Tribute to my dad who started the largest Herman Miller Office Furniture Dealer in Detroit and Michigan

I’ve been spending too much time with my father in the hospital. Not that the time we have spent has been too much, but him being in the hospital has been. This time spent has had me reflecting on what a great guy my father is.

His beginnings were humble enough. His father left when he was 6 years old and his mother raised he and his younger sister while working full time at GM. While that’s a pretty common story in today’s world, it was a little different in the 1940’s when he was growing up.

He always had an eye for design. That skill landed him a job at the old Hudson’s downtown decorating windows during the holiday season. I’m too young to really recall, but my elders tell me Hudson’s was magical at Christmas time. I like to think my father had a little something to do with that. Maybe Santa agrees, maybe he doesn’t.

He left Hudson’s to work at Silvers. Which in the 1960’s and 1970’s was the office store. I remember spending many a Saturday morning in their store at Telegraph and 12 Mile as a kid. Poor people used to come in on Monday to find their bottle collection missing cuz some rummy little kid “cashed” em in while they were gone. I bet I owe a few of his co-workers like $1.80. With 30 years of interest, it’s probably quite a bit now.

In the late 70’s Silvers and my father hired a brilliant young design talent named Chris Sowers. Shortly thereafter the Silver’s brothers had a “falling out”. When those two split, my father and Chris joined one of them to start a new company called Office Resource. I managed to collect a lot of bottles there too.

Time went on and my father and Chris left the Silver’s brother and started their own thing. By the late 80’s they had become a Herman Miller powerhouse. They went through a few name revisions and were merged with another dealer or two over time.

By the early 90’s they had settled on the name Facility Matrix Group and found their home on 555 Friendly St. Although my father retired in 2000, the business still continues to grow year over year.

FMG is now the largest Herman Miller office furniture dealer in Michigan. Based on the good work by Chris, David Daugherty, Nigel Addison and the rest of their team they win amazing office furniture and interior design projects like the work they did at Rock Financial

And the now world famous Madison Building.

This past week I was given the opportunity to work with FMG and help them with digital marketing. I’m excited to report I’ve come a long way since collecting bottles. I think my dad will be proud.

SEO and Social Media for Detroit Office Furniture Dealers

You think social media is a waste of time? In certain instances, you’re right. Tweeting all day isn’t going to make a significant impact on your business. Neither is chatting with your friends on Facebook. However, using social to search for the right conversations can be very powerful.

The idea of “social networking” has been lumped in to social media and social networking can pay dividends. LinkedIn is a very strong tool for finding the connections you need. Twitter and Facebook can be too. Never forget that people do business with people. And people do frequent all of these social media sites and more.

Another aspect of social media that is important is how it helps increase your SEO ranking. Sure there are lots of ways to increase SEO that us experts know, but one easy way for everyone to succeed is through social. Especially if your business is visual. You can share lots of pictures or even videos.

Video is increasingly popular as it allows us to tell stories about our work that have never been told before. The right video can grab your intended audience and get them totally involved!

Additionally, If you google a person who has a completed LinkedIn profile, regardless of how much web stuff they’ve done or how many people have that name their LinkedIn profile will be the first result on page 1. Why? Because Google trusts LinkedIn. Often times their Facebook page and Twitter feed may show up on page 1 too. This is also becoming more true for companies. Your corporate page should show up first and then the rest of your digital footprint will follow. Here’s the thing:

If you’re doing SEO to optimize for your company name you’ve got it all wrong!!

Anyone that’s “searching” for your name already knows your name. You need to optimize for the services you provide, the products you sell and the problems you solve.

Your goal is to be the right answer when someone does a search.

Social media can help you achieve that goal to an extent. Having a company that understands the target audience and what they are seeking whose stay on top of changes at Google is always the right answer.

When you’re ready to enter the world of digital dominance, you’re ready to speak to us.

Five Steps To Build Better Business Relationships Faster

There are so many aspects to building the right business relationships that it makes it hard to know where to start…until you start at the very beginning. This video looks at introductions, handshakes, eye contact and more with the idea of making sure you make the right impressions.

Authenticity vs. Getting it Done – A Case for the Social Media Call Center

When I started delivering the “9 Hard Fast Rules of Social Media” in 2008 Rule # 4 had a whole series on “Be Attitudes”. There were 9 of them like: “Be Engaging”, “Be Interested”. “Be Interesting”. “Be Helpful” and a few others. The one I really want to focus on today is “Be Authentic”. 

Social Media has long been about putting yourself out there and either starting or becoming a part of the conversation. Authenticity is a key as it really helps people connect with you. Enlightened individuals certainly understand and have knowledge of their authentic self. Those on the path toward enlightenment have a pretty good sense of their authenticity too. People who are less concerned with “who they are” tend to have a lower sense of self. That’s okay because this post really isn’t about people, It’s about companies.

In business we are just starting to wake up to the importance of “corporate culture”. Your company’s culture is its’ identity. Just like in individuals, the identity is what drives authenticity. 

