Networking Checklist

’Tis the season for getting out!

Went to a great event last week organized by Andrew Meringoff at the Washington DC Connections LinkedIn Group. No matter how emailed, Web 2ed, blogged and phoned we get, face to face still does a lot of my work. I’ve been thinking about what I learned at the event, tried a number of writing approaches, and as my deadline went by what came out is my Networking Checklist.

Attitude Check –Networking is helping someone - Tom Peters

Time Check – Most golf matches are won before the first tee or after the eighteenth – Bill Van Dyke. I come early and leave late.

Name Tag - Bring your own. Make it work for you.

Purpose – Why am I going? What do I want to accomplish? “20 meetings a month” is my start, add to that.

So many targets, so little time! – I want to acknowledge everyone I already know as my first order of business. After that, I concentrate on having a complete conversation with each person I meet, resulting in a recommendation or commitment to action. That is usually more than twenty people per hour, and I have helped some people, met people, and I’m tired. What more should I want?

Offer – What am I offering? I rarely start a relationship and then close a transaction at a first meeting. This is the information age. I think a public group meeting is for establishing initial interest. An interesting handout centers the discussion and enables further inquiry. Explaining a handout usually creates a line of people listening and waiting to talk with me.

Of course, I also enjoy being the featured speaker whenever I can arrange that.

Positioning – I don’t move much. Once, a new acquaintance told me she was trying to get over to meet me and I disappeared. Other people are navigating their way through the group.

What is your guidance for open meeting networking?

Building Your Social Media Platform

Social Marketing is “The Next Big Thing!”
What is it?
How do I do it?
Is it for me?
Yes, it’s working!
Yes, it’s getting great results!
Yes, you should be using it!

“Markets are conversations. Their members communicate in language that is natural, open, honest, direct, funny and often shocking. Whether explaining or complaining, joking or serious, the human voice is unmistakably genuine. It can't be faked.” The ClueTrain Manifesto.

“I get more out of your shorter posts.” Comment from Joe Tedesco.

The core of internet marketing is getting audience focus. That takes conversation.

People aren’t sold. That’s arrogant. Sales managers talk that way. People buy.

Over time, buyers develop an appreciation for what they need…for what I offer.

Different people are ready to buy at different times. I want to be present to be considered when they are ready.

I have developed a process where I touch over 67,000 people twice a week. Takes about 30 minutes. Here is how I do that. (Click graphic to expand)



I started with Gmail on a Firefox Browser. That gives me access to Google Reader, where 50 bloggers share their posts. (You can see my blog roll at Through The Browser.)

Next I got on LinkedIn. Why? Someone asked. I had no idea how I would use it. We have grown together so it is my main outbound channel. The good news about LinkedIn is it has a community of 60 million. The bad news is I have to be linked to communicate with someone.

Twitter is a recent port from LinkedIn.

When I sold my software company, I knew I wanted another blog, so I built Through The Browser on Blogger.

“Dick, that was the greatest post about the internet on your blog! Can I steal it?” (High praise!) It's good to steal as long as you acknowledge where something is stolen from.

Finally Steve Dorfman wanted me to use “DickDavies.com” email, so I built a Google Apps Standard Edition Website over a weekend. That story is on my blog.

Your comments at http://throughthebrowser.blogspot.com/2009/11/building-your-social-media-platform-for.html will give future readers a better idea of how to build their social media platform.

Please comment. Thank you!

Presented by the:
Leadership Breakfast of Maryland
December 4, 2009
7:30 - 8:30 am

Sponsored by:
Paradigm Mortgage Services
Bill Van Dyke, Proprietor

Get The Right Start

Why do some projects win and some projects fail?

I have seen back-to-back projects with a great team, in the same area, get opposite results. Several times. I was involved.

I never noticed anyone working less hard, or the window of opportunity changing, or even bad luck.
What I noticed was that in each case, the initial solution idea was either right or wrong.

A wrong idea makes success much, much harder. The principle reason to keep playing with a wrong idea is to try to stumble upon a right idea. If you didn’t get it the first time why would you get it the second time?

I think there is a process to increase your chances of getting the right start.

First of all, there is a concept of work. When I was an industrial plumber I was told to show up with work shoes, a belt, a pocket notebook, a pencil and a knife to sharpen the pencil. I was amazed how many guys couldn’t do that for a week. I favor the classic Architecture, Design, Execution, Evaluation process unless someone is really attached to some other model.

Then there is a way of thinking. Merlin Mann says, “Innovation is starting where the last guy stopped.” I am a big proponent of finding and using contiguous processes that we have used before. I haven’t ever seen a new theory successfully applied by teams the first time they use it.

Frame the problem differently. Very often when a customer has a problem he can’t solve, the problem is not stupid customer syndrome, it is we are defining the problem in an unsolvable way. Taking the time to define the problem differently often means you can get the desired result without inventing anti-gravity. And not having to rent that anti-gravity box saves a lot of money.

My friend Bill Van Dyke says, “Most golf games are won before the first tee.” Unfortunately too many golfers arrive late and hung over and lose right there.

Do you spend enough time getting the right start?

Comments?