Category: Social Networking

This past spring, a professional contact and friend published a blog post listing a few of his favorite sales-focused podcasts. After reading that post, I checked out the recommendations and have since become a regular listener of three of them.

Networking = Offering Value

Every time that I listen to these podcasts, I think of my contact — the guy who recommended them. I find myself feeling grateful all over again that I heard about these great professional resources from a trusted source in the marketplace. And that always gets me thinking about the value of making recommendations to professional contacts.

The basic premise here is that sharing knowledge, insight and skills is the most valuable way to approach networking. Don’t ask what a potential networking opportunity can do for you — ask what you can bring to that opportunity. The personal recommendation is the same. Consider what tools, resources or guidance you can offer to your contacts as a way to help them get ahead. (Tip of the hat here to Dan Kowalski, a management consultant who delivered that key message in a presentation that I attended in April 2013.)

Since my friend, Joe McGonigal of SCC Partners, shared that post, I’ve taken the following actions, some consciously, and some less so.

• Paid more attention to Joe’s Twitter feed looking for other recommended gems,
• Become a regular reader of the SCC Partners blog,
• Made a point of recommending Joe and SCC Partners to other professional colleagues and friends.

Of course, I’ve also been learning from Joe’s recommended podcasts and have been taking actions from what I’ve learned in those podcasts. (In fact, I just implemented something I learned while driving and listening to a podcast on Tuesday of last week. That step, asking a question of a client, paid a return by Saturday of that same week.)

Joe’s blog post about recommended podcasts — The 7 Best Podcasts for Sales People — has delivered so much value to me that I know I owe Joe at least one favor, and probably a handful of them. I’m constantly on the look out for a chance to give back to Joe.

And that’s how networking works …

Recommended Podcasts

Getting back to the recommended podcasts, I’ll share my favorites from that initial list.

The Advanced Selling Podcast:

advancedsellingpodcast.com
Every week these guys cover some aspect of selling. While their audience is, strictly speaking, sales professionals, their messages, ideas and suggestions hold true for any professional. (Also, we’re all in sales anyway.)

HBR IdeaCast

blogs.hbr.org/ideacast
A wide-ranging podcast that covers all sorts of matters within the field of business – everything from being efficient in the office to growing your brand globally.

The Accidental Creative

accidentalcreative.com
A mix of tips, ideas and strategies to drive creativity, these short podcasts pack a lot of value for any listener looking for ways to up their professional game.

Related Posts

• The Value of Interpersonal Marketing
• Another 5 Valuable Blog Posts for Small Business Blogging

I have thinking about in-person networking lately, and I have a little story to share that highlights the importance of interpersonal marketing. This experience was a perfect reminder to me of the value of face-to-face marketing, and of how every single person in a company is involved in building the brand.

Let me set the scene.

It was a Saturday morning and I was in the Reading Terminal Market in central Philadelphia for breakfast. I was seated at a table at the Down Home Diner, eating with family. The diner uses long tables and so smaller parties end up sharing the table with other guests (which is fun). As we worked our way through breakfast, the diner hostess seated a gentleman at our table. Over the course of fried eggs, bacon and coffee, I got to talking to this fellow.

A morning chat

As it turns out, this gentleman was the Chief People Officer at The Wendy’s Company. A senior vice president. He was in town for Wendy’s annual franchise conference. His name is Scott Weisberg. A really intelligent, gregarious and insightful guy, Scott told me about how Wendy’s was working to be a leader in the restaurant business, creating dining destinations rather than in-and-out food service outlets. It was a great conversation — I learned a lot.

During the course of the conversation, I mentioned that there was a new Wendy’s opening up near me: the first one in my immediate area. Before meeting the chap from Wendy’s, I was not excited about the new opening. I was not against the new restaurant, but I had no feelings about it. Where I grew up, there were no Wendy’s restaurants. I don’t have memories from childhood of going there with my parents; my high school friends and I didn’t hangout at the local Wendy’s on slow weekend nights. I had no connection with the brand.

Yet during my conversation with its Chief People Officer, I learned a lot about Wendy’s. I got to peer into its ethos, values and vision for its future. It was exciting! I was given a window into a major global brand. Suddenly, I couldn’t wait for that new Wendy’s to open! I wanted to share in the Wendy’s experience.

My first experience

Last Thursday, my new Wendy’s opened (note, I feel like I can call it my Wendy’s now) and it has been rocking ever since. I’ve driven past the new restaurant on at least five occasions and the parking lot has always been full, the drive-through line a few cars deep. The sign out front reinforced what Scott told me over breakfast about Wendy’s commitment to its local customers: “Proud to be part of your community”. That was a nice touch.

