A professor at Owen asked “how do we get students to care more about networking?” He was probably even asking how to encourage them to DO IT — grow their network, nurture relationships.

My response started off with “you know the complaint about most professors is they don’t seem to care about career stuff. They teach their discipline, but don’t even talk about job search, career management, networking, or any of that stuff. How many professors actually network on their own??”

I probably started that response off wrong, however, I’ve heard it a lot and I saw it at Idaho State University, where I got my undergraduate and my MBA.

The last part of my response was better: “Let them know that they’ll probably be changing jobs every two years, for their entire career.” He liked that answer more

Two points about those “every two year” job changes:

1. They might be with the same company. I don’t want to preach doom and gloom about this - it still is possible to stay with one company for a long time. But you’ll probably be in different departments of capacities during your tenure there.
2. The job changes are not all going to be on your own terms. Getting laid off, downsized, reduction-in-forced (RIFed) are all in your future (probably).

It’s a lot easier for me to sell someone on the concept of JibberJobber after they’ve been beat up a few times in their career… maybe the message to students would be better accepted after they’ve been working at a few different companies.

Finally, I regularly ask myself how to get older professional to care about networking :p

This post is brought to you by Wendy Terwelp, the Networking Coach and founder of Rock Your Network®.  Wendy Terwelp helps execs network without begging online and off. And she is only two degrees from Kevin Bacon. Since 1989, Wendy has helped thousands be rock stars at work and get paid what they’re worth through networking, branding, and coaching. Wendy has been quoted in The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, Fast Company, The Business Journal, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Careerbuilder.com, Monster.com, as well as several radio shows. She’s written countless articles for numerous career websites, blogs, and publications. Speaking gigs include: Barnes & Noble, Women’s Life Expo, professional organizations, universities, and more. Visit her web site at www.knocks.com for tons of free tips to help you get ready for your next big gig.  Wendy is a JibberJobber Career Expert Partner.

Online networking allows you to meet lots of people who you otherwise wouldn’t be able to meet.  Instead of one-to-one networking, you can do one-to-thousands networking, and still have some level of intimacy.  You can enhance your brand as a thought leader or subject matter expert, and learn from the best minds in a particular space.  You can do it on your own time, from your own house… and you don’t even have to brush your teeth or comb your hair before you start!

Offline networking allows you to develop intimate relationships one-on-one where you can communicate with passion and excitement communicating with your voice fluctionation, body language, facial express, and touch. It’s a great opportunity to really get to know people, learn about their quirks, needs, desires, etc. in a setting where you both can devote your complete attention to one another.  You can put your best foot forward and guage reactions immediately.  And brushing teeth, combing hair, getting dressed up and actually talking with other human beings is a good thing

Of course, there are draw backs.  Online it’s easy to trust someone who isn’t who you think they are.  Not getting a timely response might lead you to draw wrong conclusions.  Information overload grabs at our attention, and we can easily communicate something that is misunderstood (without being able to immediately know it’s misunderstood).  It’s sometimes so easy that we overextend ourselves and drown in information and contacts, not really able to do anything but flounder.

Offline networking is a challenge because we have to dedicate time and gas money to travel to and from, sometimes pay for event or meals, go to an event where there aren’t enough of our target contacts (or there are too many, and not enough time), and my biggest challenge, weighing the opportunity cost in the in-person networking vs. what I could do from my office.

So which is better?  Either may be more appropriate for different objectives, but both can and should be used in a complementary strategy.  Don’t choose one or the other - do both.

This post is brought to you by Cindy Kraft , the CFO–Coach. Cindy Kraft is the Personal Brand Strategist & Career Coach for senior-level Finance Executives who are ready to repackage and position themselves in order to Land their next opportunity! Career offerings include marketing document development, brand strategizing, executive coaching, and online identity positioning.  Cindy Kraft is a JibberJobber Career Expert Partner.

I just had a very entertaining interview with a reporter from KSL, a local radio station, which will be aired Friday morning at 5:20am and 7:20 am (for the commuters).

He asked about the Six Degrees from Kevin Bacon thing… we’ve all heard of that.  During the interview he asked if, besides him, I knew anyone famous.  Here’s kind of how it went:

Me: I am two degrees away from George Foreman.  I think I’m three degrees from George W.  I am three degrees from Mr. T.

Paul: You are three degrees from Mr. T?  No kidding.  Then you are four degrees from Conan O’Brien, since Mr. T has been on Conan’s show.

Me: Oh, cool!

Paul: And that means you are five degrees from Kevin Bacon.

Me: (thinking: cool… I’ve beat it by one degree)

Paul: … and I’m six degrees from Kevin Bacon!

It was a cool moment to see Paul realize he really was six degrees from Kevin Bacon.

One quick note… he asked how I knew I was three degrees from Mr. T.  I only know because I was communicating some wishes to my first degree contacts.  I had one come back and said Mr. T was a second degree contact, and he’d be happy to do an introduction.

