Networking Nuggets

By Andrea R. Nierenberg

Networking Nuggets will help you connect with great people you need to know and reconnect with awesome people you already know.

Turn the art of Networking and Relationship building into something you look forward to and enjoy:

• Build on the strengths you already have

• Find 10 extra minutes a day to network and nurture relationships

• Connect and learn from 10 types of people

• Give first-- the true key to networking

• Let people remember you with a powerful headline in 20 seconds or less

• Listen with your ears, ask high gain questions and show you care and are authentic

• Learn 3 powerful ways to remember names

• Do the simple follow up that makes you unforgettable

• Create high-value connections between your contacts

• Set goals, keep track and learn everyday

• Become the 'go to ' person of your network

• See how Networking is truly a leadership skill

These everyday tips are compiled into one quick, friendly and easy book. You can start on any page and implement an action step.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Andrea Nierenberg
• Release date: Jun 26, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386804222

Book preview

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Table Of Contents

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1: Networking Is a Mindset

Chapter 2: Positioning Yourself—Your Brand YOU

Chapter 3: Creating Connections

Chapter 4: Building Relationships

Chapter 5: Where to Network––EVERYWHERE

Chapter 6: Networking Etiquette

Chapter 7: Leading the Way

APPENDIX

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Networking Nuggets: Simple Advice for Every Day

Copyright © 2016 by Andrea R. Nierenberg. All rights reserved.

Second Edition: 2017

Cover and Formatting: Streetlight Graphics

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Preface

How to Use this Book

Networking is a positive word. Over the years I have seen that many successful people agree that networking is a vital tool for building long term relationships.

My hope is that ‘Networking Nuggets’ will give you a refresher course and encourage you to implement ways daily for connecting and reconnecting with people in your life. Or it will give you lots of new ideas and suggestions to put into action. There is a wealth of knowledge about the art of networking and relationship marketing in quick sound bites for easy reading and easy practicing.

This book is a simple read and a selection of my top tips organized into chapters that represent logical steps for building a powerful network. You don’t need to start at the beginning. For example, if you already feel very confident about your business and life networking skills and want to use this book to meet some new friends you can leap ahead to start with Chapter 4.

Throughout the book, I have added stories from successful friends and colleagues, who I have also learned a lot about networking. For example, my good friend Lois shares this life example, I was on a Jet Blue flight and the woman sitting next to me seemed nervous. She was reading from a small book, and I figured she was praying. The ride was turbulent and I asked if she was okay. She told me about her fear of flying, then about her children (she had eleven of them) and soon she forgot about the rough flight. When we left the plane we exchanged phone numbers and we became friends. Many times when we’re together she tells the story of how I saved her and she’s saved me several times since then.

Was this networking? Absolutely, sometimes just extending your ear, getting into conversation anywhere or anytime and making a connection.

I recommend taking on one tip at a time. Too often when we try to do too much, nothing happens. We get frustrated and don’t accomplish anything. Look at the tip that calls out to you, and put it into practice with a true commitment. We live in an A.D.D. (Attention Deficit Disorder) culture and my hope is that for you the awareness of true networking becomes almost like oxygen—24/7 with consistency.

.Another friend, Daniel always says: You don’t get it until you do it. He started his networking adventure by being present at everything––from industry events to in-house management meetings. As he met people and reached out to them, he realized, I have to be the one to take the initiative and start the process.

I always say that it takes time to develop and see the results of your efforts. Yet in this book, knowing your time constraints, I have digested and synthezied all of the tips and technigues into bite size ‘nuggets’.

Pick any page, read a tip and put it into action. In fact, if you are traveling you can read something in Los Angeles and put it into action by the time you land in Chicago. The key is implementation.

While everyone needs to network at their own pace, I have three main recommendations:

1.  Create your own order. When someone asks me where to start, I say, Anywhere. The point is to just do it the way you work best––which is the only way it will work for you. Pick any tip or topic and concentrate on that one. One of my clients told me that she randomly opens a page in one of my other books and just reads that page. Somehow I find the technique to implement something I am working on, she says. If this is the kind of inspiration you need, pick one chapter and dive in. There is no order; you create your own order as you go along.

