Providing tips on people skills, networking, and making the most of professional and personal contacts (especially for shy people!). As well as other random observations and musings . . .
Think of people who have helped your career. For example, someone who wrote a reference for you to get a job or a client. Was there someone who suggested you go for a promotion? Did you write a thank you note? Do they know you got the promotion? Was there someone who write a reference for you to get into grad school?
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Sample #1 - Someone who gave you a job reference
Dear __________,
I was thinking of you the other day when I was at work. I remember how wonderful you were to take the time to write a letter of reference which helped me get the job.
Please let me know if I can be a resource for you at any time.
Best ~ (your name), (your cell #)
Sample #2 - Someone who introduced you to a new customer/client
Dear __________,
I was thinking of you the other day when I was meeting with ___________. I remember how wonderful you were to take the time to introduce us.
Please let me know if I can be a resource for you at any time.
Are you looking to differentiate yourself from your competitors?
Trying to find a way to reach prospects, donors, or employees?
Want to save money?
I'm inviting you to join "the thank you project."
According to a U.S. Postal Service survey, the average American receives a personal, handwritten piece of mail once every seven weeks. NBC's Brian Williams reports.
Here's the project ....
Most of us have notecards somewhere in a drawer
Find 4 of them - don't over think this. If it turns out you like this project, you can design cards later, get them printed or something else.
For now ... think SIMPLE and SHORT
We'll just send notes in January
Find 4 stamps - again, you probably have them in a drawer. The best part is the USPS now has FOREVER stamps.
Voila! You're done! More next Friday! And yes, it will be Friday, the 13th
You're investment for this project is:
Notecards - probably in your drawer
Stamps - either in your drawer or 44 cents x 4 = a whopping $1.76
5 minutes each Friday
I look forward to hearing your results ... and yes, you can send me an email instead of a handwritten note. Just send it to: Diane at EffectiveNetworking dot com or you can send me a Tweet @DianeDarling.
Can you teach a dinosaur to dance? More importantly, can you teach him to network in 21st Century style? I was skeptical.
But George Langis, a veteran turnaround executive, dispelled doubts
by learning new networking steps that may hasten his job hunt. He went
from conventional handshake networking to creating a personal brand
that would be easily marketable online. Though Mr. Langis still
hesitates to plunge into "tweeting," his experience could benefit
countless other older applicants with rusty job-hunting skills.
Isaac Brekken for the Wall Street Journal
Our
experts considered George Langis, a veteran turnaround executive, a
deft conventional networker who needed to broaden his online reach.
Unemployment among Americans age 55 and up has exceeded 6% every
month since March 2009, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics figures show.
That represents the highest joblessness rate for this age group in
almost 60 years. The rate, though, is lower than the overall jobless
rate as well the rates for all other age groups.
Mr. Langis helped fix nine small and midsize concerns since 2000,
following a lengthy corporate-finance career. His last turnaround gig,
as interim chief executive of Turbine Generator Maintenance Inc. in
Cape Coral, Fla., ended in late November.
At my request, three networking specialists devised innovative
approaches for Mr. Langis after traditional tactics, such as his recent
sessions with 79 contacts in eight cities, failed to bear fruit. He
embraced nearly all of their ideas. They range from drafting a
"networking profile" to joining a global network of expert consultants
typically retained for an hour at a time.
"Dinosaurs do dance," insists Mr. Langis, a 63-year-old resident of
Henderson, Nev., with broad shoulders and smiles. "I lead change in
companies. I can certainly change."
He acquired his fresh dance steps from Alicia Whitaker, a New York
executive coach; Stephanie Daniel, an outplacement counselor for a unit
of Keystone Partners, a Boston human-resources consultancy; and Diane
Darling, founder of Effective Networking Inc. in Boston.
For starters, they consider Mr. Langis a deft conventional
networker. They cite his month-long "Sell George" tour this winter to
see contacts he collected during his career. And then there's the
regular email and telephone interaction with his roughly 500 best
contacts—even while toiling 70 hours a week on a turnaround. "George
does most of his critical networking face to face," Ms. Daniel
observes.
Mr. Langis doesn't send text messages, "friend" anyone via Facebook
or send tweets to people on Twitter, a micro-blogging service.
Bolstering his outreach will produce "a more strategic and more defined
network," Ms. Darling says.
For people like Mr. Langis who aren't yet comfortable about putting
themselves on multiple social networks, there are some clever ways to
create a presence online. Here are the top tips from his informal
advisers:
• Develop a stronger online identity by revamping your résumé.
