The Invisible Mentor

Posts Tagged ‘networking’

There are many experts who give us the magic formula for how to become successful, but the truth is that success is very personal and each of us has our own definition of what success means. Last week at Social Media Week Toronto, there were sessions on how to engage fans, how to brand your business, how to become a blog star and so on, with the underlying theme geared toward increasing the bottom line.

With the popularity of social media, many are hanging out online hoping to strike it rich, forgetting that it’s still important to network offline to build relationships. But as the most successful people know, business transactions are still very much conducted face-to-face.  Business is about relationships. Most people who have made a significant amount of money using social media, have a strong offline presence as well.

So how do you become a Star?

From the many interviews that I have conducted, and the seminars and workshops I have attended over the years, there is a basic formula for worthwhile success. What do you want from life? What is your true purpose, what are you passionate about? What are your strengths and weaknesses? What skills, knowledge and experiences do you have that you enjoy using?

After you have figured that out, develop your plan including action steps. What are potential obstacles? What steps do you have to take to eliminate those obstacles? Which influencers can you enrol to get you where you want to go? Then you have to work really hard to realize your dream. Achieving success takes commitment and hard work. Remember the tale of the turtle and the hare? It’s not about the swift, but those who can endure, so what’s your level of endurance?

In the Social Media Week Toronto workshop How to Be a Blog Star: The Artistry of Your Personal Brand, session leader Sean Ward says that you have to be authentic, communicate so people take notice, be prolific, and consistent. This is good advice for non-bloggers as well.

Worthwhile success and happiness go hand-in-hand, and you cannot achieve them unless you pursue your purpose in life and do so doggedly. If you are doing what you were meant to do in life, you will take the necessary actions to get you there. Are you ready to be the Star that you were meant to be?

How can you use this information? What do you have to add to the conversation? Let’s keep the conversation flowing, please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right hand side) by email or RSS Feed.

As part of the cycle of life, old things often become new again. Look at the fashion industry for instance, styles are constantly in and out of vogue. Think about a project that did not get approved a few years ago, is it now a better time to try again? Think about a product you wanted to create but couldn’t because the technology didn’t exist, is now the right time to make that product? Think about a product that is in the mature or decline stage of the Product Life Cycle, is there a way you can breathe new life into it?

Brazen Careerist created a new service in beta called Network Roulette, which is essentially speed networking on steroids. Whenever they have the Network Roulette Event, you go to their website, and at the start of the event, you click on the wheel and the show starts. A box pops up where  you type in what you are looking for and what you are providing. You can also skip this step.

The Network Roulette Wheel spins and it randomly chooses someone for you to network with for three minutes. I recently played Network Roulette and at first I was very stressed. It’s like instant messaging where both parties type what they have to say to each other, but in this case you have three minutes to make your point. After a while, I became more relaxed. And when I think about it, if I was stressed out, that meant that others were probably feeling the same way I was.

During the duration of the event (60 minutes), I met some interesting people. In between your 3-minute networking sessions, you get the opportunity to have a virtual drink at the virtual bar? You cannot build a relationship in three minutes, but you can start a conversation. I appreciate the Network Roulette service, it’s another point to meet people who you normally wouldn’t meet.

A roulette is an old idea that has been resurrected with a new twist. What old ideas can you make new again to provide a cutting edge service? Read magazines that you usually wouldn’t read. Put yourself into different situations to have a different experiences.

How can you use this information? What do you have to add to the conversation? Let’s keep the conversation flowing, please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right hand side) by email or RSS Feed.

Photo Credit: Flickr (Conor Ogle) via Apture

In the article “Networking Your Way to the Boardroom,” Liz O’Donnell cites Nancy Mellard, executive vice president and general counsel for the Employee Services Division of CBIZ, as saying:

“It’s not just about going to a networking event; it’s about truly engaging people in your story… Attending a networking event is not enough. You must follow up after the event. Women must approach a networking event like they would approach closing a sale. Networking and telling your story are the two most critical tools for professional women today. The failure to effectively use these two tools is the gap in women on advisory boards. There are thousands of competent women who are not utilizing the correct tools to place themselves on these boards.”

From the above, the pieces that caught my attention are closing a sale, and networking and telling your story are the two most critical tools. As an introvert, networking events are not my cup of tea, though I force myself to attend them. When I attend an event my intent is to meet two new people and I make sure that I achieve my goal. To some people that’s low, but for me, it’s manageable and I have to be careful not to drain myself. If I meet more people that’s great, but I do not go out of my way to do so. I have a hard time transitioning into conversations especially when there are people who monopolize the conversation. What are your thoughts?

Now that I have read the article I have been thinking about my story because I have recently changed what I do for a living. My story would be something like this, “I am Chief Invisible Mentor, and I help people to mentor themselves and unleash their best selves, through The Invisible Mentor Blog by providing relevant information.” It needs work, but what do you think? What is you story? How do you follow-up after a networking event? What do you think of the article? Let’s keep the conversation going, please comment.