If they DO respond, I code their contact information with a #1 – this means that they have responded to my question and could possibly be interested in building a relationship.  If they answer my question AND tell me what they are looking for as a referral, I then code their data with a #2 – this is now a connection to me.  When we begin to have conversations back and forth, and I mean more than 3 or 4 different emails – but several emails and potentially an opportunity to talk on the telephone, I then code them a #3.  Their request info is also updated with each and every “touch” I have with them so that my records are current.  If I have all their information, their birthdays and what I feel is enough personal information, I then code them a #4 in my data records.

Follow-up is done depending on what number they are coded.  #1’s I try to send something to at least once a year.  #2  gets information from me based upon what time of information is being shared – potentially be added to my newsletter or ezine.  #3 are added to my newsletter list and #4 usually hear from me in some form or another every week or nearly every week.  I share tips, refer articles, ask them to comment on my blog posts, I comment on their blog posts, etc. and continue to work on building our relationships.

#5  – the most coveted number in my database is limited to people I have a good, strong solid relationship with.  Someone who has gone the extra mile to send me new contacts, send me information that would be helpful in my business, those who comment on my blog with the intention of helping me build readership – not just to get the backlinks, etc.  Those types of people I am going to keep in touch with as often as possible.

It is possible that the numbers can change on the contacts, again it is based on how much we interact.  Follow me on Twitter will get you a minimum #3; become my friend of FaceBook could realistically be any number, again depending on info being shared between us. 

Networking is work, it is work to keep track of your contacts and even more work to keep track of referrals you make and receive.  Please be sure to mark in  your contact management system a date you receive a referral and be sure to thank that person within the next 24 hours.  Referrals you make to others, don’t wait for them to follow-up with you, contact them – I’d give them no more than a week and I’d be asking what the status was of the referral I made for them.

Now it’s your turn, tell us about what  YOU use for your contact management and please share how you develop your database.  I’d love to see your comment(s) listed below for my readers to share!

“Hi Carol, I am from website design and development company based in India. As you arrange public conference so you must interacted with the people of same field. I am looking for business opportunities, can I get references from you.”

My response was: I’m sorry I am not able to provide any references for anyone that I have not done work with. You see, I’m a networking coach and I do believe in helping others achieve their goals but before any business is referred to anyone, a relationship must be built. You must get to know, like and trust the person you are referring and you must also be willing to take care of the person you are making that referral to.

One of the reasons why I opened this Skype Room was to give people the opportunity to interact with one another, to learn more about each other, personally and professionally. Learn how the other person does their work, find out what their work ethics are and generally get to know one another.

My network is important to me- I will not jeopardize the relationships I built my referring someone to any of them without knowing (1) if my network contact even needs their service (2) would be willing to talk with a new vendor (3) or is in the position of being able to pay for the services that are being offered. On the other hand, for the vendor that is referred, I want to know that they are ethical, going to do what they say they are going to do, when they say they are going to do it and not be pushy with my network. The only way I can make sure that happens is to take TIME to get to know the people I am referring. Nothing should be rushed; it’s not a “nice to meet you and now buy from me” situation. That’s no better than running around a networking event just handing out your business cards and saying buy from me. I just won’t do that and I won’t apologize to anyone for not doing that.

I would be totally out of line to refer a new vendor to anyone in my network just because the new vendor told me they want more business. You know, the whole world wants more business. Networking is a tremendous way to get new business, but you do need to know the proper way to do that. Networking is work- you have to “work” at it – the rewards often are tremendous, but it does take time. Just because you want something, does that mean you are going to get it? Of course not, work at developing those relationships. You may be pleasantly surprised how much you receive by doing this but don’t be alarmed at the amount of time you have to spend networking to get these results. It’s not instantaneous gratification! A good point to remember is that what is most important to YOU, may be of no importance at all to THEM – the tune you should be listening to is WIIFT (what’s in it for THEM) not WIIFY (what’s in it for YOU).

