Red Zone Marketing's Blog

Your Money Matters - Networking Tips from Maribeth Kuzmeski

Learn how to network like it's your job, and create powerful connections in a virtual world.

 

Holiday Parties Are a Great Time to … Network your way into a New Job or New Clients!

Think like an introvert—if you have to go, have a plan. Social events can be nerve-racking. Concerns of who is going to be there, how many people you will know, and what should be said to them can run rampantly through your mind. But instead of succumbing to your clammy hands and being a wallflower all night, formulate a plan of action ahead of time that will help you make the most of every event. Doing so will ensure that you make all the right connections, and it will help to alleviate all that pre-party social anxiety.

The research and interviews I conducted for the book, The Connectors, suggests that introverts are better connectors than extroverts when they actively engage. The reason? Because if an introverted person has to go to a big social event, they are going to figure out what they will do when they get there. One of the biggest introvert fears is to attend a party, feel out of place, and end up standing alone somewhere with no one to talk with.

So, to think like an introvert who is engaging, you must have a plan of action. First, think about who will be at the party and who you’d like to talk with or meet. Consider which contacts are the most important to you—maybe there are a few people you want to ask about possible openings at their companies—and make a point to speak to each of them during the event (instead of hiding behind the dessert bar all night!). You may even want to consider asking the host for a guest list if you’re not sure who will be attending. Then, do a little research online or on social networking sites like LinkedIn to learn about attendees. Pick five people that you’d like to speak with while you are there, and don’t avoid the big names. Make sure you challenge yourself by making an effort to connect with at least one top dog.

The result… you may just make a valuable connection with someone that has the potential to lead you somewhere else – to a new job, a new client or a new advocate! Try it – the worst that can happen is that you’ll have better conversations at your next holiday gathering.

Networking Tips for the Holiday Season

The holiday season offers many networking opportunities for you to take advantage of. Maribeth shares 8 networking tips on Fox News Detroit to make the most of your next holiday party.

Guest Blog: Why Some Sales People Think LinkedIn Doesn’t Work For Them

Guest Blog from Jan Vermeiren, founder of Networking Coach

LinkedIn is a very powerful tool that can support us when we want to get in touch with potential
customers.

However many sales people tell us LinkedIn doesn’t work for them. In this article we talk about the
three most important misperceptions.

1. I have made a Profile, now potential customers will contact me one after the other.

a. Though crafting a good Profile helps to be found by people who are looking for your
expertise, products or services (via Linkedin or via Google or other search engines),
this is not where the power of LinkedIn resides.

b. LinkedIn is a very powerful tool for sales people who are proactive and don’t wait till
someone contacts them.

2. I have sent some potential customers an Invitation. However they don’t accept the Invitation
or don’t respond to my messages to buy my products or services.

a. LinkedIn is a NETWORK tool and not a SALES tool. LinkedIn helps to build
relationships with people. If you use it like a “cold calling machine” the reaction of
people will be the same as with a “cold call”: no reaction or rejection. Not only this
is not effective and not very efficient, but there is also another danger: LinkedIn has
some tools that people could use to indicate that you are a spammer. If you get too
many of these “flags”, your possibilities to connect with other people will be reduced
dramatically.

b. Always remember it is about building relationships. The golden rule of Bob Burg
always applies: “All things being equal people do business with and refer business
to people they know, like and trust.” LinkedIn offers you the opportunity to increase
these 3 factors if done in the right way. Crafting a good Profile, helping others in
Discussions and Answers and not pushing your products or services you already helps
a lot, just like in “real life”.

3. I use the “Get Introduced To” function to get me referred by my network to potential
customers.

a. Though this approach might get you some results, it is not always the best option.
Your own network doesn’t always forwards your messages and the prospect doesn’t
always reply. There might be several reasons for that, but the reasons most people
don’t think of are: your contact doesn’t know the prospect well enough, your contact
doesn’t know you well enough or your contact thinks that your message is too pushy.

b. Instead use LinkedIn as a research database to discover the relationships between
people and then proceed outside of LinkedIn. Call your contact and explain him the
situation. If he responds positively, ask him to write an email to introduce you and
the prospect to each other. In this way your prospect receives the message from
someone he already knows and trusts. If you use LinkedIn you are the one who takes
the initiative, which is much less powerful.