When I say businesses are just “waking up” to this idea, I’m also saying that MOST have little idea as to what their culture really is. As such, they take on the identity of their leader at best, have a blend of identities or have an identity that is chaotic on the flip side. Authenticity from a business with multiple identities is similar to expecting consistency when following a twitter stream of someone suffering from Multiple Personality Disorder. It’s not gonna happen.

And time marches on.

How many businesses have been contemplating “getting into social media”? They’ve sent people to classes. Signed up for webinars. Hired younger people based on their answers to questions geared around social media and they’re still not doing it. Why? Because of three simple reasons:

1. They don’t have the understanding of how to merge these tools with their business objectives.

2. They don’t have the right people (a reflection of 1)

3. They don’t have the time

And time, marches on.

Those three reasons can be enough to have kept you from starting, but should they keep you on the sideline? No chance. Here’s the truth, getting started in social media is far more important than getting it right. If you don’t have the knowledge, people and or time, then maybe it’s time to look for a company who does.

We built a social media call center to not only take away the excuses of not being involved but to make it so easy for you to jump in that you can’t imagine waiting another second. Go ahead and click on the uNetworked description of Social Media Call Center to learn more about what we would like to do for you. If you like what you see, give us a call so we can discuss how to get started.

Rule #1 in the “9 Hard Fast Rules of Social Media” has always been: “Ready. Fire.Aim“. Getting it done today is far more important than being authentic tomorrow, or whenever you get around to it.

 

 

11 Lessons from the Buick Verano Celebrity Apprentice episode on 3/11/12

I haven’t been that excited to watch a reality TV show in a long time. Why? While I do enjoy Celebrity Apprentice it’s mostly because I’m doing marketing for Detroit based Buick Dealership, Ray Laethem. In fact, when my partner and I found out on Sunday, March 4 that the Verano was going to be featured on the next episode, we created a new microsite that shows Detroit area lease deals on the  Buick Verano. I also spent the entire episode live-tweeting as Laethem Buick. The latter was a truly unique experience especially when the boo birds came out. People are nasty to brands. But that’s not the point of this post.

The point of this post is to talk about the Verano, the episode and how Buick could have better capitalized on this opportunity.

First, the Verano. I feel bad for the little luxury car now because it’s taking a bit of a beating for being affiliated with the show. The car is very nice and I actually test drove and blogged about it last week. Here is a link to my post entitled: Way to go Detroit: the Buick Verano is a great car. Long story short: the Buick Verano comfortable, quiet and has amazing technology called “Intellilink” that looks like this:

The episode itself seemed to start off on the wrong foot and was full of lessons for those who pay attention.

Lesson #1- if the Donald tells you to be project manager on a task, don’t flip it over to someone else. Adam Carolla should have never been project manager. Michael Andretti should have taken that role the moment it was suggested. Both got what they deserved at the end of the day.

Lesson #2- if there are only 7 people who need transport, get yourself a Buick Enclave or some other vehicle with 3 rows of seats. Nobody wants to feel like people are talking behind their back. This gets exasperated when you put their backs in a different van than yours.

Lesson #3- ALWAYS LISTEN TO THE CUSTOMER. Way too many salespeople and business folks alike think it’s more important to speak to sound intelligent and often do so at their own peril. Your customer will tell you exactly how to sell them. You may not like Buick’s brand, message or the way they communicate it, but it is theirs. There was a certain man in the episode who paid little attention when he should have been paying the most.

Lesson #4 There’s a difference in being a project manager and a project dictator. Smart project managers leverage the collective knowledge of their team and they put it to good use. Less smart project managers sing songs no one wants to hear or end up getting fired.

Lesson #5- It’s barely acceptable to be a one trick pony. When all you can do is offer the same idea over and over your teammates will find little use for you. As you begin to sense that is true, your likely reaction is to try and throw them under the bus before they do it to you. This is not a good long-term strategy and does not build a good working environment.

Lesson #6- Just because you think you’re funny doesn’t mean you’re funny. As a guy who thinks he’s funny I almost take issue with that statement, but since I know enough people who don’t find me funny, I realize it’s true. In related news, regardless of how funny you may be, funny isn’t always appropriate.

Lesson #7- Just because you pronounced a name wrong and you maybe should be fired, doesn’t mean you will be. As I mentioned, I live tweeted as Laethem Buick during the episode and at one point tweeted that Buick should hire Aubrey O’Day because of her creativity. Not 30 seconds after I tweeted that Ms. O’Day had to remove her foot from her mouth as she referred to the Verano as Verona. Clearly the Buick folks didn’t mind enough…but should they have?

Lesson #8- Even if you know you’re the only one who F’d up, bring others to the boardroom with you. While it seems like the honorable thing to do to stand alone. It’s not. Clearly. You never know how someone else will react under pressure. They may make a mistake that allows you to live for another day (or episode as the case may be).

So far many of these ideas have focused on the actual game. But what did we learn about Buick and how they handled themselves? My initial response is there are some definite lessons for them too.

Lesson #9- And this is a BIG one- IF you make a decision to throw a “Twitter event” AND you pre-record it, than dangnabbit you’d better have ALL HANDS on deck responding via Twitter while the event is going on. Buick got virtually trashed last night. People thought the wrong team won and that the executives were out of touch. Both of which needed to be addressed immediately if not sooner. You know what the amazing thing about Twitter is? They could have addressed it in just these issues immediately, if not sooner.

