About Carol Deckert, Netweaving Coach
Hi! Thanks for stopping by . . . my name is Carol Deckert and I am a Netweaving/Networking Coach, working with small business owners, entrepreneurs and business professionals. I help you understand how to efficiently and effectively network to build your business.
1993 found me unemployed for the very first time in my life! Recently I become active on the internet and have been networking online since 2004 learning a lot – everyone has been so willing to help and share their favorite tips! Becoming self-employed was not something that I had planned on doing, consequently I was not ready, financially, to operate a business.
While I was employed, my boss encouraged me to become active in our local Chamber of Commerce, and I’m very glad that I did. When I was ready to open my business, I did know that I had to let people know that I existed and what I was doing, so I began attending more of the Chamber’s functions so that I could meet more people. Volunteering with the Chamber on many small business committees opened many doors for me to begin picking up new clients for my new Secretarial Service (now referred to as a Virtual Assistant). Learning how to spread the word positively about me and my business was a great experience and I began assisting other small business owners to learn to do the same.
Over the years, as my business grew, so did the number of contacts that I had. Soon I found myself with a great rolodex full of people who specialized in many different services and products. Being involved with some networking organizations, I soon realized that the focus was not on building rapport between the members – but was focused on the number of referrals that each member would contribute each month. No one was focusing on building relationships, getting to know other people, what they did, what they needed, etc.
During a period of about two years, as I was recuperating from some serious health issues, I focused my time and energy on learning all I could about networking organizations. Taking the best ideas I could find from all these different organizations, I developed Referrals Unlimited Network. Opening the doors to RUN in January 2007 was a great honor for me. This group is focused on learning more about each other with the goal of building strong relationships, supporting one another in their business growth and mastermind activities to add new and improved products or services to their business. Many times, the Entrepreneur or the Solopreneur has no one to share their concerns with or celebrate their successes with. RUN members do this for each other! This has been so much fun, that I decided to include some online networking to this venture.
One of the ways I teach networking is to teach people how to do netweaving. NetWeaving, a rather simple concept focused on more effectively developing reciprocal business relationships that has far-reaching potential.
In traditional networking, you go to a function with the idea of trying to gain strategic alliances that help boost your business or the mindset of “What’s in it for me?” It’s an effective means of making new contacts and developing business relations that can be very beneficial for anyone. Netweaving is an approach I find more comfortable. Netweaving, coined by Bob Littrell, a marketing consultant within the financial services industry. Rather than going to the “event” to learn what might lead to new business, you attend with the intent of learning all you can from as many people as possible about their business, their needs, and their challenges. The objective is to try to help as many people as you can. The help you provide may be putting them in touch with someone you know or sharing insight that can help the other person.
The underlying theme of Netweaving is what I find valuable . . .the reciprocity—doing good things for others can repay you many times over. Without ever hearing that term, I was already doing those things! When I helped others, good things happened to me.
Bob Littell offers an actual true-life story to explain the power of Netweaving. He was scheduled to deliver the keynote address for the opening day of a big Xerox Global Services Users Group Workshop for the insurance and financial services industry. Weather conditions caused arrival delays for key executive participants, so the meeting start time kept getting delayed. It became apparent to Bob that his long keynote speech might not fit the available time, so he offered to make his Netweaving speech focus on “How can we help each other?” to kick off the conference. The presentation was a hit, and the tone for the entire one-and-a-half-day workshop became, “How can I help you?” People had materials sent overnight to share with others the next day. People at Xerox Global Services still talk about this workshop as a benchmark event, and they have become strong believers in the Netweaving principles.
Referrals Unlimited Network (RUN) was developed as a tool to teach business networking skills such as Netweaving to others. RUN is a face-to-face, exclusive networking group focused on building solid business relationships in order to pass and receive qualified business referrals. Currently we are located only in Lancaster, PA but watch for additional chapters to be opening throughout the US and Canada. An online membership site is also being developed to extend the opportunity to help other entrepreneurs no matter where they live.
Plans for 2010 include launching anonline membership group learning about one another on an international level; this blog; additional websites; some podcasting, some e-books, some e-courses with goals of writing a book on the best kept secrets of networking. Thanks for joining me in this venture.
Stay tuned – there are some exciting things happening and I’ll be reporting them on this blog. As for me, I don’t think about retirement, even though I have 3 children and 5 grandchildren – my husband knows that I am having too much fun to stop working! Having the opportunity to schedule my own hours gives me plenty of time to stop and play with the grandkids and at the same time, assist with the family income!
If you would like more information on RUN, please visit our website http://www.runlancaster.com or simply send me an email carol@runlancaster.com
Coming soon . . . http://www.CarolConnectsPeople.com is my blog where I will be focusing on a lot of personal tips and techniques to help you get very comfortable with networking and netweaving. That blog will also include some awesome resources for you. Most important, this is where I will be introducing you to some of the most awesome people I have ever met – people that I feel are worth recommending and would love to see you connect with!
I’m looking forward to reading your comments/posts! Thanks for stopping by!
Please join me in my Skype-Room Networking Community!
Carol Deckert – Business Networking and Relationship Building hosted by deckert1116.
Chat about what’s on your mind. More about public chats.
| | 
Subscribe to It!
