by Wendy Kinney Return On Investment is an important question for every business expense, and networking is one of the most important marketing expenses we have. How do we know if we’re using networking dollars and time to our best advantage? Fortunately, it’s possible to keep score. At an open networking event, (like a business…
How to be an Ambassador
by Wendy Kinney Ambassadors, the best networkers, know that business events are the place for meeting people-the very people who could be new clients and great GateOpeners. Give yourself Ambassador status in three stages. First: Practice Ambassador behaviors at the next three meetings-you’ll be so proud of yourself and increase your own network net worth….
Network Eyes First
by Wendy Kinney In American surveys 88% of the population says they are shy. If you’re in that group networking events are uncomfortable. It seems that the ‘friendly people’ interrupt conversations to hand their business card to strangers. That perception isn’t reality. Friendly people use their eyes to guarantee a warm welcome from everyone in…
How to Sit and Network
by Wendy Kinney Like you, I arrive at networking events early, that way the crowd of people doesn’t intimidate me. So last Tuesday I stood, check in hand, at the registration table at 11:05 for an 11:30 event. It was easy, of course, to chat for a few lines with the person working the table….
Boy Scout Networking
by Wendy Kinney Robert Baden-Powell published Scouting for Boys in 1908. His advice has punch for business generation 96 years later. Here’s a sample: “One of the most important things that a scout has to learn…is to let nothing escape his attention; he must notice small points and signs, and then make out the meaning…
Network by the Numbers
by Wendy Kinney Paint-by-number kits first appeared in 1951. By 1954, twelve million kits had been sold. While there were critics, of course, (“It’s too formulaic”; “It isn’t really art”; “It’s tacky”) paint-by-number kits gave aspiring artists results they were proud of, and bought again. Richard Hess’s portrait of President Lyndon Johnson as an incomplete…
How to Build a Net that Works
by Wendy Kinney Networking has changed. Do you remember when walking through a room full of people, handing off business cards without stopping for a conversation, resulted in eager phone calls from prospective clients? No? Oh. Then maybe networking hasn’t changed. Success comes from the net, the web, the connections—and that takes effective structure, appealing…
Generate Referrals at Lunch
by Wendy Kinney Ken Small shared his format for generating qualified referrals over lunch with me. I want to share it with you. 1: INVITE SOMEONE YOU KNOW TO LUNCH: Say “I know we have referrals for each other. Let’s go to lunch at Chili’s on Thursday and find out more about each other’s businesses.”…
Follow Through Strategies
Payoff in TIME by Wendy Kinney It is unrealistic to expect an ‘elevator speech’ to generate a check. There simply isn’t enough TIME riding from the first floor to the fifth. TIME. Getting a new client takes some TIME. Fortunately, we know exactly how much: five to seven TIMES. So if meeting someone one TIME,…
The City Diner Cafe
by Wendy Kinney Last week a “Now Open” sign came out in my neighborhood: The City Diner Café Restaurant Bar & Grill I chuckle every morning when I drive by, albeit at the owners expense. Will I ever go in? Probably not. Why? Don’t I patronize Diners and Cafés? Sure. And Tea Rooms, Coffee Shops,…
