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How to Be a Successful Networker

Social Media is all the thing these days. Everywhere you turn, you’ll find the business experts talking about how important it is to develop online relationships, to meet and get to know potential clients and customers through Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. And they’re right. Much of the business world operates in the virtual world these days and strong online relationships can lead to increased success and new opportunities.

But networking in the “real” world is still an essential component of most businesses. If you do business with people in your geographic area—or if you want to—you need to get out there and get to know people in person.

Amazing concept, I know, but face-to-face networking is still just about the most effective way to meet new people, make new contacts and build your business.

There are many local opportunities for networking. You can find them through your local Chamber of Commerce, through professional associations or even through meetup.com. There is a group for just about every interest. With so many options, how do you know which to choose and how to make the most of your networking opportunity?

Being a veteran of the networking trenches, I have had the opportunity to both network and observe many networkers in action. Here are a few tips that have helped me to make nearly every event a successful one.

Be interested in the people you meet. Even if they aren’t your ideal client, they may lead you to someone who is.

Practice a brief elevator speech before you go—not so much about what you do but about how what you do can help them.

Bring a good supply of professionally printed business cards with you. If you aren’t sure about this one, read this blog post.

Don’t bring your resume or portfolio with you to a networking event. It’s not a go-see; it’s an informal get-to-know-you.

Don’t tell your life story or talk about what a hard time you’re having finding a job. That isn’t what your fellow networkers came to hear. Be brief, be positive and be uplifting. You’ll leave a much better impression.

Don’t talk about irrelevant work experience. For example, if you’re looking for work as a photographer, it won’t help to discuss your background as a tile setter.

Don’t consume too much alcohol. Many networking events are “happy hours.” It will be much happier and more productive if you aren’t intoxicated. Yes, people do notice and remember. One alcoholic beverage is plenty.

Dress professionally. This doesn’t mean you need to wear a business suit, but wearing your work-at-home uniform of jeans and a sweatshirt doesn’t send the message that you’re serious about your business.

Bring your calendar. If you have the opportunity to set up a follow-up appointment, you need to be prepared.

Follow up without being pushy. If you got a business card, but not an invitation to meet or follow up, send an email or make a brief phone call the next day. If you really want to make a great impression, send a handwritten note—but do follow up by the next business day.

What are your best networking tips? Have any experiences to share? Please post your comments, questions and observations in the comment section below.

And if you found this post helpful or interesting, please use the buttons below to share it with your network.

Filed Under: Steps to Success

Three Lessons from the Road

Road trips are my favorite way to travel. I love to see new things and visit new places and I always learn something from every adventure. My recent road trip to Florida was no exception. Besides seeing a whole lot of new country and getting to spend some quality time with my son, I learned a few things that translate well into other areas of my life. Here are the first three:

Always have a plan.

Know where you are going and don’t rely on someone (or something else) to plan your course for you. We used a GPS, but planned the route out ahead of time so I was familiar with where I should be going. This turned out to be a good thing since my GPS was apparently possessed. She got lost a couple of times and began spouting out random rapid-fire directions that made no sense including one to make a right turn into a big ditch, tried to get us to make a U-Turn in the middle of the Kansas Turnpike and rerouted us through Kentucky onto Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. In spite of Ms. Beta’s best efforts (try and tell me your GPS doesn’t have a name), we made it to our destination–and Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride actually turned out to be pretty fun and not really any longer than the “safe” route.

No matter what your unique talent, you can find a way to use it.

We spent a few days at Disney World and saw a lot of different shows while we were there. One thing that I saw over and over was that people with very diverse skills and talents were incorporated into both the Disney shows and into different jobs in the parks. Musicians, gymnasts, jugglers and stilt walkers all found spots in Disney shows along with the more traditional singers and dancers. And beyond the traditional jobs you’d expect to see in an amusement park, there are also computer professionals, engineers, botanists, food scientists and researchers of all types employed there. If you have a skill or talent that isn’t necessarily “traditional” you are likely to find a way to work it into your career. It may take some creativity and effort, but you can always find or make a place doing what you really want.

Be selective.

It simply isn’t possible to do everything all at once and, if you are trying to be all things to all people, you’ll only succeed in making yourself miserable. There were so many things to do and so many places to see as I traveled across country; sidetrips & stops were a constant temptation. But I had a goal and that was to deliver my daughter’s household belongings to FLorida. Even after I got to Florida there was an endless list of choices for spending my time. But I only had five days so I had to choose the activities that best fit in with our schedule and our plans. As a result of not overplanning, every day was enjoyable and I came home with lots of great memories (and photos) of our trip. I also came home with a list of activities I’m looking forward to on our next visit.

