The first NetworkInAustin Gives project is here! We will be partnering with The Capital Area Food Bank for the next month. Between now and the end of February we will be running a Virtual Food Drive online, culminating in 2 days worth of volunteer opportunities at the Food Bank.
Hopefully you'll begin to hear about this effort from numerous sources, and help us spread the word.
The real kick-off of this project will follow the NetStorming event on Monday, February 9th. That event runs from 4:00 - 5:30pm at the Norris Conference Center. Starting at 6:15pm David Davenport, the CEO of CAFB, will give a short presentation. You'll learn a about the Food Bank and how it works, the various ways to get involved in this initiative and the impact your involvement can have on our local community. [David's presentation is open to ALL regardless of whether or not you are attending the NetStorming event prior]
The Virtual Food Drive is up and running NOW! We hope you'll consider making a contribution directly to the Food Bank and asking your friends, family and co-workers to consider doing the same. Give as much or as little as you feel comfortable with. What's most important is your participation, and every contribution matters.
During David's presentation you can also learn about how to setup your own food drive in your office if you'd prefer to get involved that way.
Finally the part I'm most excited about is the chance for us to volunteer and work together at the Food Bank on Thursday, February 26th and Friday, February 27th. There will be 4 different shifts available:
Thursday, February 26: 6-9pm
Friday, February 27: 7:30-9:30am
Friday, February 27: 9:00-12:00
Friday, February 27: 1:00-4:00pm
Space is limited, so please let us know which shift(s) you're interested in. For now you can just leave a comment on this blog post.
Thank you in advance for your willingness to participate and all of your hard work for this important organization.
You may have noticed that a big part of what we're trying to accomplish with the NetworkInAustin events is more productive networking. Not just talking and writing about it, but demonstrating it in an experiential way. If you're like me you learn a lot better by doing or experiencing something rather than reading about it or being told about it. Which brings us to the next step in highly productive and meaningful networking.
I've written and talked before about the idea of Passionate Involvement. In my experience this form of networking is by far the most powerful and creates the best outcomes for you and your community. This is such an important concept we wanted to create ways for you to experience these benefits in a low-risk way that will also have a tremendous impact on local organizations here in Austin.
Enter "NetworkInAustin Gives." The idea behind this initiative is to partner with a different local non-profit organization each quarter and offer a couple of ways we can get involved together. With each of these quarterly programs there will be a volunteering component and a fundraising component where you can get involved with one or both aspects. We'll be partner with a variety of organizations in an effort to broaden your horizons and understanding of the many different causes who want and need your help here in Austin.
Our hope is that these programs reach beyond just the NetworkInAustin membership. Networking is not just something that happens when you're out at events or in a professional setting. All of your relationships are important: Family, friends, co-workers, church, neighbors, etc. We hope that you'll use these projects as a tool to help strengthen all of your relationships. We'll be working to keep these opportunities broad enough that you can get many people involved. Demonstrate your leadership and value to your organization by raising money for one of the causes, or bring together a group of your close friends to volunteer.
In the end we hope to strengthen our own community and the broader Austin community through giving. Please join us in NetworkInAustin Gives!
For years resisted the idea of NetworkInAustin.com hosting events. I originally started the site to help people find appropriate networking events for themselves and we've built a huge calendar of business networking events in and around Austin, Texas. I always thought there were already too many things going on, why would we want to create another.
After 3 years of hearing "when is your next event," and "how can I meet your members." I finally decided to listen. We started working on this several months ago. I reached out to members, newsletter subscribers and those who'd joined our LinkedIn Group and asked how we could create the most productive networking events in Austin.
I honestly think we've found the answer! What started with those initial comments turned into dozens of conversations that have lead to a format that you should be incredibly excited about.
My first issue was speakers. I frequently make fun of myself when I speak to organizations. I'll ask how many people attended event with one of their primary motivations being "networking." Typically 70%-90% will raise their hand. The problem is that they probably had 10-15 minutes to network before the event started. Then they're expected to sit down, shut-up and listen to me while eating some form of rubber chicken for 40 minutes to an hour. How is anybody doing any networking? Then the event ends and most run off to re-engage their incredibly busy lives.