Lesson 10- Buick executives are out of touch. It’s not their fault. They suffer from the old “this is the way we’ve always done things” stigma. Here’s the deal Buick, if you don’t want people to consider you as the old stodgy Buick of yore, stop acting like it. Loosen up. Have fun. You’re building really cool cars with excellent technology that could appeal to a new generation. Find people who understand that generation and let them make your stuff appealing.

Lesson 11- Buick is moving into new territory and targeting new audiences and reaching them in new ways. That’s tough and is worthy of being commended. Keep trying. Don’t make your decisions in a vacuum. Reach out to smart people in the area who are willing to help. There are lots of folks in Detroit and around the world who will continue to pull for your success. Keep reaching for it.

What did you think of the episode? Did the right team win? What do you think of this post? If you don’t answer one of these questions…YOU’RE FIRED!!!

The Magnetic U. class list

Here is a brief outline of the courses for fall semester of Magnetic U.
Classes will meet online and in person weekly. You will also receive a daily message via video or written word that corresponds with the lessons of the week. If you can’t make a class one week…no worries. It will be recorded and shared on the site.

While there will be “assignments” know that only those who seek others approval will be concerned with if they are graded. Meaning you can do what feels right for you.

Here are the classes (please note order may change)

Six degrees of connectedness- The introduction

Self
Others
Planet
Universe
Technology
Bliss

Communications- Better communications = Better results

Fundamentals of Listening
Persuasive communications
How public speaking can turn you into a credible expert
Interpersonal and small group
Asking questionsm
Relationship building and maintaining

Sales- THEE building block to business growth

Bonding and rapport

Running an effective sales call

Prospecting by phone
Handling objections
Asking for the sale

Metaphysics- Understanding the science of life

Defined
Universal Laws
Who are you
What is your reality? Are you sure?
Deeper down the rabbit hole
Class will be a movie you won’t want to miss

Marketing– Spreading your message effectively

Defining marketing effectiveness
What qualifies as marketing these days
How to get AND keep attention
Understand the brand
Let your creativity shine

Social media– Today’s tools of profitability

Creating the right profile
When to use which tool
How to effectively use each tool
Tools not named LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter or YouTube
Search. It’s all about being found.

Personal branding– How you’re known is more important than who you know

Communities you should create or join
Why being known is more important than knowing
How do you want to be known?
Consistent messaging
Relevant messaging

Networking- Getting others involved in your success

Need to know before
At an event
The ASK/elevator pitch
Why giver’s gain
The 5 w’s of it for you is homework

Mindset- Without a proper one success won’t come

What do you find inspiring?
Positive Mental Attitude
Right Thinking
Attitude
Homework will be finding successories and/or creating a mantra

Productivity– It’s a big world and you have a LOT to do
Gtd
Time management
Corporate Culture
Smart Phone training
Web based tools you should use

Physical fitness- Business is a contact sport

Yoga
Cardio
Weight training
Stuff you can do at home
Should you join a gym?

Financial fitness- This is the whole goal, right?

Life insurance
Financial planning
Stocks/bonds
How to get a raise
How much are you worth?

Leadership- Everyone can lead from where they are

Different types of leadership
Discovering your strengths
what makes a solid leader
when can you lead?

Giving back- Success comes to those who share

Time
Money
Connections
Leading an event
Finding a charity to support

 

 

What is a #bustup??

Thank you for you interest in #bustup. Below is a quick write up about the event. We expect 100 people to be there if we are completely unsuccessful. 3000+ people will join us if we knock it out of the park. Obviously if an organization like Ford, GM, BCBS or Quicken Loans said to their employees and partners “we should go do this cuz it’s the right thing to do” even the 3000 # looks low.

What: #BUSTUP

When: June 25, 2011 Starts at 9. The busting will go until 4. The party goes…well this IS Detroit so who knows when that stops

Who: Motor City BlightBusters + Motor City Connect + #backchannel + everyone else we can get

Where: Northwest Detroit near Grand River and Lahser

Why: We will transform the energy in our city

More info: Our event Facebook page

What is a #bustup? You may be familiar with the term “tweetup”- when people on twitter get together in real life to meet. A #bustup is a tweetup with a specific purpose.

For the past 3 years, Motor City Connect (large Detroit based networking group) has partnered with Motor City Blight Busters (23 year old non-profit near Brightmoor) to remove negative energy from Northwest Detroit. We do this typically by knocking down a dilapidated house or 3 and cleaning up the area near Grand River and Lahser. It’s been a wonderful experience and 90% of the people who attend can’t wait to come back.

We managed to capture Stephen Clark’s (news anchor on Channel 7) attention in 2010. He was kind enough to run THIS STORY on the news. This year, he reached out to me and said he would like to bring #backchannel (a group of twitter people who interact with him/newstaff during the news cast) down to join Motor City Connect for a day of Blight Busting. He has also indicated that the station manager is intrigued and would like to support this initiative possibly as part of the Detroit 2020. He also mentioned a couple of really cool things that I won’t type 😉

The more Stephen, John George (Blightbuster’s founder) and I have discussed it, the more we have decided this could be a great party day. Sure there will be work. But why can’t there be fun too?  We can easily setup a stage and bring in music. The acts with whom I have spoken are excited. It is very possible that we will be hosting a screening of the new film short: Lemonade Detroit as well.

