The Sacred Business Card’

Damien Steiner Smith — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 21:02:37 +0000

One of my favorite books is “Never Eat Alone” by Keith Ferrazzi. In this book Keith talks about networking events and how many people attending these events appear to be unemployed people looking to pass on their resumes. In today’s networking environment, this translates to what I call, “business card machine gunners.” People who attend networking events to expose as many people as they can to their business and to receive as many leads as possible.

Here, take my card!

Have you ever had someone hand you their business card before they knew your name or what you were about? Machine gunners everywhere have tarnished the definition of this thing most of us know as networking. Networking is about like-minded professionals developing relationship that lead to business being done. Machine gunners come looking for referrals, Networkers come looking for relationships.

How important is your business card to your reputation?

Networking is a lot like dating, you don’t give your number out to everyone you meet for the first time. Do you really want to be known as someone who will give their card out to anyone? It is often the second or third connection with someone that starts to solidify the relationship you have with them.

Call Me Anytime!?

Before I give my card to someone I ask myself: “is this someone I can trust to not call me at 2am?” If your cell or home number and/or your business line is somewhere in your home, you need to ask yourself this question. You would be surprised at the “oh I’m sorry I dialed the wrong number or “is it too late to call” calls I’ve gotten after 11:30pm! Just something to think about.

Spam, Spam, Spam

Have you ever gotten bombarded with newsletters or emails from someone you don’t recall meeting? Often, its someone who collected your business card as a ‘lead.’ Avoid this nuisance by carefully assessing the people you network with, and listening to their needs. Are they listening or looking for their next target? If you’re the latter, do you really want to be a lead?

I’ve been networking in the Virginia Beach/Norfolk area for a while and I have met a lot of great people. Without Question you will meet people you will want to connect with immediately at networking events like Speednetix, but it is important to be selective. If you’re handing out your card, be sure you’ve had a two way conversation with that person and a legitimate reason to follow up.

What is SpeedNetix

Damien Steiner Smith — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 21:50:54 +0000

The SpeedNetix is a Virginia Beach Speed Networking organization serving the Hampton Roads area. Our goal is to bring business professionals together to help build relationships and exchange qualified referrals.