Community Day 10: How many networking events should I attend?

Ooo…. We just went double digit on the 30 days. Go us!

Today’s question is pretty simple, what are your thoughts on how many networking events someone should attend?

I know for me, I have set the number at somewhere around 2-3 a week. But I know of some people that do as many as one every business day. I think that this is pretty heavily tied into yesterday’s question of how many people should you plan to meet at a networking event? Because it all comes down to the numbers. If you know that you need to meet X number of people in order to make enough money then you will need to attend Y number of events where you speak with Z number of people.

Simple algebra. Course, I never was a math guy.

Thoughts? Hit us up in the comments below. How many events do you attend?

Join the Revolution!
-Coach Kolansky

Community Day 9: How Many People Can You Talk To At A Networking Event?

Hey Gang,

I know that this has been an area where I have been pretty bad about in my own personal networking. I know of people who attend a networking event and they buzz around the room meeting all kinds of new people. One person in particular is Marcus White. He’ll be at a networking event and it seems like he meets everyone that is in attendance, even if it is a few hundred people.

It is an incredible skill to establish a personal bond with all of those people because sometimes that means that he is only speaking to them for a minute at best.

For me, I tend to only build a connection with a handful of people. I’ll be doing good if I leave a networking event with five business cards with notes on the back of them. It has forced me to be pretty specific about who I talk to and why I speak with them. I know I should be doing better, but I enjoy deeper conversation so I’m always tempted to talk for longer than I should AT the event (I’ve been taught that the deeper conversation SHOULD come later when you meet the contact a second time.)

How many people do you think you should talk to at a networking event? Do you buzz around the room like Marcus or do you only meet a handful of people like myself?

Hit us up in the comments below!

Join the revolution!
-Coach Kolansky

Community Question Day 8: How do you maximize your networking?

Ok, so yesterday we talked about reducing costs (and what awesome responses all of you had!) Today I want to ask you all about the flip side of that coin which is how do you maximize your networking time?

There are so many ways to go about this but one strategy that I can think of is to make sure that you have done your research before attending an event.

For example, when I first joined BNI a while back I had no idea what I was getting myself into. As Marvin and a few others established in the first day’s answer, the difference between a novice and an advanced networker, I was shooting from the hip and was just happy to see any results.

As I began to learn about networking though, I began to start researching the BNI groups I would visit before I would come. I’d do this in a very simple way, though. I’d only visit groups to which I already knew someone in the group. Then I’d just ask them, “is there anyone in your group that I should keep an eye out for?”

This strategy works pretty well because any decent BNI chapter will have guests from other BNI chapters at any given week. So when I’d visit a new chapter I knew who to focus my attention on because they’d have been pre-qualified as a potential client/contact by one of their other chapter members :).

So yesterday was trying to be smarter about spending your money, today I’d like to hear what strategies that you have used to be smarter about your time.

Hit us up in the comments below ^_^.

Join the Revolution!
-Coach Kolansky

Community Day 7: How to reduce the cost of networking

I was the original person to ask this question at Coffee Tea You and Me, and I can tell you that I got an incredible answer from the Coach. For those who attend the actual event, you know that Coach Powell asks for Panera Bread gift cards if you get something out of the event. Well, needless to say, I owed him a coffee card!

The question stemmed from a situation that I saw a while back. There was a business person that I knew from all the networking events that I was attending. He was middleaged and was trying to jump from one end of the IT field to the other by starting his own business. We had been bumping into each other at networking events for upwards of 6 months when at a networking training event someone asked him to give a story about how he had gotten some business through networking. His response was “I haven’t.” And I about fell out of my chair!!

To reveal a little personal information, my networking costs average about $300-$400 a month, and I know that that is low. If I was to really push the limits I’m sure I could double that (I just don’t think I could handle all the business!) But I tend to make more than I spend when I’m out networking. In fact, a handful of jobs would put me into the black. So when I heard from this gentleman that he wasn’t making ANY money off of these events but I knew that his expenses were around the same as mine, my jaw dropped.

So, instead of asking the Coach how to make networking more effective (thats for another day), I ended up going the other direction and asked how to make networking cost less. We’ll post up the Coach’s fantastic answer next Monday, but let me give you one strategy that I know of and then I want to see your input ^_^.

I learned this strategy from Jon Graft a great networker and estate planning attorney. (Also a really funny guy who seems to keep turning up in the paper’s style invitational.) He told me about a friend of his who was a BNI member. Not all BNI chapters do this, but this guy’s BNI chapter charged for the meeting. There was a weekly charge of about $15 per member for food and the meeting space. As you might expect that can add up! (think $780 a year!) But this guy figured out an ingenious way to solve his problem with paying this cost every week. Every week he’d contact another member of his personal network and invite them to BNI, all they had to do was pay for his breakfast and he’d introduce them to 30+ business professionals who could explode his guests profits.

Sounds like a fair deal to me! And thats a NICE way to clear out several hundred dollars worth of expenses and enjoy a LOT of free breakfasts! Hehe :).

