Following neatly on from the last post, with a more positive slant (!) here's a few suggestions for making those important real world networking occassions slightly less painful. In fact not painful at all, possibly even fun!
Published in Etch Magazine
1) Remember the purpose: connect others.
A great networker is not someone who schmoozes every night, who turns up at every New Zealand Trade & Enterprise breakfast and who hands out cards like they're lollies to small children...a good networker is someone who connects OTHER people. The more people you connect, the better your reputation and the more people want to connect with you. And then the more people you have in your network to be connected so the more connections you can make...
Trap for unwary players: the connections have to be meaningful and useful for the connectees. And that's the skill!
2) Choose the right events to go to.
I have been out and about at events quite a lot in the past month, as part of generating profile for the new business. A great networker connects people, and you can really boost your number of possible connectees and connectors by going to an event.
At the CIO Conference on Tuesday last month I was flagging though and I learnt a valuable lesson. I'm not as young as I was. Well that's true, but its not the valuable lesson. :-) I was offered the chance to be introduced there and then to someone who could potentially be a great source of overflow work for my company. But I turned it down. I wasn't on top form socially (tired!), my business proposition is still being refined and this was too big an opportunity to blow. So I turned it down. And now I get the chance to take it up when its the right time and I can make a great connection.
Trap for unwary players - only do this if you're confident the person offering you the connection is happy to do it again. Be honest about the reasons you're declining and make sure they're aware how appreciative you are and that you'll be following up soon. Follow up soon.
3) Listen and listen some more.
When you're at an event, its not about what you say, its about how you listen. There's two benefits to this approach to networking. 1) it means you don't have to come up with Shakespearean wit and charm each time you open your mouth so relax and enjoy! and 2) it means that introverts aren't off the hook - if you're an introvert, remember you are the perfect audience for extroverts. Nod with interest, chime in occasionally with flavouring phrases - people wind up thinking you're a fascinating person because in your presence they hear themselves saying fascinating things. Simple.
4) Find the lynchpins.
In every community there are a few people who are connected across all industries, professions, demographics etc. The sort of people who pop up all over the place and seem to know everyone else. Email them. Introduce yourself. Join whatever committee they sit on, work on a project together (even virtually) and get to know them well. They'll keep you in the loop and you'll be top of mind if something comes up in their network. At events, spot the people who seem to be most at home, who appear to be waving at other people the whole time. Introduce yourself: "You seem to know a lot of people, what's your secret?" and hook your star to theirs.
5) Act like it's your event.
My number one how-to tip for finding the confidence to speak to people when you walk through the door of a networking event. On your own. At the end of a long day: Pretend you're the host. Pretend that you have the most right to be there, the most right to go up to the drinks table and get a wine, the most right to eyeball people directly, the most right to muscle in on conversations. It's your event. If you can pull off that confidence trick you're home and hosed. In fact it's not a trick. You do have the most right to be there - you RSVPd, right? And if you're a sponsor this is even easier - you've paid for the privilege! So forget you're a guest and be a host, even down to taking responsibility for introducing people to others. Heaven forbid they should be on their own at a networking event...
There's a whole lot of advice around these days on the etiquette for social networking - but the real world version is still pretty important! As someone who 'gets about a bit' in the nicest possible way, here's my Top 5 Networking Not Tos (followed by How Tos).
Thanks to Etch Magazine for featuring this week
1) If you make an excuse to leave a conversation, don't lie.
If you say 'I'm just going to refill my glass' go do it! If you say 'It's been great talking with you, but I've spotted Jack who I haven't seen for ages so must say hello' then please walk straight to Jack and say hello. You'll be watched, spotted and found out as a fraud if you lie. A pretty quick way to ruin credibility.
2) Don't open a conversation with a sales pitch.
You are not there to sell. You are there to build relationships and get to know people and have them trust you because you share stories and information that is interesting and helpful. They do not want to hear your pitch - well they might, but only give it if they ask.
3) Don't ignore the signals.
If someone is pulling at their clothes, rubbing the stem of their wine glass, sighing, moving from foot to foot, chances are you've bored the pants off them so stop talking and start listening. Change the subject, invite someone else in to the conversation or wrap it up, write it off and walk away with a smile.
4) Don't be gross.
For goodness sake don't get drunk. The wine might be free but that's not an excuse to drink the bottle. Make sure you're presentable and not smelly and eat a mint before you arrive. Obvious but honestly, trying to maintain interest in someone who is talking at you with clouds of halitosis washing into your nostrils is mighty tricky. And don't gossip - you just don't know who they know (which is, after all, the whole point of going in the first place but can be your downfall if you say the wrong thing...)
5) Don't go unprepared.
Know who will be there, what they might be interested in so conversation can flow easily. Take your business cards, prepare some opening lines. Have your pitch ready in a concise and interesting format just in case you're asked to give it. Being prepared shows you are committed, being unprepared puts everyone there at the bottom of your priority list which doesn't make them feel too happy.
Well we've finally done it. Expo NZ goes live in a week's time - our first event is an ICT Job fair on 16th July. We've found a cohort of ICT companies that want to a)show off to an international audience and b)find out if there's talent offshore that could be tempted to come to NZ.
HP, Datacom, Endace, 3months.com, 920 Career Agents, Catalyst, Red Hot Business, Accelerating Auckland, Grow Wellington, Priority One, Immigration, Digital Elements, the NZ Computer Society are amongst the booth holders.
Paul Callaghan kicks off the conference with a keynote speech and is joined by a cast of migrants telling their stories about working in ICT in NZ.
The technology has grown up since our first launch a couple of months back , its now 3d and generally much more beautiful. The video chat interface is better too, with the ability to have multiple staff members 'manning' each booth to talk with visitors. Conference presentations can be delivered live or pre-recorded and presenters can answer questions from the crowd in real time.