Right in the area we will be working is the Artists Village and the historic Redford Theater. I truly believe we can turn this into a festival. It’s fitting because the date we are doing this, June 25, is about the same as the 23rd anniversary of Blight Busters and John George’s birthday.

We want to make this day a community building and community bonding experience. With the help and support of the Detroit area corporations, chambers, artists and citizens we can make that happen. It’s great that we have Channel 7 on board. We are also connected to quite a few of the social media elite in town. Are you interested in making this happen?

We are looking for sponsors to help make this a fun, family friendly event and to start a lasting legacy for our Detroit while raising some some much needed funds for Blightbusters. I would be happy to discuss details on sponsorship with the appropriate parties.

Thank you so much for your time and consideration.

The relationship marketing era is upon us

“Word of Mouth” advertising is quickly becoming “word of web” marketing. People aren’t using “search” anymore. They are finding things before they know they’re looking for them. And that’s great IF you and your business are well positioned.

To remain relevant (competitive no longer matters) you MUST be a part of the conversation.

Smart marketers know how to attract and more importantly engage THEIR audience. Its no longer about quantity. Its about quality. The right relationship with your consumers allows your message to be amplified far and wide AND FAST!!!

What are you doing to leverage the relationships you have and create the relationships you need?

The 3 R’s have changed for business today

When I was in school we learned about the 3 R’: Reading
Riting
Rithmatic

These R’s were considered the core skills students would learn. They were easy to remember, and the values in the skills were easily understood. In retrospect they could’ve been better understood had they all actually begun with the letter R but this isn’t a spelling test, or a history lesson. This is a lesson in the R’s of modern day business.

While I’m certain reading and writing are still important (my jury has always been out on arithmetic) there are new R’s which require our immediate attention.

These three elements are the core skills, and matters of practice for modern day businesses.

The first R is a driving factor in the happiness of our lives Relationships. Relationships have always been a staple for people, and come in many different types:
Family
Friends
Co-workers
Clients
Business partners
Spiritual connections
Most importantly, the one we have with our self.

Aside from keeping us happy, relationships are the life streams of our business communities, costumers’ connections, and a constant reinforce for our personal brand. We must take great care not only to connect but to also relate to the people around us.

Relationships do not thrive without some neutering and commitment. You must maintain a balance of all aspects of give and take in order for an authentic relationship to be maintained.

Which is why the second R is Recommendations. We’ve always collected letters from satisfied clients, and now more than ever word of mouth is making or breaking brand images. Capitalizing on modern social networking tools allows for constant rapport care, but also an opportunity to mutually recommend peers, professionals, staff, and the like.

Linkedin uses the term up upfront, but don’t count out other venues such as facebook or twitter. A quick positive status update on facebook, or brief thank you tweet on twitter is another trick to represent those who you would recommend.

The third R is brand spanking new: Real-time search. The SEO/SEM strategists have been extolling the virtues of search for a couple of years now, and this business has evolved. It is no longer enough to own page 1 on Google. You need to make your presence known on page one on Twitter, Facebook, and other social sites.

Relationships
Recommendations
Real-Time Search

The modern R’s of business take old school classic spin on the new school technologies. And when you use these 3 R’s well, you get the most important R there is in business:

REFERRALS

WHAT you do isn’t nearly as engaging as WHY you do it.

If you’ve been to a networking event, high school reunion or just about any other type of gathering you’ve been asked the question: What do you do?

Here’s the trick… in most instances “what you do” isn’t really all that exciting. In fact, a lot of us have relatively boring jobs. And interestingly enough the longer we’ve been doing them, the less exciting we make them sound.

The next time someone asks you what you do give them a quick answer of your general business category. Then instead of talking at length about what that means…tell them why you’re excited to do it every day. Or tell them what got you into that line of work in the first place. Passion is engaging!

I created and run a large business networking group that meets online and face to face in and around the Detroit area. That’s one of the things I do. That answer isn’t nearly as exciting as I’m passionate about other’s success and I provide connections and opportunities for them to improve their personal and business lives.

How can you incorporate WHY you do something into the WHAT you do? Should you have a challenge answering this question, there are great coaches who can help you.  If you’re not passionate about what you do, it may be time to change what you do.

Do let me know how I can be of service to you.

BYBY (Be Your Best You)

My notes from Les Brown’s awesome presentation today!

Congratulations to the YES! Network for putting on such an awesome event today.

Les Brown is an incredible speaker. He’s full of passion, wisdom and enough energy to light up Detroit for a week! His story is amazing and his delivery of it is even better.

I was live tweeting today’s event and it burned out my battery. I turned the wireless off so I could simply take some notes. These are directly from Les Brown…97% of these words are his…the rest were inspired by him. Please forgive typos and punctuation as I was doing this on my phone and would rather you have it now, then take time to correct it.

