Today I was standing in line at the post office and recognized the gentleman in front of me. But if you had offered me a million dollars, I couldn’t tell you his name or how I knew him! Totally awful, right? Except after we said hello / how are you, he asked how things were at BNI. Given a context, I knew who he was, what he does and had good questions to ask while we waited for the person in front of us to send 37 (no kidding – 37) packages overseas. So, what did I learn? At this time of year when you are going to all kinds of events and get togethers, after the initial “hi”, give the other person a context. Ask them a question about the place where you met. Even if they remember you, it will help the conversation […] Continue reading

Lately I’ve been talking to a large number of people asking me how I do so well with networking.  I actually wrote a short course on how to network awhile ago and have touched on it in newsletters several times, but I wanted to take a minute and outline what I do to help network. The most difficult situation is when you are walking into a room of total strangers.  If I don’t know of anyone attending the meeting, I contact the organizer and find out who will be there.  Then, I will contact a couple people and agree to meet up at the event.  This helps so much because when you walk in you have a purpose.  It also means when someone says hello, you can tell them you are looking for someone. If they know the person they will help you find them. […] Continue reading