Being selective also applies to blog posts. I gained lots of great insights on this trip, but including them all today would make for a ridiculously long blog post, so I’ve picked three of my favorites. Stop by again for more Lessons from the Road.

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What have you learned from your travels through life? Please share your comments, questions and observations below.

Marie Leslie is the chief Creative Genius at Marie Leslie Media. With 30 years experience as a professional writer, editor and photographer she has had work published in many regional and national magazines. Marie currently writes and teaches about business and social media, helping people to understand and make use of the ever-changing internet. She offers social media training and set up, including blog set-up and optimization as well as blog writing & social media management services.

Filed Under: Life Lessons

8 Tips for Surviving the Job Hunt Online

A while back I toyed with the idea of returning to the corporate world (no, I don’t know what I was thinking–perhaps someone spiked my cocoa). I began job hunting, looking for a new challenge and opportunity. Job hunting changed a lot since my last venture into working for someone else. I’ve been completely self-employed for the better part of the last 20 years. The last time I really job hunted, it involved a major investment in postage stamps and business stationery.

Now, there are dozens, if not hundreds of places online to look for jobs. I know. I think I looked at just about all of them—at least it feels that way.

Being the ~~nosy person~~ determined investigator that I am, I found myself analyzing both job sites and job postings. I learned some are great, some are so-so, some are misleading and some are outright scams. I also learned it’s not necessarily obvious which is which (before I started analyzing, I actually applied for a job that I learned was a scam–thankfully before I sent any information).

I find misleading job postings (meaning it’s not really a posting for a job, but generally a thinly-veiled ad for a “training” school, with no guarantee of employment) annoying and scam postings just completely pathetic. I do not understand why people do this stuff. Ok, I do—it’s called greed and preying on the vulnerable—and I find that despicable. If you’re one of those scammers, just know that I really, really, REALLY don’t like you and I’m being polite.

So, for those of you who are out in the job-hunting trenches, I thought I’d share a few tidbits I learned in analyzing the job search process that you should be aware of while you’re out hunting for that perfect job.

Choose your Search Sites Carefully

Not all job search engines are created equal. Some have much better quality postings than others. Some are filled with ads for direct-selling companies, career “colleges” and employment agencies, while others have listings that at least appear to have been directly posted by employers. One particularly annoying search site redirects almost immediately to an ad for an online university. Since I always forget which site it is, I am annoyed every time I go there. I suppose I should add it to my personal list of sites that waste my time. Another site actually sent me an offer to become a “job finder” for them. For every job posting I found online and submitted to them, they would pay me a modest fee—a VERY modest fee (ok, it was ridiculously cheap)–if I was the first submitter. Not exactly what I had in mind for a job.

Also, you do NOT have to register or upload your resume to use a job search site. If they require it, go find another site. There are plenty out there that won’t make you give them more information than you should be giving out to complete strangers. All registering and posting a resume will really do for you is to fill your inbox with spam. And do you really want to put your educational and employment history out there for every random entity to browse?

Beware of Misleading Ads

Watch out for these. They present themselves as a job posting, but on more careful examination, you’ll find they are actually advertisements for “training” programs. If you really don’t have skills for a job you want, either look for a company with a training program or pay a visit to your local community college or vocational/technical school. It’s probably going to cost less money and almost certainly going to leave you with a more employable skill. Here’s an example of one of these ads that I found this morning.

Don’t count on this being a free training program. I thought about contacting them to see what it would cost, but I have better things to do today than end up on an annoying telemarketing or spam list.

Don’t Pay to Play

If a job posting or site requires you to pay any fees in connection with an application, it’s a huge red flag. Fees for background checks, application fees, work permit fees are all warning signs that you need to proceed with caution, if at all (personally, I’d run the other way). If a potential employer wants to run a background check on you, it is THEIR expense, not yours. Legitimate jobs don’t come with application or permit fees. At least none of the jobs I have so far–if they are really out there, I stand corrected. If there are permits or licenses required as part of the job (such as a food handler’s permit), those come AFTER the job offer not before AND they are NOT paid to the employer, they would be paid to an appropriate licensing agency. If you are required to have the credentials before the interview, it should clearly state so in the application process–and again, you won’t be paying those license fees to a potential employer, especially without a firm offer of employment.