Author

Jan Vermeiren is the founder of Networking Coach. Following on the best seller success of his first
book “Let’s Connect!” , in his second book “How to REALLY use LinkedIn” he reveals even more the
dynamics of networking and tools that anybody can immediately apply.

Together with his team at Networking Coach, Jan gives presentations and training courses in the field
of networking and referrals. Customers are large organisations like Deloitte, Dupont, IBM, ING, SAP,
Sun Microsystems and Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School , as well as small companies and
freelancers.

Get your free light version of “How to REALLY use LinkedIn” at: www.how-to-really-use-linkedin.com 

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Generic Answers Lead to Lost Opportunities

Blog from Maribeth Kuzmeski of Red Zone Marketing

If you find yourself constantly resorting to generic answers when people ask you questions about yourself – it’s time to rethink your approach. We can so often drift through our day, not even seeing the opportunities in the conversations with others.  From the simplest Hey, how are you? to the more complex questions you are asked throughout your work day - how often do you take time to answer the questions fully?

Many try to get by answering in as few words as possible, but in a world where relationships are a key to success, I’m not sure this approach is really helping.

A critical question we so often shy away from giving a powerful answer to, one that can open doors to a world of opportunity, is: What do you do?

I have heard even the most seasoned professionals use the old standard, black and white description of their business. As an example: “I am a financial advisor.” Although you are concisely stating exactly what you do for the person that asked, you are also opening the door for all of the stereotypes and preconceived notions they associate with that title or profession. For many, you would be tossed into the broad category of salesmen and forgotten in their minds. Simply said – the real benefits are being left open to hope (I sure hope they know what a financial advisor does). But in order for action, they must WANT what you have (and it’s your job to make them want it). 

However, talking about yourself and your products often come across as sales-y or boastful. For example, if a financial advisor says, “I have a special expertise in building portfolios through my CFA designation.” Ok, so what does that really mean to the person you are talking to? Instead, try using a phrase that I have heard some of the top advisors we work with use. Follow the black and white feature statement with an absolute home run sentence that gives you the right to talk about your expertise or other benefits of your services: Follow: “I have a CFA designation” with “And let me tell you why I think that’s important.”

The statement gives you the right to share why something may be important to them. It will still be a factual description of what you do – but this time with meaning directly for the person you’re talking with. And it may be just the opportunity you have given yourself to put preconceived notions to rest and build your value – without coming across “sales-y.”

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Messaging is Critical – How’s Yours?

Blog from Maribeth Kuzmeski of Red Zone Marketing

When someone asks, “What do you do?” how valuable is your answer? A run of the mill, “I am a financial advisor” or “I run a consulting firm” response has the person who asked knowing almost less about you than before they asked. You gave them a phone book response.  You were about as personable and memorable as a business directory.  AND you’ve forced them to jump to a conclusion about what you said and what it means to them because you have given them so little valuable information about what you actually do.

Try this – ask people what they do over the next week and record the insightful or less than valuable answers you get. I find that most people can’t answer in a sentence what they really do.  They often share the company they work for, or the job title they hold, but rarely share what they actually do.  And it’s not because they don’t know. They just haven’t spent any time messaging the best answer. A prepared 1 or 2 sentence answer that is filled with BENEFITS, not “I’ve been in business for 20 years” features that really don’t mean anything, can have enormous positive effects.

Here is one I heard this week that is awesome! “I work for XYZ Company. We provide planning, advice and proper investment selection for people’s serious money.”

What’s yours? Do you think it matters? Would you get more or less business, more or less referrals, more or less viral benefits of people talking about you – if you had a great message that let people know what it is you really do – for them.

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Are Introverts the Better Connectors?

Blog from Maribeth Kuzmeski of Red Zone Marketing

You might not be the type of person who loves to socialize, attend big parties, and network whenever the opportunity presents itself.  But to be a great connector, you don’t have to. Successful connectors who would be classified as introverts will often enter into a social situation with a plan for those they want to meet and connect with. They aren’t looking to talk to anyone and everyone, but would rather reach out with more purpose, to select individuals. And going into a social situation with a plan almost always produces better results than going into a networking event or other meeting just “winging it”. To effectively connect with another person, it doesn’t matter whether you are introverted or extroverted; what matters is that you’ve spent some time thinking about which relationships are most vital, what you are hoping to achieve by reaching out, and having a plan for reaching them effectively.

So, do introverts connect better than extroverts? Sometimes, yes.

