Viewing all posts under Word of Mouth
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...
In this short video, presented by Applied Transformation, Inc., I talk with Roger Green about how business networking has transformed within the last 25-30 years and about how my 1993 doctoral dissertation on business networking was the first of its kind. What are your thoughts on how business networking has transformed? What changes have you personally experienced/noticed in the networking world from the time you started on your networking journey up to this point? Please share your thoughts in the comments sect...
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! &...
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! ...
In this video, Cheryl Hansen, a Trainer and Franchisee with the Referral Institute, explains that most people tend to focus only on existing clients as their main source for business referrals and they neglect the seven other referral sources which they could be developing simultaneously to generate unlimited opportunity for new referred business! Cheryl highlights community service organizations and casual contacts as just a couple of commonly untapped referral sources and urges businesspeople to start developing al...
TR Garland (pictured with me in the photo below) is a friend of mine and co-author of one of my most recent #1 best-selling books called “Building The Ultimate Network.” He’s also considered a top trainer for the Referral Institute. For some time now, we’ve both observed a need to drill down on one of the most important and foundational concepts to networking – The VCP Process®. Two months ago, we started a much-anticipated 12-part monthly series of blog posts which addresses this and contains some v...
About a month ago I was in New York, home state of my good friend Tim Houston who is the author of a book I highly recommend called The World’s Worst Networker. I had the opportunity to record this brief video with Tim to get his thoughts on a really interesting topic: ‘The 9 to 5 Networker.’ In the video, Tim explains what a 9 to 5 Networker is, why you definitely do not want to be one, and how to avoid becoming one/stop being one. Says Tim, “The 9 to 5 Networker is one of the world’...
In this video, Thierry Mazué, my good friend and Master Franchisee/Trainer for the Referral Institute in France, talks about two of the eight referral sources in referral marketing and explains how you can double your referred business simply by using two of them. After watching the video, be sure to visit www.ReferralInstitute.com to learn more about the other sources of referrals and then come back to this site to leave your comments about which of the referral sources you currently use and which additional sour...
The new video for International Networking Week 2012 has just been released! This short, 9-minute video, sponsored by Referral Institute (www.ReferralInstitute.com) and Entrepreneur Press (www.Entrepreneur.com), explains how the week of February 6th-10th, 2012 will bring about great opportunities for businesspeople around the world and increase worldwide awareness about the powerful benefits of business networking. 2012 will mark the 6th annual celebration of International Networking Week which is now r...
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...
What Are You Waiting For?11/21/11
The best referral efforts I’ve seen happen by design, not by accident or wishful thinking. Many business people view word of mouth somewhat like the weather: “Sure, it’s important, but what can I do about it?” Referrals and word of mouth can be planned and nurtured. Anyone, including business owners, entrepreneurs, sales representatives, staff employees, even individuals serving in a volunteer capacity in any field, can accomplish plenty with a well-structured and systematically executed referral plan f...
In this video, Networking expert Charlie Lawson talks with me about the Networking Disconnect which commonly hinders the success of many who attend networking events and mixers. Charlie explains that the Disconnect can be avoided all together by following one simple rule that will get your networking approach and intent geared in the right direction. I’ll give you a hint–it involves big fish and coffee. After watching the video, come back and comment about your experience(s) with the Networking Disconne...
Years ago, an associate of mine who read one of my books and attended some of my training sessions called me and said, “I really love your material, but why don’t you put more emphasis on your ideas about ‘creating your identity as a brand’ and how it affects your networking efforts? These ideas have made a huge impact on my business, but I don’t hear you talking about it very often.” I admitted that this associate of mine was right. I haven’t talked a lot about identity in my material, and I agree ...
Last week I had a couple of blog readers comment that they felt they would benefit from a detailed description of each of the items on the checklist of materials for a successful word-of-mouth campaign. Thank you to Betsy Maniotis and Adam Erstelle for taking the time to send in their feedback and I’m more than happy to comply with their requests for the list below. 1) Testimonial letters from satisfied clients–Testimonials are one of the most effective ways to showcase the quality of the products or ...