For starters, HERE is a link to my tweets (at least the ones that are still available. Twitter is still a little wonky with the older tweets).

This picks up at about 50 minutes into the presentation:

How many of you know that if you had your life to do over again you know you could do better.

You have to run just to stand still in this new world.
You can’t take prisoners and you have to eat the wounded.

OQP- you only hang out with Other Quality People.

You don’t get in life what you invest you get what you are

You need to kill who are now so that you can birth who you are to become!

Communicate your way to wealth.

For les’s tips email Yes@lesbrown.com

Never let what you want to say get in the way of what your customer’s/audience needs to hear

Living your making will make your living.

Les played small because of things like his lack of college, being labeled retarded and not working at a major corporation.

The HOW is now important. Once you made the commitment the teachers will show up. You will see things you couldn’t see before.

Absolute faith.

The only reason he was spared from birth control was to give les what he wants.

More people die from a Dr,s prognosis then the disease itself.

We’re more infected by the “mind flu” than the “swine flu”.

Don’t worry about the general economy…focus on your personal economy. The other will take care of itself.

Coincidence is god’s way of staying anonymous

Commit yourself and be persistent.

Change the collective mindset

Expand the skill set. You can have a “yes I can attitude and a no I can’t aptitude”$

We need achievement driven communities.

Something is wrong when an event like LeBron James becomes a national conversation. More people vote for american idol then the president.

The world does not consist of the “have and have nots” it consists of the will and will nots.

We all come to life the same way, dumb naked and speechless.

Master what you love.

Love that finger in the ear bit.

I’m fired up
I’m ready to do more. no more playing it small. I’m ready to take it higher.

He just confirms and validates what is already inside of us.

If you die today what will you take with you? What book? What leadership? What ideas? Don’t wait too long to share your greatness.

All of us have an opportunity to be a voice of change.

Its not our intention to please or satisfy our customers, its our intention to amaze them.

Create an experience. You must over promise AND over deliver.

Recessions restore resourcefulness.

Its not enough to give people information. If information could change people everyone would be skinny, rich and happy.

Speak to the conversation in the minds of the customer…don’t assume you know what they want, ask them.

Its not what you leave for your children, its what you leave in your children.

Want shows up in your conversation, expectation shows up in your preparation. Its easy to want.

“Its me” you’ve got to take personal responsibility for yourself. You have to design the life you desire.

In life when you don’t have enough courage or insight to know when its time to move on, life will move on for you. -mary anne white

When you present in the sales process the 3 questions the customers are asking are

Who are you?- when you sell yourself your customer gets your products for free

What do you have?

Why should I care?

Focus on the outcome, don’t focus on the process.

Cancer is a thief, don’t let it become a murderer.

I can do this. I can do this. I can do this. I can do this. I can do this.

There is never nothing going on

One of the valuable lessons in the book “way of the peaceful warrior” is that there is never nothing going on. As you learn to live in the moment you begin to realize all that goes on in each moment you live. You will quickly understand that your moment affects the moments of those around you. It is on you to be responsible for the reactions you have to each one. You see, you don’t control the moment as much as you control how you allow it to impact you.

I have written numerous times about the difference between responding and reacting. This is just another way of saying the same thing.

As life progresses the one thing we seem to all agree on is that there will be
change. In some instance you can affect it. In others, your only contribution
will be how you respond to it. Learn to be readily adaptable and you will find
greater enjoyment out of life.

There really are only 3 rules of life:

• Its a paradox in that it is a mystery that we will never understand
• Its best to have good humor especially when it comes to matters of self
• And that change is a constant to which you will eventually adapt.

Why not learn these things now and begin to choose the best parts for you?

Life is a play in which you are always the actor and often the director. See
you get to direct the effects, but not so much the causes. You can direct the
reaction, but not always what caused the action. Realize what your role is and
do your best at playing it out.

The fun thing is that your best will almost always be different based on the
moment in which you are. Be cognizant of your surroundings and the signs which guide your way and make decisions that will best represent the person you want to be. You do know who that is, right?

Its having a firm identity of your role in the universe at large that allows for
the greatest success. Everyone has a gift or talent that others will value.
The cool thing is that most times, you don’t have to find them. If you put your
talent out there and your vine is strong enough, you will attract the right
folks to you.

You can attract those folks at any given time just by being in tune with the
moment. Send them good will and prosperous thoughts. You will get them back.

The amount of nothing going on since I started writing this is staggering. Its
funny to me how you can be an active participant in the nothing or a passive
observer in the everything the moment has to offer. The only limitation put on the greatness of any given moment is the one you put.

HMMM, Is it more important to ASK great questions or LISTEN to the answers?

Honestly, I have no idea, but I can tell you that both are far more important than focusing only on what you want to tell people.

I posted these today in response to Dan Mulhern’s note on how important Listening is to leadership. I couldn’t agree more.

The following is two sections that appear back to back in my new book “The Universal Guide to Business Networking“. Take a quick read and see how you can apply these concepts in your daily AND business life.

It Starts With Asking Great Questions

You will be perceived as a better conversationalist once
you master the art of questioning.