Sometimes we are a lot closer to our target contacts than we know, we just have to start asking “who do you know who might know … ” GO FORTH AND ASK!

Today I’m at a happy funeral. This is the funeral for my wife’s grandma, who lived a rich, full life.  It’s a celebration of her life.

I worked at a funeral home when I was first married and did everything except embalm for a little more than a year.  I saw plenty of sad funerals.

The one thing I hope to leave with you today is how valuable your relationships are.

Today… hug someone special.

Tell the you love them.

Call that long-lost friend.

Figure out how to forgive a grudge and start to move on.

Do something, because you don’t want to sit at a funeral wishing that you would have.

Many of you will be familiar with Harvey Mackay and his books, which include:

Dig Your Well Before You’re Thirsty

Swim With the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive

We Got Fired

Beware the Naked Man Who Offers You His Shirt

Pushing The Envelope All The Way To The Top

Sharkproof

I have a bunch of these books, but I haven’t had time to dig into them yet. The one I’m most interested in starting is “We Got Fired,” which I think is a bunch of stories of people who got let go and then what they ended up doing.

One thing that one of my users told me about was the Mackay 66… which is a collection of 66 questions you could answer about any of your network connections.

The KEY is to nurture each relationship, right? Here are some of the questions from the Mackay 66:

• High school
• Year graduated
• College fraternity/sorority
• Military service
  • Discharge rank
  • Attitude toward being in the service
• Spouse’s name and occupation
• Spouse’s education
• Anniversary
• Vacation habits

You can get the MacKay 66 for free from his website, here.

Now, what do you do with that? Here’s how this ties into JibberJobber. Note this is part of the free version.

Go to any of your contact’s edit pages. At the bottom of the page, below the Notes box, is the section for Services.

In the dropdown box, the bottom option is “Other,” simply choose that and you’ll get a popup box… and type in whatever you want (keep it short, though!):

Now you can see two questions (on the left) and the answers (on the right - see # 1 and #2). You can also see that you can add as many “services” as you want… just click the Add a Service link and you’ll get another one!

It’s that simple! Of course, if you want to store info outside of the MacKay 66, simply use the “other” option and add whatever you want.

Thanks Harvey Mackay for the questions!

Thom Singer is one of my favorite people. He is an author, speaker, super networker, motivator, and all-around cool guy. His daughter had the same (or a very similar) surgery that I had back in 1973/1974, and Thom and his wife have dedicated a portion of their speaking earnings to raising money for a foundation in his daughter’s name.

Thom is… everything that I wish Keith Ferrazzi was. Approachable, nice, and talks to the “little people,” like me.

Without further ado, here’s Thom’s EXCELLENT list of better networking posts. The images to the right are Thom’s books, linked to Amazon for more information.

• Tip 66: People Do Business With People They Know and Like
• Tip 65: Don’t Be Full Of Yourself
• Tip 64: Make It So
• Tip 63: Go All The Way
• Tip 62: Own Your Mistakes
• Tip 61: Make Contacts At Conventions, Seminars and Conferences
• Tip 60: Unlock Your Inner Entrepreneur
• Tip 59: High Expectations
• Tip 58: Do Not Network Behind A Wall
• Tip 57: Keep It Short
• Tip 56: Manufacture Your Own Luck
• Tip 55: Connect The Dots
• Tip 54: Reconnect With Old Friends and Business Associates
• Tip 53: Keep Your On-line Profiles Up To Date
• Tip 52: Get People Talking About You
• Tip 51: Be A Catalyst For Good
• Tip 50: Recharge Your Batteries
• Tip 49: Look For The Good In Others
• Tip 48: How To Network With Whom You Want
• Tip 47: Clean The Slate
• Tip 46: Invest In Your Future
• Tip 45: Stop Being Greedy
• Tip 44: Get To Know Your Competition
• Tip 43: Take Ownership Of Your Career
• Tip 42: Think Abundantly
• Tip 41: Avoid Negative Words
• Tip 40: Express Your Appreciation
• Tip 39: Networking Is Not Enough.
• Tip 38: Friends Are Fantastic, But Evangelist Change The World.
• Tip 37: You Are A Brand.
• Tip 36: Show Up to Build Your Brand
• Tip 35: Beyond Image
• Tip 34: Opportunities Come From People
• Tip 33: Creativity!
• Tip 32: Why Write A Blog
• Tip 31: Network One Step At A Time
• Tip 30: Intuitive Networking
• Tip 29: “Hey!”
• Tip 28: Sing Their Praises
• Tip 27: Don’t Keep Score
• Tip 26: Walk The Talk
• Tip 25: Be Extraordinary
• Tip 24: Little Selfless Actions Matter
• Tip 23: Tigers Live With Tigers
• Tip 22: Sleep, Eat Right and Exercise
• Tip 21: Be A Resource For Others
• Tip 20: Work Together On A Project
• Tip 19: Meet Your Virtual Network
• Tip 18: Keep Relationships Alive
• Tip 17: Take Some Time Off
• Tip 16: Cool Like A Cucumber
• Tip 15: Make A List, Check It Twice
• Tip 14: Soar With Eagles
• Tip 13: Be A Connector
• Tip 12: Don’t Discredit Any Gathering
• Tip 11: Develop Your Public Speaking Skills
• Tip 10: Warm Up Your Cold Calls
• Tip 9: Excel In Your Field, Regardless Of Your Industry
• Tip 8: Smile
• Tip 7: Networking Inside Your Company
• Tip 6: Notice Who Is In The Paper
• Tip 5: Reach Out One More Time
• Tip 4: Get Their Name Right
• Tip 3: Have Memorable Conversations
• Tip 2: Always Carry Business Cards
• Tip 1: Put Yourself Into The World