Now it is your turn, what are some ways that you can lower the cost of networking? It is an expensive sport (kinda like golf… in fact I’ve seen that networking often involves golf!) There are ways to keep your wallet from melting away to networking heaven.

Post in the comments below :).

Community Day 6: Starting with networking when you don't know anyone.

This is a fantastic topic. A year and a half ago I showed up at my current BNI group, and despite having lived in Northern Virginia for years I didn’t have ANY connection to the members of that chapter. My current network was relatively small and there was no way (at least that I knew at the time) to leverage my current network to break into this entirely new networking scenario.

So the answer to this question held a special interest to me because I have really been able to expand my networking, especially from what I have learned from sticking around Coach Powell :).

I have since gone into entirely new networks and worked hard to make myself known in those networks. But I have often been able to leverage my current network to usher that process along.

If you were suddenly without your current network, what are some strategies that you think that you might employ to get a new group of people to know you, like you, and trust you?

I know that I would work very hard to establish my competancy before anything else. That way people would be encouraged to try out my services or products and then I would have a chance to show them my character as a person. Thats what I have done with countless BNI chapters that I have visited and it has worked pretty well so far.

What are some strategies that you have used?

God Bless,
-Coach Kolansky

Where should I go to network?

So we have come to the last topic from week one of the 30 days of Coffee Tea You and Me. I’m sure that you are wondering why we are ending the week on a Tuesday (actually the final topic from week one will be posted on Thursday when the Coach answers the upcoming question), that is because the event of Coffee Tea You and Me is on a Friday. So we are moving in sync with the actual event of Coffee Tea You and Me.

Today I want to get some feedback from you guys about locations that you go to network. Much like what we discussed yesterday about groups that we can go to in order to network, there are also places which aren’t “networking events” that we can become a part of.

What are some places that you have had opportunity to network in? Hit us up in the comments below. Be sure to be on the mailing list to get Coach Powell’s answer two days from now :). And as always, practice your networking skills by sharing this discussion with your fellow colleagues!

Networking Groups

Finding the right networking groups is not always just an easy process of finding the nearest business chamber and signing up. Networking is a very complex beast which rears its presence in many different types of groups and organizations.

I know that when I got started with networking (as we briefly talked about in Friday’s community question) I didn’t really have a plan as to where I should be going to network. All I knew was that in some rough sense: networking = business. So what did I do? I “shotgunned” it and visited as many networking events as I possibly could. It was expensive and tiring to say the least! However, I have managed to slow down and target my networking a bit more (as Marvin discussed in his answer on how to differentiate an advanced networker from a novice). Now I am looking for networking groups on a fairly regular basis, but I am often looking for networking opportunities when “networking” isn’t attached to the title. “Mixers,” “Networking luncheons,” etc, don’t always prove to be great networking events for me because they are often filled with people that I’d rather buy from! I want to be in a spot where my customers are socializing. That way I’ll be more inclined to sell or make connections, than to purchase!

While we wait for the Coach to answer this question (remember that you need to be part of the mailing list in order to get the Coach’s answer to this question) what are some networking groups that you have found useful for your own networking? Post them to the comments below!

Networking with the end in mind

Networking is such a complex thought process, yet such a beautifully simple system. Today I want your input on what makes networking easier when you plan it from the end result to where you are at the beginning. This is a complex idea but it going to make the rest of your networking so much easier.

Have you ever planned a networking situation from the end result towards the beginning? Did it work when you actually executed the plan? Post your comments on this concept in the comments below! :).

How to position yourself as the go-to person within your network

Positioning yourself as the Go-To person in your network takes some doing, but it is possible. I know for a fact that all (successful) realtors do this all the time. They have to be able to break out a list of people they know for their clients on a regular basis. While we wait on the Coach’s response (which will be coming out this next Monday) why don’t you post up some things that you have done in order to become that go-to person in your network.

Also, consider sharing this topic with your realtor friends and lets find out what makes a successful realtor :). Hit us up in the comments below.

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Today’s 30 days of Coffee Tea You and Me is going to support The Alliance Theatre. They are a community theatre which builds the community through the performing arts. Think of ways to grow your networking by helping them in their efforts with the community.

Join the Revolution!!
-Coach Kolansky

What is the difference between an advanced networker and a novice

Today we are going to be talking about the difference between an advanced networker and a novice networker. Before we post up the Coach’s answer to the question we’d like to field this question to the community. What do you think separates the two? Do you believe yourself to be an advanced networker? Or do you think that you are just a novice at networking and looking to learn?

Remember, it is vital that you get on the email list for the NinetyDayPowerPlay if you intend to get the Coach’s answer to this question :).

Because Coach Powell is very community driven, every day we are going to feature a different non-profit as the “non-profit of the day”. Today we are going to feature the Centreville Community Foundation which is a local organization that supports and builds up the local community around Centreville VA. You can find out more about CCF at: http://www.centrevilleva.com/ .

Join The Revolution!
-Coach Kolansky