Our answer is to still have speakers, but to have those speakers present an executive overview of their topic in 20 minutes. Light on details, but heavy on concepts. Then for those people who want to learn more about that topic we'll be offering a 1 hour teleseminar with the speaker(s) the following week. This will be free to members and those who attended the event. It should also give people a chance to think of really good real world questions for the speakers, and have a chance to try out some of their suggestions before the teleseminar.
Timing was also a big concern. All of the traditional networking event times seem to have issues. Austin is NOT a morning town. Making breakfast a challenge which is compounded by traffic and those who have to get kids to school etc. Lunch meetings seem to be hard as they cause you to cut your morning short and most want to bolt back to work as soon as the events is over. Then there are mixers. One person told me that if there was another mixer in Austin they might lose their liver. Not to mention those of us with families can have a tough time making too many of these.
The solution? Tea Time Events! Our initial events will be held the second Monday of each month from 4pm - 5:30pm. Most people aren't super productive at 4pm anyway, so you're not losing much by leaving a few minutes early. Then if you have a family or another event to get to afterwords we'll be done early enough that this shouldn't be an issue.
Finally I'm most excited about the format that we've created for the last hour of the event once the speaker is finished. It's a concept called NetStorming. I'll write a whole blog post about this, and those who register for the event will receive a special NetStorming primer to take full advantage of this format. In essence this is a model that teaches REAL networking by doing it, real time. A combination of Networking and Brainstorming I've found that it's nearly impossible not to get value from this structure. It forces people to focus on giving to each other, which also means they'll be focused on giving to YOU. It also provides a level of accountability when it comes to follow-up which is the biggest area where would be networkers fail.
If you thought you knew what networking was before I hope you'll attend these events and experience what it's really about.
The most excited part of the new NetworkInAustin.com monthly meetings is the NetStorming format that we've spent the last couple of months refining.
Most networking events don't provide a structure for truly productive networking to occur. Most just throw a bunch of people in a room together, perhaps they apply some alcohol and then hope for a successful networking experience. Others give everyone an opportunity to stand and give an elevator pitch. That's not networking. That's advertising to each other. Not exactly productive.
I think many people become frustrated with networking or find that it isn't productive and doesn't produce the results they were looking for. That's because they're not really networking. They might be going to networking events, but they're not getting enough opportunities to really network.
NetStorming fixes all of this. You'll have an opportunity to provide value, get value, demonstrate your unique expertise and begin building real profitable relationships.
This is about experiencing what networking really is. Not talking about good networking, or learning about it from a speaker. No, we're talking about experiencing productive networking in real-time.
In a nutshell you'll be seated at a table with 7 others. Each person will have 5 minutes to do whatever they like with the group. Those who don't know better will probably pitch for 5 minutes. The good news for you if there's someone like this at your table is that you only have to put up with them for 5 minutes. The real networkers will provide 30 seconds to a minute of background and context and will ask for very specific advice or specific introductions from the others at the table. All of this advice and follow-up items will be captured and e-mailed back to the group to provide a level of accountability for the follow-up items that were committed to. Plus you don't have to stress about taking a bunch of notes and can remain fully engaged.
I'm not going to explain every nuance of the format here. Those who register for our events will receive a NetStorming primer prior to the event where you'll learn more about how the format works and how to get the most out of it for yourself.
The results from my initial tests of this format were phenomenal! I tried NetStorming with a small group that's been getting together consistently for the last 3 years. This is a very productive group based on real revenue results from our relationships. After just one demo we agreed that this was the single most productive meeting we'd had together. As in the best of over 150 meetings!
Come join us and experience for yourself what NetStorming is all about.
Recently I asked my network through LinkedIn: "What are the visible attributes of a 'Nasty Networker?'"
Over 30 people responded through LinkedIn (others replied via e-mail, but I've not included their responses in this post). I encourage you to read the complete question and all of the answers here.
A big thank you to everyone who contributed to this list. You were all incredibly helpful! I've boiled the answers down into some common categories ranked by the frequency of their appearance
Signs of a Nasty Networker
Selfish. Not interested in helping others.
Doesn't ask questions. Talks too much.
Bashes or otherwise acts inappropriately towards competitors.
Uses high pressure and other bad sales techniques.
Abuses contact information. Sends spam and other unwanted communication.
Ignores business card etiquette.
Social climber. Always looking for somebody better to talk to.
Not open.
Naive and needs education (about proper networking).
More interested in the quantity of connections, not their quality.
Disrespectful.
In the end I think that "Nasty Networking" is driven primarily by either naivete or desperation. I saw a quote recently that suggested that the selfish type of taker networking is not networking at all, but rather Needworking. My hope is that by sharing this list we can help the naive/needworkers get onto the path of true networking.
As we prepare to launch the first NetworkInAustin.com events it also my intention to not allow any "Nasty Networkers" to attend. Hopefully the education provided in this post will dissuade anyone from taking these approaches so that we're not forced to ask people not to return.
Here are many of the consolidated responses to my question grouped by the categories listed above.
Selfish. Not interested in helping others
"Doesn't try to help at all"
"Selfish and self-interested"
"In short, a 'Nasty Networker' is self centered and disinterested"
"Uses every opportunity to speak (including thank you's and announcements time) to give a sales pitch for themselves"
"refers less than is referred to him/her (it is ALWAYS better to give than it is to receive)"
"Someone who immediately asks 'who does your ....' (phone, insurance, payroll, office supplies...) instead of saying 'who are YOU?' and getting to know you."
"100% self-focused -- demonstrations may include: usurping your time while at an event asking for "free" business advice; never offering anything in exchange"
"Rude, disrespectful, fast-talking, is not interested in a mutually beneficial relationship, totally dis-interested in you or your needs."
"My main beef regarding a nasty networker is one with the belief that it's all about them"
Doesn't ask questions. Talks too much
"Doesn't ask questions"
"Talk don't listen"
"Talking not listening"
"A 'Nasty Networker' keeps their own interests secret, they listen, and want to 'know', to own, and control."
"talks more than listens"
"Poor listeners."
"Vomitous from the mouth"
Bashes or otherwise acts inappropriately towards competitors
"Steals from competitors"
"Bashing or being condescending towards competing companies or products"
"Talks down about their competition"
"Some of the most memorable "nasty" networkers that I've come across made an (unfavorable) impression because they were publicly trashing a competitor"
"A nasty networker is somebody that comes to an event sponsored by another company and stands next to the host the whole night scarfing their contacts."
Uses high pressure and other bad sales techniques
"They launch into their sales pitch as part of introducing themselves."
"Asks for a one-on-one meeting to get to know you, gives you a sales presentation."
"Asks for a meeting because he/she is interested in YOUR business, gives you a sales presentation."
"if there is no relationship there, I'll go to the internet before I'd go to a pushy salesperson!"
"people will ask you questions about your business at a networking function in a way that seems geared specifically to put you on the defensive--these sort of questions are perfectly appropriate at a pitch meeting or the presentation of a proposal, but I'm not sure a networking event is necessarily the best venue" Abuses contact information. Sends spam and other unwanted communication
"Uses the majority of all communications (personal interactions, e-mail, blog, twitter etc.) to try to sell you something"
"I've had a couple of nasty networkers that asked for my information and promptly signed me up for their weekly newsletters (or worse, their promotional pieces!) without even the 'great to meet you' email followup to our initial meeting."
"I find especially annoying those who add you to a distribution list without asking"
"Follows up with email/call that is all about the"
Ignores business card etiquette
"They give you extras of their business cards so you can pass it on to someone who might need their services ... the first time you meet them!"
"Grabbing everyone's cards and then leaving early"
"Networks like a bull in a China shop - runs up to everyone with the intro/handshake/business card routine - never listens or asks about anyone else"
"Only interested in collecting business cards"
Social climber. Always looking for somebody better to talk to
"The person who scans the room looking for for new targets while trying to engage you in some sort of dialogue."
"The 'look past you' networkers just nodding until they can talk to someone else."
"Lack of eye contact. If a person isn't focused on you, they are 'elsewhere'. They are probably looking for better alternatives vs. talking to you."
Not open
"They talk only to people they know at networking events."
"those who aren't willing to invite new people into their ongoing conversations."
"Talk to only people that they know."
Naive - Needs Education
"I trust that all of these attributes will either be retooled by the novice as they mature and learn ethics or they will be weeded out."
"I think most people who are bad networkers are just ignorant and uneducated. I've only met one person in 5 1/2 years at the Chamber who was deliberately hateful."
"I guess the 'Nasty Networker' walks the line of desperation. 'I have to make my numbers now so I am going to impose myself on each and every prospect I run across.'"
Quantity vs. Quality
- is out for quantity versus quality
Quantity verses quality
Disrespectful
I also think networking gets a bad rap from people who are condescending
Many people have been asking me how they can become the featured member in NetworkInAustin.com's Weekly Referral Newsletter (not yet a subscriber? Subscribe here).
The answer is really quite simple. The first step is that you must be a member of NetworkInAustin.com. That's easy enough: Click Here to Join! and right now it's only $4.99/mo or $49.99/yr.
The second step is not much more difficult. You must find a way to add value to the NIA community. That can be done in any number of ways using your own unique talents and skills. Of course you'll also need to let me know what you're up to so I can recognize you.
Right now I'm working hardest to grow the newsletter subscriber base (currently 2,000+), membership in our LinkedIn group, and of course new members.
This week's featured member, Thom Singer, is a perfect example of how to do this.
Here's what he did for me after my mentioning these needs to him less than two weeks ago. I also told him that I was looking to grow my number of followers on Twitter. At the time I had just 79 followers, now thanks primarily to Thom's efforts I have over 120.
thomsinger: hey..lets help @scottingram get over 100 followers. He is at 79. He is a local austin person who is cool and has intersting things to say
This is also a pretty good example of my asking specifically for what I needed in the meeting Thom and I were in. (see my previous post)
Obviously Thom showed some serious persistance and dedication to my cause even offering a free copy of his book to my 100th follower. His efforts didn't stop there either. He also wrote a very nice promotional piece for me on his widely read networking blog: NetworkInAustin on Thom's Some Assembly Required Blog
What assets do you have that you can leverage to help grow and improve the NetworkInAustin.com community? I'd love to make YOU the next featured member.
I was hoping to post all of this in the discussion section of the new NetworkInAustin.com group on LinkedIn. Unfortunately I discovered the hard way that there is a 2000 character limit. I’ve moved the content to my blog, but would like everyone with an interest in this topic to post their comments to the discussion on LinkedIn. All are welcome to join the NetworkInAustin.com group on LinkedIn.
First let me say thank you for joining the NetworkInAustin.com group here on LinkedIn. I'm very hopeful that this will be a good venue for us to share meaningful thoughts and ideas.
The most common question I'm asked about NetworkInAustin.com is "When are your events." My answer has always been that we don't have events. NIA was designed to be the hub of networking in Austin and I thought that if anything there might already be too many events and the last thing we need to do is create another vent. People just need help finding the events that are most appropriate for them. Apparently I’ve been wrong for a long time...
Recently the demand for events for NIA members has been just overwhelming and I think it's time to give in. Based on all of the feedback it seems that people need to have some type of physical relationship with NIA outside of just the website.
That being the case I want to know how to make these events wildly productive and valuable. Something that you'll look forward to attending and want to bring all of your friends to because of how useful it is for you.
The feedback I'm looking for is your ideas on how to make this happen. First let me share my own thinking that you can either agree with or shoot holes in and provide your own suggestions. I'm open to it all because these events are really going to be about you, not me.
First I'm thinking of doing a monthly event, and based on the feedback I have heard a breakfast meeting would be most appropriate (One person told me that their liver couldn't handle another happy hour!)
I don't want these events to duplicate anything else that's out there. Otherwise what would be the point?
I hope that most NIA members are on an ongoing quest to become better networkers. So why not have a networking breakfast focused on the who, what, when, where and why of better networking?
Of course we need to have facilitated networking opportunities, but I also think that we can learn about the various facets of networking from the multitude of local experts we have right here in Austin.
What about a 50/50 model for these events? Half of the time will be devoted to some type of facilitated networking. The other half will be a speaker or panel discussing some facet of building a truly powerful professional network.