Congrats Thom, for finishing this huge series. I knew you would finish it but I still thought you were crazy for biting off such a big project!

You may have noticed that I skipped my post on Friday… no big deal except I rarely skip a post.  I was battling over 500 e-mail messages in my JibberJobber inbox, and prepping for my trip to California.

I still have over 500 messages in my inbox (I get between 300 and 500 per day).  And I’m headed to the airport in less than two hours.

This week is really busy, I’m not sure what I’ll blog, but I want to share my week with you.

Regarding the branding contest, I think I’ve received over 100 submissions - some are short taglines, others are long explanations.  WOW.  Very awesome, I’m excited to write more about it soon.

If you are in Silicon Valley or San Francisco, drop me a line and perhaps we can meet.  Here’s my schedule.

If you want to read about how to recession-proof your career, check out Thom Singer’s recent post.

Yesterday I got an e-mail from Kevin Donlin, asking for my input for an article. I misunderstood the question, so I get to use my original response for this blog post The question that I answered was:

What is the BEST thing someone could write in an email to convince someone not in their immediate network to make a connection with them (that could lead to a job)?

Here was my reply:

Kevin, (1) Dave Perry recommended that I get in touch with you. (2) I am an in the IT space, with an emphasis on web technology, and Dave mentioned that you have a lot of experience in web technologies. He also mentioned that (3) you are very well connected, and have a good understanding of the best network opportunities that I should know about. (4) Do you have time this week or next week for a lunch?

Components:

1. Drop a name (first and last name), but it has to be real. If Kevin contacts Dave to verify the story, or learn more about me, the last thing you want is for Dave to deny what I wrote.
2. Who am I? Put in a few words (not a novel) about who I am… let Kevin know something about me.
3. Common ground. I describe what I’m interested in, and state that Dave is basically recommending Kevin as the expert that I need to learn from, and someone who can point me in the right direction.
4. Invite to lunch. I find the best relationship building I do is face-to-face, over lunch. It’s more likely that I’ll have undivided attention, as well as a lot of time. Compare that to a superficial string of e-mails where it’s really hard to get the information and relationship that I need. Just remember, you invited so you pay! (obviously you could change this to “a phone call”)

That has worked for me. Notice how short it is? The relationship building does not happen on the first e-mail! Think of this as your thirty second pitch.

What has worked for you?

(sorry for the “Salt Lake only” post)

My friend Andy Sernovitz is coming to Salt Lake on December 17th and will give a presentation at 4:00 at the Miller Business Center.  What is he talking about?

How Smart Companies Get People Talking 

I saw Andy speak earlier this year and he was phenomenal. Incredible. Awesome. In fact, he was one of my favorite speakers of the year.

I’m one of the organizers/sponsors… if you are (or can be) in Salt Lake on the 17th, come share your afternoon with us - it’s going to be awesome.

Cost is $10 at the door, you can RSVP here, but make sure to get there early (around 3pm?) to save your seat and NETWORK!

Bonus: Andy’s GasPedal VP, Michael Rubin, will be with him. And, I’m working on getting B&N to get a table with Andy’s book, Word of Mouth Marketing.

See you there?

One of my favorite people, Director Tom (aka, Tom Clifford), guest posted on the I’m on LinkedIn — Now What??? blog last night. What an excellent post!

You may remember seeing Director Tom’s name on this blog before… I think a lot of him. I met him online last year, and then a few weeks later in person, and we’ve had multiple e-mails and phone calls since then. This is a man of high integrity and passion for his art/business.

I asked him to guest blog because I’ve seen how he uses the Answers section of LinkedIn, and think it’s awesome. You can read his thoughts and ideas on it here.

Answers is one of the best features of LinkedIn and gives you an excellent opportunity to reach out to network contacts you have in LinkedIn, as well as find new contacts (as they come across your question). When you answer a question you are reinforcing your personal brand online, could get some business (someone last year got busine$$ from answering one of my questions!), and are throwing your name out there to others that might be interested in contacting with you.

I recommend you check out Director Tom’s website, as well as his guest post (The Power of Questions: 5 Secrets to Strengthen Your Brand) from yesterday!