You can register here and come explore on the 16th and beyond!
I'm so lucky. I get to work with angels, entrepreneurs and a whole heap of enthusiastic passionate people who want to Get Stuff Done in their business. I feed off their energy (in the nicest possible way) and they feed off mine. I firmly believe in surrounding yourself with energetic, positive people so that you can be energetic and positive too. That's not just friends, but work colleagues - and clients too. I don't like to work with people who have negative energy, who are not focussed on What Can, or What Might, or What If.
The best example of a team that know What Can and What Will and What IS are Fit2Front. Love your work :-) Yes that's me in their flyer...
Some people think I'm naive. Some people tell me that positive thinking is the same as not facing up to things. I disagree.
If you can keep smiling when the news is full of doom and gloom
If you can keep pushing your start up company on and on when big businesses are cutting back and back
If you can remember what's really important and remind yourself that money isn't
If you can spend time with friends, partners, colleagues who you care about and set aside those whose negative energy drains and drags you down
If you can find neat ways to create value for your customers when others are just cost cutting
If you can focus on the future and get there one sunrise at a time
If you can think big and bright and better when others are thinking small and scared
If you accept that buying a huge flat screen TV, leather lounge suite and holiday in Hawaii on your mortgage was NOT a good idea
If you accept that everything has its time, that good times have been had and this is just a cycle
Then 'economic crisis' and 'financial maelstrom' are just words. Intelligence, curiosity and bravery is (all) that's required.
It was great to read Mark Weldon's comments reminding company directors to fire non-performing CEOs. Time are too tough to put up with non-performance. Actually its never OK to put up with non-performance. Actually its not even just non-performance! Its lack lustre performance, un-innovative performance, short term thinking...
And its not just CEOs of publicly listed companies but consultants, contractors, suppliers....
I wonder if one of the reasons that a prominent business person has to remind company directors of their number one responsibility, is a result of the negative side of the kiwi culture I admire so much - open networking. Instead of doing the right thing and dealing with non-performance, opening up the possibilities of doing more and doing better, we worry about our own position, and the risk that our own reputation gets tarnished. It's apparently too risky to speak out and point out bad behaviours, just in case the network jungle drums beat our our professional death knell.
I mean, crikey who'd want a reputation like the brits and yanks for speaking honest professional up front truths?
Note to readers: I am a brit :-)
A slightly slow start to the blog year I know, but its the curse of having Christmas in the summer I think. In the UK it was all about the build up, looking forward to huddling together round a fire eating roast potatoes and drinking mulled wine as the horses breath steamed up the outside of the pub windows...or something. Here Christmas is the food fest to mark the end of a hard yakka year, then its a build up to the sunny weather with everyone hanging out on holiday to catch some sun. I've only just got myself relaxed after an unbelievable 2008, and the barely busy Wellington streets aren't helping me gather momentum. Hey there's my excuse, take it or leave it!
Another reason I've been quiet here is that I'm grappling with my return to Twitter (if you really must, you can follow me, look for marie_clair). I tried it last year and felt shamelessly exposed and wantonly foolish typing short bursts of what's happening into an apparent void. But this year, with a few followers and more I'm following (loving Stephen Fry's updates on travels around NZ) I'm finally getting the sense of community so now its time to figure out a voice and stick to it. And I'm getting over the feeling of standing on a cliff yelling banalities into the wind. Which is nice.
Frances has written a great article on using Twitter, with Jill Wilson from CWA New Media. Look out for it in the next INBusiness magazine.
I've read and laughed at the most dismal Christmas card ever sent to a colleague and thought you might like to see The Best Christmas Card Ever In The World At Least As Far As I Know:
Of course the amazing Roz designed it, and it will be in your inbox soon. Ideas for a sound track win a bottle of cocktails (yes there's still some left over from the party!).
Angel HQ held another investment evening recently, with three more ventures presenting to the club. As time goes on we've got more and more rigorous pre-investment evening - we support entrepreneurs to present as well as you possibly can by suggesting you stick to some rules:
1) Preparation: know your pitch content inside out and back to front (warning, don't know it SO well it sounds rehearsed. That's a tricky one!)
2) Preparation: find out which angels are going to be there and get to know them. Check LinkedIn, google, naymz, Facebook even so that you know these people; find out where they hang out, contrive to bump into them.
3) Preparation: get your company ready for scrutiny. There's so much to say about that, more another time (and I'll reference the experts who know the fine art/science required in this space) but its completely true that investment needy is not investment ready.
4) Preparation: be physically as well as mentally prepared. Eat right, hydrate, practice breathing (it's a good idea, keeping breathing) Victoria and Amanda from Fit 2 Front coach Angel HQ entrepreneurs in this space and feedback says it makes a huge difference.
5) Preparation: practice your networking skills. This is absolutely key and if you don't, you might hurt your chances. It's all very well to be polished up on stage, but if your networking efforts are aggressive, or unco-ordinated or badly timed you could negate that positive effect. It's not to say that the crowd aren't sympathetic, they are. And especially if this is your first time raising money its a huge, adrenaline filled dragged-out moment and you're bound to do some things you wish you hadn't. All I'd say is remember its the end of a long and busy day for the angels and it's easier to relax over a glass of wine if you're not already pitching to them the moment they walk in. And after the presentation itself, make the most of the relationships begun through question and answer but know when to leave, and know when to gracefully accept feedback. When to leave: when you've gently walked around the room and chatted with friendly faces, and picked up on questions asked during the pitch. When to accept feedback gracefully: every time it's offered, with no need to refute.
OK that's one rule, executed in four different ways :-)
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