Get Your Networking Working Interview with Josh Hinds of BusinessNetworkingAdvice.com

Q. How do you define Business Networking and why do you feel it is important?

Josh Hinds: I define Business Networking as two or more people who come together with the idea of getting to know each other better in the hopes that they might help each other in their respective business endeavors in some way. While the above is an official way of saying it, ultimately I think it’s a lot simpler than that. You could also say that networking is really just about connecting with others and looking for ways to create win, win relationships where each person benefits from knowing the other person.

Business networking is extremely important for many reasons, but here are just a few which I think illustrate why it’s worth ones time to make networking a part of their professional life.

First, when you really get the whole networking & connecting thing you realize that it really brings an element of fun to what can be an otherwise daily grind in the world of business.

Rather than being focused on yourself, you’re looking for ways to enhance the lives of others by either passing along introductions between people you believe should know each other (often referred to as being a connector), or looking for ways to fill the needs of members of your own network. Opportunities literally flow the way of the person who has a strong network of folks.

If you want a key tip for building a strong professional network, simply remember to always be looking to do cool and nice (even if unexpected) things for other people. When you fill the needs of other people you endear yourself to them in a way that you simply can’t imagine. Plus, quite frankly it can be a lot of fun to help others, not to mention more often than not you will find that the person you served in some way will go around telling the story of how you helped them. If that’s not a win, win I don’t know what is.

Q. If you had to choose between networking face-to-face or networking online… which one would you choose and why?

Josh Hinds: I actually don’t know that I could choose between either. I’m one who believes that we’re always “networking” or should be. Because I believe that essentially networking is “connecting and building win, win relationships” I don’t think there’s ever really a time not to be doing it in some capacity. Now don’t get me wrong, if your idea of networking is focusing on getting your business card into the hands of as many unsuspecting folks as possible, or talking on & on about whatever business you happen to be in, well then of course there would be appropriate & inappropriate times to “network” (btw. I don’t personally think that’s a particularly effective approach to take anytime, but that’s my opinion ). So assuming that you take the more natural approach, with a focus on building rapport with folks first, and learning about the other person (so that you can know if you’re in a position to help them or connect at a deeper level in some way) then is there really a perfect place to network? Again, I don’t think so.

Just think of each meeting as an opportunity to strengthen the given connection in some way and you’ll be way ahead of the game. I think people have different ways they prefer to connect, so being able to meet them on their “own turf” is important. I’ve connected with incredible folks online that I’d have quite possibly never been able to offline, and vice versa. Along the same lines I’ve met a number of wonderful people online who I have gone on to connect with offline through different seminars & events I have spoken at.

Though again, I think if you’ve really adapted into your life the networker lifestyle, opportunities to connect become apparent all the time. Here’s an example from my own life.

A while back I was at a gas station. I noticed a lady who was dressed up very nicely. I thought to myself that if I were all dressed up the last thing I would want to do is be pumping gas. So without much thought I said hello, can I help you by pumping your gas? I see that you’re dressed up and would hate to see you get your outfit messed up. I was very casual about it so as not to make her feel uncomfortable. So I ended up helping her in that way. As I was pumping the gas she mentioned she was going to a particular event, she asked what I did, and I mentioned briefly that I was a professional speaker & trainer. She asked for my web site and I gave it to her. After a few moments and several thank-you’s and you’re welcome’s we were both on our separate ways. End of story… except that unbeknownst to me this woman got to her event and ended up sharing the story with what evidently was the entire place she had been about the “motivational speaker guy” (her words not mine…lol) who helped her. She also passed along my web site and I ended up hearing from a number of people she had shared the story with.

So I think the moral of the story is, we never quite know how big an impact a simple gesture or act of good will can have. The catch is, you have to do it with a genuine servants heart — and be unattached to any potential outcome that may or may not appear from having done so.

Q. Can you share some of the ways you use the internet for business networking?

Josh Hinds: I use the internet in lots of different ways to network and create connections. One of the buzz words (at least at the time of this interview) is “social media” — if you didn’t know better you’d think it was some new phenomena, actually, in my humble opinion anyway different forms of social media have been around for a long, long time. For example, think about message boards & forums, and if you’ve been around online long enough you’ll know what I’m talking about when I say IRC chat & usenet. That said, there are plenty of new social media outlets which are new, for example, I love twitter because it allows me to use it however I want to use it in a given moment. I can use it as conduit to join & participate in conversations, as well as a broadcast medium for something I want to get the word out about quickly. I also want to make the point here, I see a lot of folks saying the “right” way to use twitter is this way, or that way. I think that’s pretty silly. I don’t think twitter really has any rules. In fact if there’s a right or wrong way I think it would be more along the “people skills” side of things, as opposed to the technology of twitter itself. By people side I mean, are you connecting in ways with people that will make them feel good about you, and want to get to know you better? