Network Like You Mean It

A thoroughly comprehensive toolkit to help you develop all the networking skills you want to know, practice, and utilize. The art of effective networking is absolutely vital to building solid business relationships and to finding, growing, and keeping your business and enhancing your life. You will find the answers to important networking questions and topics, with advice on how to achieve your goals within each, such as: How do I start a conversation with someone I find intimidating? How do I ask tough questions tactfully? How do I start and exit a conversation at internal and external business events? How do I “network” with someone I may not like, but who is key in the department or industry? What are some of the topics to avoid? What are examples of great opening lines, icebreakers, and small talk when I’m networking? How do I follow-up? How do I establish and create advocates and referral opportunities? How do I know when I’m networking? Where can I find a systematic approach to networking? How can I keep all of my contacts organized and easy to reach? How can I continue to find, keep, and grow my business all the time? How do I develop my own "self-brand"? You can read the whole book or pick and choose topics as you need them as a lifelong reference. As Andrea says: "You already have the tools inside you — it’s just a matter of developing a system and sticking to it."

An internationally known public speaker, entrepreneur, and marketing executive shares practical, up-to-date tips for mastering the skills of networking. Networking doesn’t have to be that frenzied old-school game of calendars packed with stuffy power lunches and sterile evenings at community business gatherings. We’ve entered a new era, one in which shifting cultural values and the explosion of digital technology enable us to network in vastly more efficient, more focused, and more enjoyable ways. A fresh take on How to Win Friends and Influence People, Your Network Is Your Net Worth is an entertaining, straightforward guide filled with revealing case studies, hands-on advice, and innovative strategies for building your network. Written by sought-after speaker, entrepreneur, and marketing executive Porter Gale, with a foreword by Apple evangelist and bestselling author Guy Kawasaki, this book shows you how to establish, expand, and nurture your connections both online and off. New ways to network are popping up every day—and Gale tells you how to make the most of them—but even traditional networking opportunities are not the same animals that they once were, and we need to shift our attitudes and approaches accordingly. Networking has evolved from a transactional game to a transformational process. Whereas once it was about power plays, now it’s about charting your own course, following your passions, and making meaningful connections, which in turn increase your happiness and productivity. In addition to chronicling her own rise from an ad agency intern to an in-demand consultant, Gale also shares the inspiring stories of so many others who live by this networking model: a military wife who connects with social media communities while her husband is deployed overseas, a young woman blog-ger battling leukemia, a dyslexic politician who wins elections by telling stories, and the CEO of a Major League Baseball team who once made a phone call that changed the course of his life. When you focus on your passions and reorganize your networking around your values and beliefs, you will discover the kind of lasting relationships, personal transformation, and, ultimately, tangible wealth that are the foundation for happiness and success. With a message both timely and important, Your Network Is Your Net Worth is the definitive handbook to Networking 2.0.

For introverts, one of the most intimidating skills they need to develop in order be successful in business and life is networking. Matthew Pollard, the leading expert on introversion and business growth, shares how introverts can actually turn their perceived weakness into a competitive edge.

The Geek Gap is thoroughly original, virtually unique, of paramount importance and, on top of ALL that, a 'great read.' Bill Pfleging and Minda Zetlin deserve a giant 'Hats off' for this wonderful piece of work. --Tom PetersBusiness managers (suits) and technology professionals (geeks) have become warring camps in too many companies. While both groups have no trouble following the lingo of their own specialties, when they have to communicate with each other, neither side fully understands-or wants to understand-the other. And that's a big problem in an increasingly technology-dependent business environment where success depends on the smooth integration of both business savvy and technological expertise.Bill Pfleging-a respected computer and Web consultant-and Minda Zetlin-a veteran business writer-explore, in this insightful, witty, and very instructive book, the culture clash that pervades nearly every business-technology interaction. The Geek Gap provides members of both camps a practical guide to working together effectively. Using many real-world examples, the authors vividly illustrate the consequences in time, money, careers, and even lives when these separate cultures fail to communicate. By far the most serious example was the Challenger space shuttle disaster, which was likely the direct result of an internal clash and lack of communication between NASA's managers and engineers.The authors provide practical solutions for building trust between business and computer professionals. The book is filled with tips aimed at geeks and suits to help each group understand the other, communicate in what amounts to a foreign language, and get what they need to do their jobs effectively. The authors profile companies and individual executives who have successfully bridged the gap by conducting events that bring the two groups together, switching jobs from one area to the other, creating whole new careers as go-betweens, and much, much more.This is the first book to directly address issues of communication and understanding between business and technology people. The Geek Gap-in identifying this problem and providing numerous practical and workable solutions-is an indispensable guide for all.Bill Pfleging (Woodstock, NY) is a computer and Web consultant who writes a regular technology column for the Woodstock Times. With computer experience going back to the early 1970s at IBM, he has also worked for Tripod.com and Lycos Network.Minda Zetlin (Woodstock, NY) is a longtime business writer whose work has appeared in Crain's New York Business, Success!, Management Review, and other publications. She is also the author of Telecommuting for Dummies and co-author of The ASJA Guide to Freelance Writing.