Here are some of my ideas for topics. In your feedback please let us know which you’re most interested in, least interested in, and feel free to suggest your own topic ideas for areas you and others would be interested in learning more about:
Networking – the basics
Advanced Networking – best practices
Personal Branding
Social Media
LinkedIn/Facebook/Twitter
Leadership Development (someone suggested a “taste” of Leadership Austin)
Selling for the Networker
Marketing to support Networking
Public Relations/Working with the Media
It’s also been suggested that we do some level of segmentation in the facilitated networking sessions. Grouping B2B and B2C or doing small group pairings based on probable synergies or other common interests, etc.
That’s it for my own brain dump. What are YOUR thoughts???
I am really excited to tell you that on December 2, 2008 a truly impressive event will be coming to Austin. Zig Ziglar, General Colin Powell, Rudy Giuliani, Suze Orman, Tom Hopkins, Dr. Robert Schuller and more will all be coming to Austin to speak live and in person.
This event will be at the Austin Convention Center from 8:00am to 4:45pm.
Dr. Robert Schuller
America's Best Inspirational Speaker
Zig Ziglar
America's #1 Motivator
Suze Orman
America's #1 Personal Finance Expert
General Colin Powell
Legendary Soldier-Statesman
Rick Belluzzo
Legendary President of Microsoft
Tamara Lowe
Motivational Expert and Author of Get Motivated!
Tom Hopkins
America's #1 Authority on Selling
Here's the best part. Members of NetworkInAustin.com who wish to attend will receive 2 free tickets!
Somehow it gets better. Those who attend will also receive Zig Ziglar's 5 Keys to Igniting Motivation & Success DVD and CD Set, plus one year of Best-Selling Book Summaries via e-mail (an additional $495 value).
If you're already a member you'll receive the Member's Only e-mail with instructions for claiming your tickets.
I'm sure most of you have noticed that NetworkInAustin.com is not what it once was when we launched this site in early 2005. This is about to change. Stay tuned, especially around our target date of 9/1/2008.
When I originally launched NIA in April of 2005 it had nearly 100% of my attention. At roughly the same time my first daughter was conceived. Fast forward 8 months to a conversation I had with my wife. We were both running start-up businesses. They were both profitable, but not nearly profitable enough to support our growing family. Since then NIA has been on the back burner and not received very much of my attention.
I'm a little upset with myself that it's taken this long, but thanks to a great conversation with one of my business coaches, Stan Tyler, he made the solution sound all too easy. Since that conversation and another referral Stan provided we're roughly 30 days away from a complete relaunch.
There were some major flaws in my original business model (primarily in the pricing). We've found a simple solution for some of these gaps and I know you're going to be pleased.
A long requested feature is now available as part of your NetworkInAustin.com membership. You now have the ability to select multiple business categories to describe your business. This will also improve your changes of being found in our directory.
To select you categories:
1) Login to your account 2) Click "Pages of Content" 3) Click the "info" button 4) Here you will find a list of available Austin Business Categories 5) Select away! 6) Click "save"
Don't forget that the more content you add to your profile the higher your listing position in the Austin Business Directory. So while you're there you might want to consider adding a picture, additional pages, or think about starting that blog to be listed at the very top of the directory.
Wanting to take full advantage of your NetworkInAustin.com account? These new video tutorials will show you step by step how to update and add information to your profile.
If you haven't already been by to check it out NetworkInAustin.com has a Networking Resources area. Here you'll find articles, links to member blogs, a book list and the Weekly Referral Newsletter archive.
Members are encouraged to write articles about networking that would be useful to other networkers. I just received a great one today from Ragen Chastain. Ragen owns a business organization and outsourced administrative assistance company called Total Administrative Solutions. She has built a very successful company almost exclusively through networking.
P.S. If you're a member of NetworkInAustin.com and would like to write an article about the lessons you've learned through networking please e-mail me.
NetworkInAustin.com was publicly launched on May 2nd, 2005. Today marks our first anniversary.
Wow what a year it’s been. I’d like to thank all of members who make NetworkInAustin.com possible. Without you this site would not be what it is today, and this is just the beginning. There is no way I can possibly thank you enough, but I’m going to try. All premium members will receive a special e-mail this morning with a small token of my appreciation. Hopefully you can take advantage of that offer and join me on May 16th.