Recently, probably the nation’s best known networking professional, came to the realization that he is an introvert! Ivan Misner, PhD, founder of BNI and the author of 11 books on networking, shared with me in an interview I conducted for The Connectors that he discovered he’s actually an introvert. What?! Misner said that his wife of 20 years told him during dinner one night that he displayed many introvert tendencies. Misner was shocked! How could the founder of the largest networking organization be an introvert? “It struck me why I started BNI,” Misner said. “I was naturally uncomfortable meeting new people. BNI created a system that enabled me to meet people in an organized, structured, networking environment that did not require that I actually … talk to strangers.” 

So, if we all can potentially be great connectors, how do we jump into it or how can we focus to improve our skills and results? By having a plan. Click here to download the free tool, “For Introverts…and Extroverts: A Plan for Connecting” and become a better connector today! 
  

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Microsoft releases technology for Connecting – How can it impact your business?

Blog from Maribeth Kuzmeski of Red Zone Marketing

Microsoft has just released Outlook Social Connector, an add-in for Outlook that links your emails and contacts to your LinkedIn network. It’s available as a free download for Outlook 2003, Outlook 2007 and Outlook 2010. It allows you to view existing LinkedIn connection profiles, their profile picture, recent updates, and allows you to add new connections without ever leaving your Outlook inbox.

While you are reading your regular e-mail messages in Outlook, you can see the “People Pane” below the message and view the picture, name, and title of the sender.  You can also view your history of communication with that person by clicking on their name and see recent e-mail conversations, meetings, and shared documents. This feature has been a big time saver for me because I can immediately see all communications with an individual and no longer have to spend time searching for past emails.

One of the best features of this add-in, in my opinion, is the addition of a new Outlook contacts folder with your LinkedIn contacts - even if you haven't added them to your normal Outlook contact list. The display of contacts in the LinkedIn folder includes each contact's photo (if they have one on LinkedIn) and other information accessed from LinkedIn. It’s a concise way of seeing some of your most valuable connections. If you’re new to LinkedIn, or only a light user, this is a great opportunity to get more involved with your connections. And for those more involved in the network, this just enhances the opportunity LinkedIn provides you.

In The Connectors, I wrote about a similar program called Xobni (Chapter 15 on strategies for organizing and tracking relationships). Xobni , which is Inbox spelled backwards, connects Outlook to social media networks including LinkedIn but extends to more of your social networking including Facebook and Twitter. It is also a free download, but if you are keeping it strictly to LinkedIn, the Microsoft add-in is an easy solution.

Once you activate this add-in, the People Pane can be turned on and off via Outlook's View menu and you can also change the size of the pane. For more information on Outlook Social Connector you can go to http://blogs.msdn.com/outlook/archive/2009/11/18/announcing-the-outlook-social-connector.aspx.

Have you tried Outlook Connector yet? What are your thoughts?   

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Focusing on others to improve YOUR business

Blog from Maribeth Kuzmeski of Red Zone Marketing

I’ve emphasized in previous blogs the importance of having a well-prepared “Simple Repeatable Statement of Value” (one that makes you memorable - seen here). It is of equal importance to get others to share their statement of value with you.  There are a couple of critical reasons for this:

• As humans, our favorite subject to talk about is ourselves (our lives, family, business, etc.).  We are more likely to like and remember those that engage us in these topics.

• At networking events, yearly conventions, and other business gatherings, we are often reintroduced to the same people over and over again.  Sometimes we recognize familiar faces, but fail to remember anything about them.  Being able to recall a memorable fact about an individual and bring it up the next time we run into them makes us stand out in their mind.  It shows that we took the time to really listen the last time we met – making us more likable AND memorable to them.

You can use the same simple 4 step formula you use to develop your own “Simple Repeatable Statement of Value” to pull memorable information from others you meet.

Ask the following questions:
1. Who are they?
2. What do they do?
3. Why they’re the best?
4. What is something unique/memorable about what they do or have done?

By focusing on these simple questions, you will find that it is easier to listen for and later recall the memorable facts about those you speak with. Taking the time to focus on others can bring a dramatic return on investment.  Give it a try!

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WGN News- The Year of the Connector

Blog from Maribeth Kuzmeski of Red Zone Marketing

 

I was invited to talk about the power of Connectors on WGN News this afternoon. Check out the video above to get some quick tips on how you can be a better connector in 2010. 

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