Mr. Langis's résumé contained a vague summary statement, calling him "a
seasoned executive" who served distressed and healthy businesses. To
better catch someone's eye online, the experts encouraged him to tout
his turnaround stints. Ms. Whitaker believes he could better convey his
passion and experience with this summary statement: "I make sick
companies significantly better for owners and employees." Mr. Langis
says he altered the wording "the day it was suggested."
Ms. Daniel urged Mr. Langis to create a networking profile, too. The
document typically describes a job seeker's 20 target employers,
desired positions and career plans. It also contains a brief review of
accomplishments. A networking profile "could increase the productive
leads he receives from his networking contacts," Ms. Daniel says. He
can present the document when he meets someone face to face for the
first time or "he can store it online through LinkedIn," she says.
• Make better use of LinkedIn, a professional networking Web site.
Heeding the trio's suggestions, Mr. Langis revived his inactive
LinkedIn account. He expanded his barebones professional description
and added 1,500 of his contacts to LinkedIn. Most of his contacts are
private-equity industry players.
Mr. Langis discovered only 72 contacts belong to LinkedIn, which has
more than 60 million members world-wide. "I hope my being there will
attract those who are not among my current contacts," he says. He then
inserted his simplified LinkedIn address below his automatic signature
on email messages.
Ms. Darling suggests Mr. Langis solicit LinkedIn testimonials from
prior bosses. Ms. Daniel thinks he should join specialized LinkedIn
groups, such as the one for consultants with expertise in management
changes and turnarounds, and connect with international professionals
in his field.
• Create a more visible personal brand. Mr. Langis
admits he lacks a well-known brand as a turnaround specialist. He never
knew he might benefit, as Ms. Whitaker suggested, from consulting for a
rent-an-expert network, which provides small doses of specialized
information.
Gerson Lehrman Group, for instance, has enrolled about 250,000
experts world-wide. They typically earn about $350 an hour, according
to Margaret Molloy, a senior vice president of the New York concern.
Clients, which include private-equity firms, tap experts' knowledge
through short phone calls or consultations over meals.
Positioning yourself as a thought leader this way will broaden your
pool of potential employers, Ms. Whitaker told Mr. Langis.
Private-equity companies "are not necessarily out in the market
scanning for new talent all the time," she notes.
Ms. Darling believes Mr. Langis could further heighten his
visibility if he gave speeches, wrote trade-press articles and taught
Webinars for alumni of schools where he received degrees. "When you are
a speaker, you are instantly networking with 100 people," she says.
Mr. Langis addressed a College of Southern Nevada class last week at
the invitation of his handyman's son, who is a student there. He says
he told business students "what I do and how I got there." His last
campus speaking engagement occurred around 1998, the executive recalls.
• Get a bigger payoff from industry events. Mr.
Langis usually finds himself so busy doing turnarounds that he lacks
time for meetings of the Turnaround Management Association, a
professional group. Ms. Darling says he should find the time to help
the group arrange for speakers because he'll earn a program mention
that pops up in Google when hiring managers check his name.
When he simply attends a conference, Mr. Langis might obtain the
participant list in advance and arrange casual events for those he
wants to know, Ms. Whitaker proposes. He could invite people for drinks
or sit together at a certain breakfast table. Playing host "can be more
effective than generally 'working the room,' " she adds. Mr. Langis
rejected some of the recommendations, such as using Twitter. With brief
Twitter messages, Ms. Daniel believes, he could update contacts about
his search and alert them about interesting articles. "Give and take is
what networking is all about," she says.
Mr. Langis, though, considers Twitter to be "a little bit hokey." Nevertheless, "I'm willing to try new things," he says.
His multi-month job search is "just taking longer than usual," Mr.
Langis observes. But with these new strategies, he's confident that his
hunt will soon experience its own turnaround.
Master The Fine Art Of Networking To Win Clients And Increase Sales!
Reach out to the right people in the right way. Play to your
strengths. Overcome your fears. Do your homework, and target your ideal
clients...and the people who can get you close to them. Employ the techniques that transform card-carrying introverts into networking superstars.
Presented by Diane Darling, this engaging 1-hour session will cover:
Unlocking the networking potential of current relationships
Networking strategies in a down economy
Building the right relationships for future gain
Networking with people who know your ideal clients
Networking tips for a variety of personality types
and more...
Diane Darling is Founder and CEO of Effective Networking,
and author of "The Networking Survival Guide" and "Networking for
Career Success". She has appeared on NBC Nightly News, in The Wall
Street Journal, San Francisco Chronicle, and The Boston Globe. She
recently taught in the MBA program at Boston University. Register now!
Kind regards,
Rich Baker
CEO & Founder
Glance Networks, Inc. glance@glance.net 1-877-452-6236 or +1-...
Is your network working for you? Diane Darling,
Boston-based author of two books on networking, offers advice on how to
get the most out of your network, both online and offline.