“Thanks Carol, I will try my level best to become a member of your network and you will certainly get to know more about me if you look at this website www.xxx.xxxx” Apparently my message wasn’t quite clear enough, because this new person wants to send me to their website to learn more about them. What happens at the website is that I find out about the business, but what does that tell me about the person? People do business with people, not businesses. That’s why it is important to make sure people understand you and how you work – how you take care of your clients, what makes you stand out from the competition? Why should I do business with you? How are you going to solve my problem(s)?

“Can I join your public chat?” Yes, you may join my public chat and yes, I would like to get to know more about you. Just remember, it takes time – share some tips, chat with the members of the chat room and get to know them. It’s ok to share your website on promo day (read the blue guidelines to find out what days that is permitted) but generally participate in conversations! I welcome anyone to come and join in the conversations in the Skype Room – you can find it very easily at http://www.runlancaster.com/skype-room/networking or you may request to connect with me via Skype and I can manually add you into the room.

Please do yourself a favor and don’t ask someone you just meet to refer business to you. Take the time to build the relationship – it will be much better for both of you to know the type of relationship you are part of – knowing that the other person is looking out for your best interest as well as for the referring party’s best interest.

“When do I get to talk about me – doesn’t the person I’m meeting want to know what I do?” I just read a blog post from Michael Port, who has an audio that tells you better than I can how to do this. Listen to it here:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/blog/post/PLNK2S8CRTN2SI5HF

I’d love to hear your thoughts and comments on this topic – please post them in the comments section below!  If you really like this post, and want to Tweet about it, I’d really appreciate that too!

After a bit, we started chatting on Skype. After I was asked to join Carol as a co-moderator of LinkedIn Power Women, we found that we not only had a lot in common, but we were actually typing in the same words at the same time to people!  We found that we react in a similar way to a lot of things.  It was so nice.

We have gone so far as to kid around that we are “sisters from another mother”!

In between the fun and support, we are actually working on projects together and helping each other grow business.

We became very close personally, and professionally.  Last week I had the honor of actually visiting one of Carol’s in person networking groups.  It was amazing to spend a good chunk of the day with someone that I know from online networking and phone calls.

Carol and I are living examples of networking, and netweaving, in action!

Dr. Sally Witt on left, Carol Deckert on right (the cute one!!)

Stay tuned for video interviews with Dr. Sally and Carol, and more!

You can listen here to Carol’s interview on the Dr. Sally Show:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/drsallywitt/2008/04/14/Carol-Deckert-good-friend-amazing-Networking-Coach

If you want to network with me, just try one or more of the sites below and add me as a friend!

Sally

Dr. Sally Witt Breakthrough Coach/Hypnotherapist

drsallywitt@gmail.com

215/736-0900

skype: drsallywitt

http://www.drsallywitt.com

www.blogtalkradio.com/drsallywitt

http://www.linkedin.com/in/sallywitt

http://twitter.com/drsallywitt

http://www.youtube.com/drsallywitt

http://activerain.com/drsallywitt

http://www.ojeez.com/drsallywitt

http://myspace.com/sallywitt

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=688850804

http://www.ryze.com/go/drsallywitt

Feel free to send me an invitation to link, or to be a friend on any of the sites!

Netweaving is really a lot of fun and it is the latest, best way to utilize your network.  You can position yourself as a Resource, a go-to person, if you will, one that has a massive contact list and knows just the right people for the right situation and is willing to share that information with others.  You could also position yourself as a Connector, one who helps others by introducing them to key people that may be needed to help develop their business to the next level, or may simply have a need for their services or products.  Either way, by helping someone else, focusing on others, your networking efforts are laser-sharpened and people will respond.  By doing these activities without the thought of what’s in it for me (WIIFM) and thinking of others instead, your payback will be bountiful somewhere in the near or possibly distant future.  You may never be able to attribute a growth in your business from one particular person or event, but you WILL benefit by paying it forward.  I’d love to see you all concentrate on doing that, see what the results are – I know you will be absolutely amazed!  Givers do gain – sometimes the gain is a whole lot more than financial wealth. 