Special thanks to all of those who’ve added more value than just their membership here on NetworkInAustin.com. I have a lot to be grateful for because there are just too many of you to list everyone and their contributions here. As always I’ve tried to provide you with more value than you’ve provided me. I hope I’m succeeding in that effort.
I’m most excited about the future. The first year has been amazing and I expect every year to be even better. It’s hard for me to image how exciting our 5th and 10th anniversaries are going to be. I hope you’ll all be here to share those with me.
In the end NetworkInAustin.com is about you the networker and the Austin community. Here’s to a bright future of growing together.
For those of you who came out to support me at BiG Austin's Big Idea Awards ceremony last week... Thank you! It was a tremendous event.
For those of you who are members of NetworkInAustin.com... Thank you!!! This award and NetworkInAustin.com would not be possible without you. Thanks for your ongoing support and referrals. You're the reason I constantly work to make NetworkInAustin bigger, better and more valuable for everyone.
Testimonials are a lot like gifts. They're a lot of fun to give, and they're also pretty exciting to receive. Especially when you're not expecting them. In fact, the best testimonails are those unsolicited testimonials that a client surprises you with.
I'm particularly proud of one I received very recently from my friend Stan Tyler of Champions Edge (Thanks for prompting this post Stan!):
"I agree or suspect you are on to something re b2b, but what I think is more apparent is what really is obvious from the viral-ness is your ability to network is based on your good strong relationships with many people, from that foundation we/they will take your idea and 1) read it, 2) trust you to bring quality, and then as a result 3) share it with my/their networks.
I was telling someone earlier today on a call that I now have an absolute knowing that my number one business development tool is being interested in others and by being interested in them I can then provide value. The second cut of that is “providing value” often is being the connection for people to someone who will do great work for my friends/network (period)
I have known this but it has really come home in a stronger way by being around you...
Thanks for how you serve me."
Giving a testimonial is one of the best ways to show your appreciation for someone you've done business with who's done a great job for you. It ranks right up there with giving a referral. Sometimes a well written testimonial is better than a referral. If your testimonial helps someone establish a higher level of credibility and is something they can use on their website, brochures, mailings, etc. It can be of immeasureable value.
Here's my personal challenge to you. Write a testimonial for someone who's not expecting it TODAY. Pick that one person who is always going above and beyond the call of duty in their service to you.
For a couple more great testimonal examples read the enorsements on my: LInkedIn Profile
P.S. Stan deserves his own testimonial as well. If it weren't for Stan you might not be reading this blog right now. Stan helped me take NetworkInAustin.com from a vague idea to a profitable business in roughly 45 days! Stan is an incredible business coach who I can't recommend highly enough. If you're wanting to make 2006 your best year ever you'll want to call Stan right now. Thank you Stan for how you serve me.
2006 Austin Networking and Business Events Calendar
We're continuing to build the networking and business events calendar on NetworkInAustin.com and I need your help.
In 2005 from April to December we had over 4,000 events listed. My feeling is that this is maybe 25% of what's really out there in our community. It's my personal goal to make sure that the free calendar that you find here on NetworkInAustin.com be as complete as possible.
NetworkInAustin.com covers the Greater Austin Texas area from Georgetown to San Marcos and all parts in between. We list ALL networking events, and most business events.
If you are involved with events or know about events that are not listed we'd like to know about them. We're in the process of developing an event submission form. In the mean time please e-mail the following details to events@networkinaustin.com:
Event Name Date of the event Start and finish time Event frequency (weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, varies, one time, etc.) Cost Organization Location name Location address Contact name Contact phone number Contact e-mail Website address
Also, we're happy to include a description of the event. These descriptions may be edited.
Thanks for your help in making NetworkInAustin.com one of the best business resources available in Austin, Texas
I'm really excited to announce that we've added the approved "Video Business Cards" to several of our member's profiles.
At the last NetworkInAustin.com member orientation Andy Choquette of Leverage Communications filmed these quick and dirty "Video Business Cards" of the Premium Members who were in attendance that day.
I think you'll agree that these videos add a whole lot more personality then just a picture and some text. Watch them all!