A thoroughly comprehensive toolkit to help you develop all the networking skills you want to know, practice, and utilize. The art of effective networking is absolutely vital to building solid business relationships and to finding, growing, and keeping your business and enhancing your life. You will find the answers to important networking questions and topics, with advice on how to achieve your goals within each, such as: How do I start a conversation with someone I find intimidating? How do I ask tough questions tactfully? How do I start and exit a conversation at internal and external business events? How do I "network" with someone I may not like, but who is key in the department or industry? What are some of the topics to avoid? What are examples of great opening lines, icebreakers, and small talk when I'm networking? How do I follow-up? How do I establish and create advocates and referral opportunities? How do I know when I'm networking? Where can I find a systematic approach to networking? How can I keep all of my contacts organized and easy to reach? How can I continue to find, keep, and grow my business all the time? How do I develop my own "self-brand"? You can read the whole book or pick and choose topics as you need them as a lifelong reference. As Andrea says: "You already have the tools inside you -- it's just a matter of developing a system and sticking to it."

The Relationship Laws that Drive Success There are powerful but invisible laws that determine whether your relationships —with your clients, colleagues, and friends—will thrive or wither. These relationship laws are ever-present. When you align with them, the results are dramatic. Your network will grow rapidly. You’ll be seen by clients as a trusted partner rather than an expense to be managed. And you’ll find the people around you eager to help you succeed. When you ignore the laws, however, your efforts will falter. Relationship building will seem like very hard work. Power Relationships gives readers a unique, entertaining guide to relationship success at work and in life. Each of the 26 laws is illustrated and explained using a compelling, real-life story that shows how to implement it. The second section of the book presents 16 common relationship challenges with specific solutions. You’ll read about: The top Citigroup executive whose relationship with a CEO was changed forever on a business trip that exploded into chaos, and how you can use the same principle to deepen your own relationships. The philanthropist who, on the verge of being mugged in a dark parking lot, learns how his actions have had an unimaginable ripple effect across several generations How one of the authors flew halfway around the world and used Law 18—“Make them curious”—to turn a make-or-break, five-minute meeting with a top executive into a long-term relationship. The chance encounter on an airplane with a famous actor that revealed a simple but profound truth. It’s Law 25: “Build your network before you need it.” Sobel (author of Clients for Life, All for One, and Power Questions (with Panas)) and Panas (author of Asking and Supremely Successful Selling) have sold over half a million books and are the leading authorities in their field. Power Relationships is a unique, road-tested guide to relationship success.

From the creator of the popular website Ask a Manager and New York’s work-advice columnist comes a witty, practical guide to 200 difficult professional conversations—featuring all-new advice! There’s a reason Alison Green has been called “the Dear Abby of the work world.” Ten years as a workplace-advice columnist have taught her that people avoid awkward conversations in the office because they simply don’t know what to say. Thankfully, Green does—and in this incredibly helpful book, she tackles the tough discussions you may need to have during your career. You’ll learn what to say when • coworkers push their work on you—then take credit for it • you accidentally trash-talk someone in an email then hit “reply all” • you’re being micromanaged—or not being managed at all • you catch a colleague in a lie • your boss seems unhappy with your work • your cubemate’s loud speakerphone is making you homicidal • you got drunk at the holiday party Praise for Ask a Manager “A must-read for anyone who works . . . [Alison Green’s] advice boils down to the idea that you should be professional (even when others are not) and that communicating in a straightforward manner with candor and kindness will get you far, no matter where you work.”—Booklist (starred review) “The author’s friendly, warm, no-nonsense writing is a pleasure to read, and her advice can be widely applied to relationships in all areas of readers’ lives. Ideal for anyone new to the job market or new to management, or anyone hoping to improve their work experience.”—Library Journal (starred review) “I am a huge fan of Alison Green’s Ask a Manager column. This book is even better. It teaches us how to deal with many of the most vexing big and little problems in our workplaces—and to do so with grace, confidence, and a sense of humor.”—Robert Sutton, Stanford professor and author of The No Asshole Rule and The Asshole Survival Guide “Ask a Manager is the ultimate playbook for navigating the traditional workforce in a diplomatic but firm way.”—Erin Lowry, author of Broke Millennial: Stop Scraping By and Get Your Financial Life Together

Without an effective network it is much harder to get a job, find business, influence people and much more. Most people are aware of this, but are not so sure how to go about building, maintaining and using a network. "Payforward Networking" is for these people. Based on the networking workshops taught for many years by communication consultant Andrew Hennigan in business schools and companies, it presents a simple, methodical approach to networking that is both effective and easy to master. At the same time it is also built on ethical "white hat" methods that will not make you feel uncomfortable or manipulative. The book covers the basics of networking in real-life and online, the essentials of online reputation management, the impact of culture on networking, strategic networking and much more.