed to be said in this chapter was written in the first paragraph. We know this chapter is on networking, so big surprise, each paragraph is a redundant reiteration of how networking is important and how networking came to be and why we can’t live without networking. I actually should have made this point much earlier, because if most people don’t read the middle of a chapter then this was a waste to even write. So I am bringing this chapter to a close at 722 words.

If you have previously read any books on networking that might help you understand what networking is and what it is not. The soul connection will sometimes be missing when you are networking. Don’t let that bother you. It is not important. That is more for lifelong relationships with someone you love. Networking is more, well actually less intimate. I started off with more because the correction gave me more words in this paragraph. It is a sneaky secret that most authors will make a point and then purposely admit it was a mistake to get more content into their paragraph, chapter or book. Depending on how much experience they have. Well if we haven’t celebrated yet, we are past the mid-way point. This was actually way more challenging than I expected.

I did already write about my growing up correct? Well to make sure the point is clear, I will use a tactic of bringing some earlier information back into the story to tie this very nicely together. Growing up I did whatever I could to learn things. I was scared to death of dying because it seemed so final. I wasn’t a troublemaker and I wasn’t a police officer and I wasn’t even a doctor, but I was a good boy who liked to play soccer. Of course, I was not aware of this until I reached adulthood. This is going to be a shorter paragraph because I know we need to get to the networking part of this chapter quick. The reason I haven’t is because, as I said before, most people don’t read the middle paragraphs in a chapter. If you noticed I used a technique of explaining what I was not when I was a child and that gave me a word count on this paragraph of at least 8, maybe even 9 words more. This explanation further catapulted the word count to make this paragraph quite lengthy in fact probably the second or third longest paragraph in this chapter thus far. I would venture to guess the second longest just by looking at how many lines are present.

My personal experiences of growing up were very personal to me. I will share some of the personal experiences that led me to networking. My studies and my work were huge parts of my life and so was playing around. In fact if you take my studies, my work and my playing around, that really monopolized my time. I ate meals too of course and I slept which took up probably 8 hours of my day. This paragraph is very short, and it really is not worth expanding on, so I am moving into the networking component now.

I sincerely appreciate people who are experts at networking who have networked a long time. Painters have painted such an accurate painting of what networking is if that was the theme of their work. I like networking from a standpoint that you are meeting people, and learning about them and what not.

Many books are out there on networking. They are not necessarily feel-good stories that romanticize networking as a fairy-tale answer to success but rather a business approach to cultivating business. The reality of networking is that it is here to stay. I have seen it here for some time and I don’t think we can even wish it away. It is a far cry from being a secret. I wouldn’t consider people that network members of a secret society. They are simply meeting people and learning more about them.

Some people look at this as an opportunity to help others be more successful. Others just want to vomit on anyone they meet about what they do and why people should use their product or service. Do you notice I am writing some killer sentences? That is because everyone reads the end of a chapter. It is like the closer and if you have done your job right, they will smile and think what a great conclusion to this chapter and not really feel they missed anything in the middle. So without further ah-do (bless me), I will move on to the final chapter, the finale, and the pinnacle if you will of this chapter.

And furthermore, we have examined every aspect of networking only to find it is an essential part of succeeding in business. After all, where would we be without our clients? As was mentioned in the middle of this chapter, without networking there is no business. We must look at every stranger as a future client waiting to be discovered, and nurtured into an extension of who you are. Then through their own network that they share your message as if they were you because your networking skills created a comfort zone that brought them back to memories of their childhood. And this is why … Hey, I am actually over 1500 words, so you get the point of how networking is the Mack Daddy of business.