2.  Know where you are and where you are going. Set goals for how you want to work with new friends and business acquaintances to build a business and/or personal network.

3.  Get into the habit of active networking. Once you’ve learned the basics, you will feel more comfortable. You will enjoy meeting people and giving to them as much as they may give to you. Your network is your community, and you are an integral part of it. Here is an interesting thought: you are already networking in some fashion, as I believe it is a state of mind awareness in creating all sorts of connections and nurturing the ones you already have. Every tip in this book is timeless. Even as technology continues to change and advance, the basic principles hold true. Human nature has always been the same, and networking involves people skills that have been proven over the centuries.

In this book, I give you the insights into people, and then it’s up to you to implement these skills into your life. Technology allows efficiency and frequency of our communications to move at lightning speed. Yet it is still the basic interpersonal, in-person techniques that are most effective; and using these skills constantly and consistently is what makes them work.

Introduction

Networking is about giving first.

Think of the amazing power you’ll gain from following the advice from this quote. You will always feel better about yourself and you might make someone else feel better also. This can do a lot, not only for your business, but also for your life. It goes with my other favorite saying that my father taught me: Give without remembering and receive without forgetting.

Start right now by thinking of someone to whom you can reach out and help with a business lead or reference or a simple kindness or sincere compliment. Make sure that whenever you receive anything, no matter how small, you immediately reach back and thank the other person by note, call, e-mail, text or gift or maybe a combination of them.

I was recently talking with Joel, a friend and former boss, who said: We know when we are coming into the world; we just don’t know when we are leaving. That is why it is a good idea to be kind to each person you meet.

Or, as my wonderful dad said every day while he was on earth and still says to me as he looks down from heaven, Give everyone you meet a smile and a handshake.

In going through his things after he passed, my Mom and I came across this list of life lessons that he had written down and always kept in his wallet.

•  Listen with your inner ear. Hear what is said with the heart, rather than what is said with words.

•  Listen to the concerns of others.

•  Know when it is important to just listen.

•  Communication is hard work.

•  Hone your skills.

•  State your thoughts clearly and briefly.

•  Remember to smile, not scowl.

•  Above all, be reasonable and understanding.

•  Be friendly and enthusiastic.

•  Have a sense of humor.

•  Be human.

•  Laugh and grin.

If you had known him, you would recognize that he lived these every day, not only in his medical practice but also in his life with whomever he came in contact with.

The thought also expressed by Mother Theresa that Kind words can be short and easy to speak and their echoes are truly endless resonates with me. How can kindness translate into business?

Remember, whether you are aware of it or not, no matter what your responsibilities are in the organization, you are in one way or another in sales and you will be more successful when you try to communicate your ideas as if you treat everyone like your best customer. Here are some ways to do that:

1.  Learn where you fit in your organization. Even if you don’t serve customers directly become familiar with skills that create friendly, professional, dependable service.

2.  Answering and responding to all requests quickly to shows others you are dependable. Technology makes this easy.

3.  Create a definition of quality service that has meaning for you.

4.  Learn to adapt basic customer service skills to the way you treat the ‘customer’ who works alongside you-your co-worker

5.  Go the extra mile to help and take the High road. There is less traffic there.

6.  Courtesy is always and will always be in style.

7.  Always be prepared.

I hope this book will encourage you to take the time to reflect and get inspired about yourself. Look back on your past successes and create your new vision for the future.

Empowerment is very attainable for each of us as it is the feeling of ownership.

Remember Tom Watson, Sr., the former chairman of IBM, who knew how to inspire all 67,000 of his employees and this was before the instant technology we often take for granted today.

He carried index cards with him at all times upon which he wrote pertinent things about the people he met, their family, interests, etc., so he could always remember something personal and friendly to say to them. His kindness to his employees helped build IBM.

Chapter 1:

Networking Is a Mindset

When you stand in the checkout line at the grocery, you probably do like I do and take a quick peek at whatever celebrity story the tabloids are trying to spin, avoid looking at the candy bars seductively sitting on the opposite shelves, and maybe you have casual conversations with the checkout clerk or other people in line. "How do