Viewing all posts under Connections
Last week I posted a blog about how cultural differences play into global networking and how understanding those differences becomes very important as we do business around the world. On a related note, I’d like to offer some valuable tips I’ve picked up from a handful of networking experts in Asian countries–today I’ll focus on China and Vietnam and in the coming weeks, I’ll revisit this topic and provide the additional advice which comes from experts in Malaysia and Japan. One of China...
Understanding cultural differences when doing business around the world is becoming more important in a global society. Even within large countries like the United States, there are definitely differences from one region to another. When you go beyond that and look at one country vs. another, the differences become even more impactful on business. When we concentrate on similarities with each other in business, the differences aren’t that important. Problems arise when the differences appear to be all t...
A week ago today, I outlined a brief description of each of the first four of the eight referral sources. I encouraged blog readers to spend the past week taking action in developing at least two of those referral sources and promised that this week I would explain the last four referral sources. * Remember, the more you learn about each referral source, the more referral sources you will develop; the more referral sources you develop, the more referrals you will get and the more your business will grow! &...
In this short video, I share a portion of the results from the survey of 12,000 businesspeople on which my most recent book, Business Networking and Sex: Not What You Think, is based. The results I discuss here indicate that men and women act differently when it comes to the VCP Process®, transactions, and relationships. Based on your experience, would you say these results jive with what you’ve found to be true in the networking world? Please share your thoughts in the comments section–I’d lo...
Last week I posted a video blog featuring Referral Institute Trainer Cheryl Hansen talking about the opportunity to significantly increase the number of referrals you receive by developing more than just one of the eight referral sources. The fact is, the more you learn about each referral source, the more referral sources you will develop; the more referral sources you develop, the more referrals you will get and the more your business will grow! ...
It was truly an honor to be interviewed on the “Today” show last Tuesday (2/21/12) by Kathie Lee and Hoda. It was such a great experience that I’m going to post a blog next Monday about the interview and what happened behind the scenes. For now, I’d like to share the 4-minute video clip of the interview here and please feel free to leave your feedback in the comments section–I’d love to hear your thoughts on the information that was discussed in the interview! CLICK HERE, or o...
People often ask me how to move a relationship with someone they just met to the point where the new contact feels comfortable passing them a referral. I always say that the best way to get to this next referral-passing stage depends in part on how you came into contact with a person in the first place. Let’s say you met while giving a brief presentation to a group of people who are in your target market. Assuming you did a good job, then you absolutely have the possibility of receiving a referral, even tho...
After graduation, classmates seem to spread out to chase individual professional goals without any context in which to keep in touch. Fortunately, the internet now offers a multitude of options to help you reconnect with old school friends and acquaintances and convert those relationships into useful tools for your business. In this short video, I discuss several of these online networking options that will help you effectively connect with your former classmates so you don’t have to sit around waiting for a ...
I received an e-mail this year from a man named Robert and it contained an excellent question. The full message read: Good morning, Dr. Misner. I was wondering if you could answer a question for me. When it comes to networking and being a connector, how do you handle requests from people you barely know (or don’t know at all) who ask you to give them the names of your contacts so they can connect with those people for their own ventures or projects? For example, I rec...
I’ve been following the development of online business networking for several years now; particularly at the inception of sites like Ecademy.com and LinkedIn. That said, I’d like to state for the record: If you’ve had any lingering thoughts that social media is just a fad, you may want to lose them. Are you aware that LinkedIn’s IPO (Initial Public Offering) has a valuation of 4.3 billion (USD)? That’s right, I said BILLION. If you haven’t been taking social media seriously...
When Martha Taft was a young girl in elementary school, she was asked to introduce herself to a group of people. “My name is Martha Bowers Taft,” said the child. “My great-grandfather was President of the United States. My grandfather was a United States Senator. My daddy is Ambassador to Ireland. And I am a Brownie.” I thought of that quote when I recently heard the following story from Nanette Polito from Cincinatti: In this day of technology, our younger generation understands all the social media and ho...
Have you ever wondered about what the best way to pass your business card to someone might be? Watch this under-two-minute video where Phil Berg from BNI UK offers a very valuable tip on how (and how not to) to pass your business card to ensure that it will be valued and well received. At the end of a video, Phil and I ask a question that we’d love for you to answer in the comments section below so, please, don’t be shy and chime in with your comments . . . thanks!
In this video, Michael Mayer, an esteemed worldwide business networking expert from Austria, gives an excellent example that teaches why it is so important to be specific when introducing your business to others at networking meetings and events. Watch the video and find out what to say and what not to say when introducing your business in order to get great results from your networking efforts. On a side note, you’ll also be surprised at what a powerful tool the image of pink socks can be in helping you t...
When it comes to networking, we’ve all unfortunately encountered people who believe that the simple act of meeting another person entitles them to ask that other person to share their contacts with them in order to try to drum up more referrals. In this video, Susan RoAne, my good friend and an international networking expert who consistently puts out some of the most outstanding content on networking around, explains why anybody who believes that networking is an “entitlement program” (i.e., the ty...
Sometimes one of the most difficult parts of networking is getting the conversation started and really engaging people so they are genuinely interested in talking and networking with you. In this short video, Penny Georgevich explains how to effectively connect with people by using the G.A.I.N.S. (Goals, Accomplishments, Interests, Networks, Skills) Exchange (also referred to as the G.A.I.N.S. Profile)–particularly when it comes to the are of “Interests.” If you’ve used the G.A.I.N.S. Exchange...