Two nights ago I managed to get into this new Wendy’s for a meal. I loved the whole aura of the place as I drove into the parking lot. There was a sharp looking outdoor seating area. Through the windows, I could see a couple of people sitting in front of a fireplace eating burgers. (Well, a mock fireplace, but still … it was amazing to see. It certainly shook my preconceptions about fast food chains.) Stepping inside, I was welcomed by a friendly and personal staff. I was welcomed by loads of friendly staff. In chatting with a few of the managers, I learned that they have been racing since they opened. Looking over the counter, I could see what looked to be 15-20 employees hustling and bustling to fill orders.

What really surprised me when I ordered was that the manager asked me my name. Simply thinking him friendly, I introduced myself and thanked him for greeting us so pleasantly. A few moments later, I was surprised to hear my name called, as my order was ready. It was not “8314, your order is up.” It was “Liam, your meal is ready.” A subtle and classy touch.

By the time I sat down to eat my burger and fries, I was really excited to eat. Even more than the decor, the burger challenged my preconceptions about fast food. It was juicy and piping hot. The bacon looked, smelled and tasted like it just came off the griddle. Moreover, the fries were the hearty type: thicker than those served at most chains. Of course, I had to try a Frosty.

That face-to-face marketing value

As I finished up and sipped the last of my soda (Diet Caffeine-Free Coke, if you must know), I thought back to my conversation with Scott Weisberg. I would never had gone to this new restaurant if the HR guy had not so enthusiastically, genuinely and effectively convinced me to be excited about Wendy’s as a brand. His time, his thoughts, his willingness to interrupt his own breakfast to get a potential customer excited about his company is a brilliant example of the value of interpersonal marketing.

Earlier this month, I attended WordCamp Philly for the second year in a row. As what I learned about WordPress and web development could fill my blog post publication schedule for the next six months, I walked away from the event feeling energized to implement the techniques I learned, excited to have met in person those with whom I only had online relationships and eager to attend to WordCamp Philly next year.

As I drove home from WordCamp, I mulled over the value for small businesses in attending real events, in person — in the meatspace — as opposed to limiting marketing efforts to online. During this mental review, I recalled a great piece that I read about the value of holding offline events in connection with online marketing efforts, published earlier this year by our friends and colleagues at Philly Marketing Labs. The blog post, entitled 5 Reasons to Boost Your Marketing Efforts with In-Person Events, set down a very clear and formidable list of reasons why small businesses (and others) would benefit from holding their own events.

In pondering the weekend in connection with that blog post, I thought it worth exploring the value that small businesses can achieve from attending in-person events. In response to Philly Marketing Lab’s post, I came up with 5 Marketing Reasons to Attend In-Person Events.

1. Tell People Who You Are and What You Do

In-person events of any kind are always a great way to talk to people about our work. Of course, it needs to be done with savvy, but people expect to talk about their jobs, their careers, their companies or their employers at work-related events. Small business owners should take advantage of that expectation to promote themselves.

2. Find the Help You Need

While attending local in-person events, let’s make sure that we don’t just talk about ourselves. Listen first. Ask others about themselves and their work. It’s a great way to form a network of professionals whose own services complement ours. By actively inquiring about the skills and services that others offer, we can develop a network of suppliers to support our own small businesses, both internally (helping us run our own businesses) or externally (providing services that benefit our clients.)

3. Put a Face with a Twitter Name

Nothing beats the connectivity power of a face-to-face meeting. This is as true in business as it is elsewhere. Many small businesses rely on personal connections with clients for their steady stream of work. In an age when we have dozens, if not hundreds or thousands of Twitter “friends” and contacts, it’s important to seek ways to deepen that initial online connection.

4. Have Fun!

A great part of getting out to networking events is that we choose the events we wish to attend. More often than not, getting in a room full of people who are as excited as we are to talk about the same topic is fun. It’s invigorating. It can renew our excitement and focus about the topic of discussion.

5. Learn That Little Something Extra

We can always stand to learn a little about about our professional fields or industry. No matter how expert we are, there is undoubtedly some area within that field that we are a bit weak, or where our knowledge is slightly outdated. In-person events can help fill in those blanks.

On a related note, but not directly on point, check out Coreen’s Tossona’s Plan Your Next Event With Inspiration from Philly WordCamp if you’re looking for more articles about WordCamp Philly and In-Person events. (Disclaimer: Coreen and I are friends and colleagues; we co-organize the Philly ‘burbs WordPress Meetup together. We did not discuss or coordinate the publication of our two blog posts at all.)