'Toonly Different

I read a great post from Tom Fishburne this morning. You can read the whole article here, but basically Tom wrote about how some cartoonists draw for just a narrow audience, giving an example of one who draws cartoons that would only make sense to people who are Unix programmers. Now I gotta' tell you, the only reason I even know the word Unix is because I have a son in that world of funny computer words. (He is also a blogger in the networking world and I guess that could make him unique in that he is a computer guy and can form and maintain relationships, too!)

Tom went on to tell that he in fact saw a Unix flavored cartoon when someone stood up at one of his presentations and had the 'toon printed on his t-shirt.

Of course my thoughts took a jump at that point. A foundation of the course I teach is helping my students to figure out what is unique about them; what sets them aside from the rest of the pack. Recently several of my students were asked what cereal box or magazine cover they might appear on and WHY. But even better, I think, would be, "What about you or what you do would be worthy of a t-shirt?"

Any answers? Remember it's got to be different.

Sharing You!

In the past several months I have created a tool that networkers can use to objectively measure the relationships they enjoy with others. It has been an eye-opener for me!

The middle section is all about personal details that I would know about the other person and conversely, they would know about me. What I have found out is that I don't share personal details! I am now trying to get better that that because I know those details add to the depth of the relationship, but this is not easy for me.

Yesterday, I attended a networking lunch (The WEN lunch meeting at LaScola) with my 10 year old granddaughter, Kaitlyn, who is staying with me for the week. Those who were introduced to her asked what we were doing this week and we were able to share that we'd been able to sink the kayak, played lots of card games and we were going to the fabric store after the meeting so I could help K learn to sew.

Some comments were: "Oh, I didn't know you had a pond." "Oh, I don't even know how to play Backgammon." "Really, Debby, you know how to sew???"

It occur ed to me that Kaitlyn was not only my front porch (Power of Approachability by Scott Ginsberg) but she was also the bridge for getting information about myself to others. While I am usually VERY uncomfortable talking about myself, it was easy to talk about our fun experiences.

In thinking about this, it goes back to why horntooting is so important. When you are willing to share something important about yourself with your networking pals, they then have the opportunity to use that info when they are introducing you to another person. They are the bridge for your details and you don't have to talk about yourself.

Who is your bridge?

Couldn't Have Said it Better

Yeah, it takes another blogger's post to sometimes waken the sleeping Debby!

Tom Fishburne is a favorite of mine. He says and draws so succinctly what others can't even begin to explain. In today's post, Tom talks about brand archtypes, but really he's talking about how big companies use a process to determine who they are going to sell to.

Since we help our students in the Certified Networker course to do the same thing (sometimes kicking and screaming!) these couple sentences in Tom's post resonated with me.

"Without narrowing, a brand is trying to be all things to all people. It ends up standing for nothing. When brands stand for nothing, the only way it can compete is on price. " (I have bolded and enlarged the last sentence.)

We help our students to network less, by being clear about who they are selling to. When they know that, then they know where to network.

Any comments????

Handy Networking Tool

During our course, Certified Networker, we encourage our students to have their networking tools with them at all times. Contained on that list is a supply of business cards, your calendar, a pen for notes and of course a name tag.

In my last post I talked about how one to one meetings are a mainstay of the BNI conference and that most attendees know NOT to interrupt two people who are sitting and chatting. At this conference I did experience several interruptions. Don't know why, but they did happen.

I got to thinking that maybe one more networking tool is needed. Perhaps each person needs some sort of a portable sign, like a table tent, that announces, "One to one in progress, please do not interrupt." Sort of like the "Baby on Board" signs!

Just a thought......

Getting to Know You

I am back from the BNI 25th Annual National Conference. What a wonderful 4 days of information and relationship continuation.

BNI fosters relationship development at their conferences by building time for one-to-one meetings right into the schedule. Instead of the word "break" (there are just a few of those) the unstructured time line of the conference program lists blanks for writing in the appointments we have with other conference attendees. It's a reminder to fill our book! Many people start these one-to-one meetings at 6 AM in order to get to all the people they want to meet.

There is also an understanding that if you see two people sitting and chatting, that you are NOT to interrupt them. This works really well because it means that these important conversations are not interrupted and the time spent is well-spent. We also ask each other when the appointments are scheduled what the topic of conversation is going to be. This is not to say that personal information is ignored entirely, but that the meetings are focused.

I have been to other types of conferences in the past, but I have never been involved with another group that fosters the building of relationships as well as BNI does.

What is your experience at your conferences?

Social Media Provides Connections

New BNI member, Tim Saddoris, Infostream Solutions, shared how we might produce even more referrals using Linkedin. He explained that if our members make a specific request for a company, that we can research the company using a Linkedin feature. Those employees of the company listed with Linkedin will appear along with their title AND the people you have in common with them. Wow!

I can tell you that with one attempt, I was able to make a connection for a referral request that had been asked for several times in the past, but I never knew that I had that connection that I could ask for help.

Social Media is more than just a listing!

Learning Experience

OK, I'm about ready to head out to the National BNI Conference in Pittsburgh this week. BNI really encourages the participants of the conference to have one-to-one meetings with each other to share knowledge and ideas. Some people are very effieicent with getting these appointment set up in advance. Hmmmm, I'm guess I'm not one of them.

I do have one solid appointment and two maybees. But I am just going to approach this differently this time. I am going to schedule with those who I know nothing about and see what I can learn from them, instead of having a preconceived notion of who I should meet with.

It's a little scary doing it this way, but I'll let you know how it turns out.