Questions keep the conversations moving. Insightful
questions help you learn a lot about the topic. It’s
important to use your questions wisely as they are the
green lights for others to feel good about you.

You can use questions to turn the conversation in any
direction you choose. You want to know about the past,
ask where they went to high school. You want to know
about what kind of friends someone has, ask them about
the last house party they hosted/attended. Want to know
about their work, ask how they spent their Tuesday.

Open-ended questions yield more results. Questions that
can be answered with a yes or no are considered closeended
questions. Open-ended questions draw longer
responses out of people.

I have a rule. I can ask anyone any question I choose. It is
up to them to decide whether or not they want to answer.
When I am about to ask a tough or personal question, I
share this philosophy to soften it a little.

Ever notice what type of people use questions effectively
to succeed in their career? Doctors, lawyers, psychologists,
interviewers, and business coaches have to ask great
questions. Do you think this is a coincidence? Me neither.

Once they ask the right questions, there is another step
they have to take.

Listen Actively

Worried about what you’re going to say next? Don’t be.
Afraid you only have 30 seconds to make a great first
impression? While I am not sure of the exact amount of
time, I know it’s short.

Want to know the best way to impress the person with whom you are speaking? Honor them. And you do that simply by actively listening to
them.

The best active listeners take what you say, put it in their
own words, and confirm mutual understanding. How
often do we say things that seem clear to both parties but
end up as a miscommunication? Both parties lose out.

Gary Evans, a college professor of mine, always said
“Words don’t mean, people mean.” This means that if you
don’t fully understand the intent behind the words I use,
you don’t really understand what I said. We have to dig in
a little bit to what was said.

Active listening creates a higher level of understanding.
Understanding a person’s needs and what you can do for
them is the first thing you should focus on when
networking. It is also the catalyst for people being
interested in you.

The Universal Guide to Business Networking Table of Contents

Link to Chris Brogan’s video review of the book: http://url.ie/5w63
Link to Amazon if you would like to purchase this book (and you should) http://url.ie/5wj0

Table Of Contents
FOREWORD: by Chris Brogan- THE NETWORK IS EVERYTHING…………….

…1
OPENING THOUGHTS ………………………………………………3
THE UNIVERSAL GUIDE TO BUSINESS NETWORKING…….5
THE UNIVERSE’S RELATIONSHIP TO NETWORKING……….5
The Ask – Universally Speaking………………………………………………………. 6
We Are All Connected …………………………………………………………………… 7
The Shift………………………………………………………………………………………. 9
Find Your Flow …………………………………………………………………………….. 9
What’s Your AQ?………………………………………………………………………… 11
Is Your Network Nourishing You? ………………………………………………… 13
Why Giver’s Gain ……………………………………………………………………….. 14
Law Of Reciprocity ……………………………………………………………………… 14
Law Of Generosity ………………………………………………………………………. 15
The Power Of Action In Attraction ………………………………………………… 16
WERALL1 …………………………………………………………………………………. 19
The Universe Weighs In On The Q v. Q Debate………………………………. 20
Great Books That Taught Me About Living A Networked Life …………. 22
YOU BEFORE NETWORKING ……………………………………25
What Networking Should Be To You …………………………………………….. 25
Increasing Business Acumen…………………………………………………………. 27
A Built-In Advisory Board……………………………………………………………. 28
A Group Of People Committed To Our Collective Success……………….. 29
Increased Awareness Of Current Events …………………………………………. 30
The Ability To Enact Universal Laws…………………………………………….. 30
The Inherent Selfish Altruism ……………………………………………………….. 31
Opportunity To Barter ………………………………………………………………….. 31
Good Networkers No Longer Have To “Compete” For Business……….. 32
viii |
Get Ready To Help Others……………………………………………………………. 33
After You …………………………………………………………………………………… 34
Understand What You Seek ………………………………………………………….. 35
Identifying The People You Need To Meet …………………………………….. 37
Target Clients……………………………………………………………………………… 38
Target Partners ……………………………………………………………………………. 40
Where Are You Networking? ……………………………………………………….. 42
All Business Is Relationship Business ……………………………………………. 43
The Network Effect Of Connectedness…………………………………………… 44
Common Ground…………………………………………………………………………. 46
Want To Be The Best Conversationalist Ever?………………………………… 48
It Starts With Asking Great Questions……………………………………………. 49
Listen Actively……………………………………………………………………………. 50
Cerebellum Or Customer Relationship Manager? ……………………………. 50
Having A Contact Management Process…………………………………………. 52
How Many People Should You Know? ………………………………………….. 53
You Won’t Know Who I Know Until I Get to Know You…………………. 54
Who Owns Your Network?…………………………………………………………… 55
10 Things I Want Networkers To Know…………………………………………. 57
YOU AT A NETWORKING EVENT…………………………….. 59
You Go To Networking Events To Network, Not To Sell…………………. 59
It’s Not A Race To Collect Cards…………………………………………………… 61
You Don’t Want To Be That Guy………………………………………………….. 62
Good Wingmen Wanted……………………………………………………………….. 64
The One Accessory You Need To Wear At Every Networking Event … 66
For What To ASK……………………………………………………………………….. 67
How To Work A Room………………………………………………………………… 69
Finding The People With Whom You Need To Speak ……………………… 72
How To Enter Into A Conversation ……………………………………………….. 74
Remembering The People You Just Met…………………………………………. 75
Nametags, Handshakes, And Look ‘Em In The Eye… Oh My! …………. 77
Exiting A Conversation………………………………………………………………… 78
The Most Powerful Networking Question Ever……………………………….. 80
Get Two People To Talk About You ……………………………………………… 82
What Networking Events Aren’t……………………………………………………. 83
Ways To Be Memorable, they’re not all good………………………………….. 84
YOU NETWORKING ONLINE………………………………… 87
Great online sites…………………………………………………………………………. 87
Managing The Time You Spend Online …………………………………………. 89
Create A Magnetic Profile ……………………………………………………………. 90
Talk about “who you are.” ……………………………………………………………. 92
| ix
Tell us about “what you do.” …………………………………………………………. 92
It’s good to have “past life regressions.” …………………………………………. 93
Hobbies and interests are interesting. ……………………………………………… 93
Choosing The Right Online Groups For You…………………………………… 94
Making Associates Online…………………………………………………………….. 96
Using Status Updates Effectively …………………………………………………… 97
I Am Endorsing Writing Endorsements ………………………………………… 100
Quick Guidelines on Endorsements: …………………………………………….. 100
I’d Like My Social Media To Go, Please………………………………………. 101
Be Careful What You Show Online ……………………………………………… 103
Thoughts On Webtegrity …………………………………………………………….. 104
When To Invest In A New Social Media Site ………………………………… 106
Googling Yourself Is Far Less Dirty Than It Sounds………………………. 107
YOU AFTER NETWORKING …………………………………111
How To Separate Yourself From Most People You Just Met …………… 111
Appropriate Follow Up Time ………………………………………………………. 112
Determining The Next Steps ……………………………………………………….. 113
What The Follow Up Note Should Say …………………………………………. 114
The Personal Touch Always Wins ……………………………………………….. 115
Enacting Your Foul Up System……………………………………………………. 116
Following Up On Your Follow Up……………………………………………….. 117
How Do You Know If The Networking You’re Doing Is Valuable?…. 118
Staying Visible To Your Network………………………………………………… 119
IN CLOSING………………………………………………………..121
Know You Have A Lot Of People You Can ASK ………………………….. 121
5 Tips For A Good ASK……………………………………………………………… 123
In Gratitude ………………………………………………………………………………. 126
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS………………………………………..129
ABOUT THE AUTHOR …………………………………………133

