new england b2b

When someone takes the time to comment on my videos I try my best to send them a message thanking them and asking if there is anything I can do to help them.  Last week I thanked a woman from New York City and when I asked her how I could help, she said she needed help finding a job. Now it would have been super easy to say ‘I am sorry but I don’t know anyone in New York City’. Instead I said lets schedule a call to see what we can do. During the call she told me that she is starting a business to help people impacted by cancer. She told me her story about being a survivor. We spent the next thirty minutes brain storming about her idea.

I had today off. I went on a day trip with my Wife and Mother-in-Law and had some fun. In the past, I never would have thought of taking days off, because like most people, I listened to the gurus. They tell us that we have to hustle and grind and work all the time to be successful. I have learned the hard way that there is a time to work hard, but you need to find balance in your life and make time for family and friends. We let relationships slip because we think there will be time later to have fun, once we are successful and reach our goals. But sadly that is not always true. There was a point in my life when I did work seven days a week because I thought I needed to.

I have been working on some new ideas for networking events, such as Speed Networking. I am amazed by how many people tell me “nobody wants to attend speed networking events, it is a horrible idea”. What I have found is, if someone does not like my idea, they will expand their opinion from they do not want to attend to nobody wants to attend.  Well, the first two speed networking events have sold out. So far, so good.

Kevin Willett reminds you not to skip the initial phases of building your business relationships.

If a stranger walked up to you and asked you to marry them, I am guessing that you would say no, simply because you do not know anything about them, they are a stranger. Most people would not walk up to a stranger and ask them to get married.

Asking for referrals is something that I am horrible with. I rarely ever ask anyone to refer me. Often people will attend events and tell me how much they enjoyed the event and the format. Now, I know I should say thank you and ask them to tell their friends about me, but I usually just smile and say thank you for the kind words. I am just too cautious and I do not want to make people feel uncomfortable.

If you simply say ‘if you like the service I provided, can you please tell your friends?’ this is keeping things super casual and most people will tell you that of course they will spread the word.

Many people don’t like to network because they’re just not comfortable with small talk. We’ve all had those painful conversations where we exchange one-word answers. When I’m talking with someone, I always try to find at least one question that will make the person smile and open up to me.

I had two really cool experiences at the University this week. As part of a class I teach, my students have to develop a business as part of a group, and then pitch the business idea to the class. I have a student in one of my groups that really hasn’t said much in class. When I asked his group members who would be pitching, he said he would be, which made me smile. The group he was in has some upper classman in it and it would have been super easy for him to let one of the other students pitch the idea. I honestly did not know what to expect from him and was a little nervous for him. Of course his pitch was awesome and he did an amazing job. I could not have been more proud of him.

I am really proud of my friend Bob. This past weekend he did his first video upload to LinkedIn.  I have been encouraging Bob to do videos for a while now, but it is way out of his comfort zone. In my opinion, Bob is an excellent writer and does a great job offering career advice on his blog.  However, many people will never take the time to read a blog post. That is why I am a big fan of combining blogging and videos to promote your business.

Last week my friend asked me to speak to her class at the local community college. While I was there I met a student who is trying to become an apprentice in the one of the local unions. In the small world of things, I happen to know someone in that union. So I called this person and asked him if he could help the student out, and he did.

I have a friend who reaches out to me from time to time for help. The last time I helped her she said “someday I am going to pay you back.” This statement made me laugh because I never expect anyone to pay me back. I help her because I think she is a good person.

I see this happen with networking all the time. People try to keep score and they expect to receive a referral back every time they pass one. If you are doing this please stop.