There are legitimate employment agencies that require you to pay a fee once they find you a job, but they must disclose those fees to you BEFORE you start the application process. I’ve dealt with a couple of these types of agencies during my career life and never been impressed. You are likely to get a much better job using an employment agency where the employer pays the agency.

Here’s an e-mail I got when I applied to that aforementioned job scam. I’ve left off the company name; it’s ALMOST like the name of a local company here in town. This one was particularly elaborate—they even set up a fake company blog site. The first red flag for me was that I was to obtain a credit report at my expense from a company of their choosing, and then once I had sent it to them, then they would call me for an interview.

Do I look like I just fell off the turnip truck? (don’t answer that)

Yeah, right. I’m just going to send all my personal financial information to a blind box. Not.

Second, I “googled” the company (I research everything–for what it’s worth, I have a degree in investigative journalism and I am nosy as h@!!. I want to know all I can about a company if I think I might be going to work for them). I run a blogsite, two blogs and an online store, and I design WordPress sites for other companies. In other words, I know what should be on a website and this one just wasn’t right.

Watch out for Salaries and Job Descriptions that Don’t Make Sense

Some job postings come with a salary range; some don’t. Ok, most don’t. Generally, you’ll see a salary on government jobs and possibly a starting range on others. But you should have some idea of what a reasonable salary is for the type of job you are looking for. If you find a job that has a salary that’s way out of line for either the job description or the job title, run the other way. You have not hit the jackpot. You have just found a job scam.

Here’s one I found today. It’s actually almost funny. I am hoping no one was stupid enough to actually respond to this one.

For what it’s worth the median salary for a job with this title is about $40,000/year. If this job were full-time, it would start at $110k. Where do I sign up?

And here’s another one. I seriously contemplated the benefits of telecommuting. But I’m not quite sure how this one would work. Would I be e-mailing those clients a virtual beverage or just drinking it on their behalf?

Pay Attention to the Dates

All of the better (in my opinion) job search sites (even Craigslist, which is actually a great source for local jobs—and scams—be smart) offer the ability to filter job postings by date. Make sure the job you are applying for is a current posting. Don’t just go by the date/time that it appeared on the site; look through the posting to find out when it was originally advertised. There are a few of the larger sites that cull postings from other sites and some of those postings are 30 days or more old. I would rarely apply for anything that has been up more than a few days. Within a week, for most jobs that aren’t highly specialized, the employer is going to have received more than enough resumes to fill the job a dozen times over.

Go to the Source

Whenever possible, if you are replying to a job posting that includes the company name, go directly to their website to get more information and to apply for the job. Not only does this ensure that you will be providing the potential employer (and ONLY your potential employer) with all of the information they need to consider you, you will be sure that the job opening is current and legitimate. I have also found in visiting an employer’s site that sometimes I find other openings that are of even more interest to me.

Be Careful with Online Job Applications

Online applications are becoming increasingly common. Many employers, especially larger companies will have you upload a resume as a Word, text or PDF file. They will also have you fill out a job application online. These are generally legitimate sites and, if you’ve gotten there directly from the company website, you shouldn’t have anything to worry about.

There is one thing to be careful of, though. Many companies now routinely run credit checks and/or background checks as part of the hiring process. While I’m not a fan of the random credit check (I think it’s overkill and not the best judge of an employee but that’s a different blog post), I do understand why it’s done and know it is required in certain industries. For these companies, their online applications require you to provide your social security and/or drivers’ license number. Before providing this information, make sure you are on a secure site.

You can know a site is secure if you see the little lock in the bottom corner of your browser or if their address starts with https, instead of just http. You can learn more about secure websites here. Personally, I recommend NOT entering these numbers unless you know you are on a secure site

(and I haven’t found one yet that is). It makes me wonder how careful they are about safeguarding employee and client information if they’re willing to play fast and loose with your social security number on the web.

Tell the Truth

And here’s my final piece of job searching advice, online or otherwise. Don’t pad your resume. Don’t make stuff up. You can make yourself look as good as you want—you don’t have to lie to look good. It WILL come back and bite you in the backside and Karma, well, it can be a good thing or a bad thing. Keep it a good thing.

Good luck with the job search. I’d love to hear what you’ve found out there. Please share your tips, advice and experience in the comments section so other readers can benefit from your experience–either as a job seeker or an employer.