The foreword @chrisbrogan wrote for my new book on Networking

Chris Brogan totally puts the AWE in awesome. His blog and newsletter are so full of information that it makes you wonder how he can “give” so much away. He is a two time New York Times Best Selling Author, (Trust Agents which he co-authored with Julien Smith and Social Media 101) co-founder of a cool community that shares new marketing techniques called Third Tribe Marketing and an amazing speaker. I am so grateful that Chris took time out of his really busy schedule to read my work and shared some of his wisdom in it.

Here is the Foreword he wrote exactly as it appears in The Universal Guide to Business Networking (this is a link to the book on Amazon)

Foreword: The network is everything.

Terry Bean knows networking. We met a few years ago, and within moments, I felt that I knew Terry, knew what mattered to him, believed from the bottom of my heart that he loved people, and was well on my way to connecting to people he thought mattered. And now, we have it all in a book.

The first point I picked out of his thoughtful book was about one’s AQ, your Awareness Quotient. This nugget is exactly the phrase I have needed for a while to explain how some folks can be so clueless.

Go a little further and you see that Terry and I agree that all business is relationship business. He’s proven this to me in person, online, and everywhere that Terry’s spent his incredible value.

Terry’s first rule of networking is maybe why you have this book in your hand: SHOW UP. If you’re thinking about networking, then you’ve done the first right move by putting this information in front of your eyes. You know, Terry’s made quite a career from building via networking. And now that you’ve shown up, he can help you.

What Julien Smith and I discovered through writing Trust Agents was that the network was the most underrated part of most people’s business assets. Undervalued, too. What Terry’s done here is really brought out the best of what to do with regards to building that most vital piece of your business assets.

One last point: Terry’s spent years developing this material. It’s worth more than a glance as you rush through your litany of what you need to do to improve. This book, when PRACTICED and really considered, will change how business happens for you.

Are you ready? Can you feel it? I’m there already and I’ve got shivers. From online to off, Terry’s got us covered. Let’s use it, shall we?

–Chris Brogan, author of Social Media 101.

I’m proud of the content you will find in this book and I’m sure you will enjoy it. Thank you again Chris Brogan and thank you to all who have picked this book up and will do so in the future.

Be connected-

Terry Bean

Why the Networked plan will work

Why will the Networked model work?

When Bob Burg first wrote “all things being equal, people do business with
people they know, like and trust”, it instantly resonated with me. Let’s face
it, all business is relationship business.