A great example of netweaving is exactly what we are doing in our Skype Room network. When someone is having a problem with their blog, their Squidoo lens, their website, and they need advice on how to fix or solve their problem, they turn to one of us.  We are here to help one another!  Do we expect to be financially paid for our help – no, for the most part, we don’t.  We simply help one another and by helping one another, we all grow.  There are exceptions to this when two people contract with each other to work together and that’s perfectly okay – there’s nothing saying that services and/or products cannot be paid for – we are running businesses!  But the paying it forward opportunity excels right here, in this network.   I hope you are all aware of the rich contacts you have made  here and will continue to help one another – together we will all grow and be wildly successful! 

If anyone is interested in joining our Skype Room Connections, please feel free to visit http://www.runlancaster.com/skype-room/networking   You do need to have Skype installed on  your computer (it’s a free service, you are able to talk computer to computer anywhere in the world, free!) and please be sure to develop your profile on Skype!  As a community, there is a lot of great information that is shared with others and we would love to have you participate too!  We also have a community blog, one where we can each contribute on a subject that is helpful to others – visit http://www.passionprojectblog.com and meet some of the awesome contributors!  We also welcome your comments and your help in generating conversations!

So now tell me – who have you connected lately?  Have you helped someone grow their business by connecting them with someone in your network or have you helped them solve some sort of problem with their business?  If you are looking for some help for yourself or your business, the easiest way to ask is to start with “who do YOU know WHO . . .” and netweaving begins!  Keep it moving forward and help someone else – share your knowledge, time or talents!

I invite you to join in the conversation here, post your comments and let us get to know more about you!  And if you need some help, I’m always available – contact me by Skype (Deckert1116) or email or via the blog or my website – http://www.runlancaster.com

I’m looking forward to learning more about you and your business!  Make it an awesome day – help someone – you’ll be glad you did!

If you want to learn more about using Skype, check out Julie Wolf’s tips for using Skype Rooms at http://www.incomeassurance.com/skype-room .  Julie is our resident Skype Expert and will help you find the best ways to utilize Skype as you develop all your sales funnels to grow your business.

If you are interested in discovering how your can monetize and develop your passion, visit Katherine Reschke’s Skype Room at http://passionsthatpay.com/skype-room .  Katherine is an excellent coach and is a great brainstorming and accountability partner!  There are a lot of awesome people that hang out in this room, all willing to share their knowledge and expertise with one another!  Stop by and meet them!

Networking – lots of opportunities exist!  If you are interested in learning how to effectively and efficiently build those important business relationships, check out my Skype Room http://www.runlancaster.com/skype-room  In this room you will find discussions going on about all the ways you can improve your networking whether it is online or offline.  Discuss the things you enjoy doing and discover what the others enjoy as well. 

The one thing that stands out loud and clear – all participants in this room have a giving attitude – they want to share their expertise!  No question is too big or too small, or insignificant.  Everyone takes whatever time is needed to solve your problem and there is usually someone around that can help you out!

Time management – now that’s a tough one.  Since these Skype Rooms are very busy – conversations going on in many different directions, how do you manage your time there?  That’s a question we were asked today while we were attending Lynn Terry’s Weekly Internet Marketing Q&A.  By the way, here’s the link if you would like to join us next week!  http://www.selfstartersweeklytips.com/webinars/login.htm

I keep all the Skype Rooms open during the day and when I receive a notification, I quickly skim the message to see if I need to do something right now.  If not, I go back to work and reply when I need a break.  The nice thing about this is I am not forced to stop and check out the message if I am busy with another project!  I could choose Do Not Disturb and I will simply see a red flag on my Skype icon when  I am ready to read the posts. 

My main reason for using Skye Rooms is to build my business; for keeping in touch with people who are currently in my contact list; to meet new people; chatting with people to learn more about them as a step in the relationship developing stage and for sharing my networking tips so that I can be viewed as an Expert in Networking and Relationship Building.

How about you?  Do you participate in any Skype Rooms?  If you do, what is your favorite one?  Where do you hang out to network and learn?  Please post your comments and your questions – how can I help you network with Skype?