I’ve long held the belief that selling many products or services to one customer is easier than selling one product or service to many customers.
When you add more value to your current client and prospect base, they will turn to you more often when they have needs.

In addition to creating more value for your network, you can increase your
income. It’s no secret that people need additional sources of income right now.

This is beneficial for those who are working and a necessity for those who are
in between jobs. I want to help you all live a better life. By leveraging the
relationships YOU have, to create the relationships Networked needs, we can have a triple win. Your clients/network wins, you win and my clients win.

In the coming months, Networked will add new clients that can get you paid and make you look like a rock star.

The key is to find products or services that your consumers need. One such
product that every business needs is telecommunications services. Businesses
need these services to makeand receive phone calls as well as connect to the Internet. Frankly, businesses need these services to be in business!

Networked is proud to partner with TelNet Worldwide. Telecommunications
companies in this area are well aware of who TelNet is and they know what a great impact they will have. Consumers are about to know them now too!

To learn how you can earn up to $350.00 for each referral, join us here: http://motorcityconnect.groupsite.com/group/Telnet

I look forward to connecting with you real soon.

Be connected-

Terry Bean

author, “The Universal Guide to Business Networking”

Founder, Motor City Connect

A link to my 5 posts on “The ASK”

You’ve asked for it, you get it. Here, in one place, is a link to all 5 of my prior posts on the topic of ASKing!

If you have been involved with MCC you already know how important the ASK is, but do you know Why we do it? Read this first installment to get an idea of  what The ASK is all about.

If you would like to know what the components of a rock solid ASK are, you should have clicked the link you just read over 😉

Funny thing about ASKing, so many of us don’t know for what to ASK. Is this YOU? If so, take a moment and read the For what to ASK edition.

You can’t have a why, how and what without having a good for Whom to ASK. If you want to see how big your network really is,  you should probably read that too 😉

If you’re wondering why I’m so sure these ASKs work, check out this last post in the installment about the ASK from a Universal Perspective. Be sure to look at my comment below the post to see a link to a great list of Universal Laws.

The power of the ASK in all of its glory.

I have one for you…If you know a business or a group that would like to have someone either train their team on speak to their group on these concepts, I would greatly appreciate the introduction.

Thanks for learning these. The more of us who are out there practicing these concepts, the better off we will all be.

Namaste- (which loosely translated means “the light that is the being you know as me salutes the light that is the being we know as you”)

Terry Bean

http://www.networkedinc.com

You can’t spell Networking without KNOWING

I am a huge fan of all the learning avid networkers are exposed to. As such, I chose to feature that element of networking for this month’s post in The National Networker. You can learn all about what you can learn from networking by clicking HERE. (sorry about that, but that’s how blogs roll some time).
Have a great day and Be Connected!

Staying Visible to your Network

It’s important to recognize that everyone in your network needs to hear from you. What’s dynamic about that is the frequency with which you communicate with them. Sometimes it depends on projects or workload. Other times it depends on how much you like one another.

There are people in your network that you need to communicate with almost daily. There are others that as long as you touch base with them semi-annually, you can keep a relationship strong. In either scenario, you need to have a plan on how to reach out to them.

The simplest and most effective way is to pick up the phone and make a call. Depending on how often you touch base, that may be time consuming. Certainly there are people with whom you love to speak. But you know any conversation with them is 30 minutes at least. What if you don’t have that kind of time?

A sure fire way to stay on people’s radar while adding value to them is to send them information that they will find useful. Everyone loves receiving mail that isn’t a bill. Think about clipping a magazine or newspaper article, sticking it in an envelope and actually mailing it to your colleague. Trust me when I tell you they will be blown away by the gesture.

A much faster way to achieve a similar effect is to email articles or links to people. While this lacks the mail feel, it still
demonstrates caring and people will greatly appreciate your showing interest.

In addition to things you have read, be sure to tell your network
about events you think they will enjoy. Keeping them in the loop will benefit them, but if they attend events where you are, they may be just the person you need to introduce you to your next big opportunity.

How do you determine how often to communicate with folks and how do you reach out to them?

We’re separate enough: Let’s focus on 6 degrees of connectedness

In the mid 90’s a very fun “parlor trick” came about called “6 degrees of Kevin Bacon”. The idea was that every actor in Hollywood could be connected to Kevin within 6 people. Its fascinating how accurate this is and how it proves out the science of networks.

An equally popular use of the phrase is “6 degrees of separation”. Like the Kevin Bacon scenario, this idea suggests that everyone on the planet is connected via those 6 degrees.

My problem with that is the word “separation”. Aren’t we as humans separate enough? I mean, we go so far out of our way to celebrate our differences. Which is especially perculiar considering how similar we are both genetically and from an energy perspective. Newsflash, we are all part of the same.

In an attempt to change the energy around the 6 degrees, I use the word “connectedness” in lieu of “separation”. I understand that mathematically it is the inverse, but from a message perspective, it brings us closer as we should be.

I have also contemplated the 6 things to which we should be most connected. In no particular order they are:

The planet
Others
Technology
Self
Our bliss
The Universe

Want to know more about how being connected to these areas benefit us, check out my talk at TEDxdetroit on 10/21

Be Connected-

Terry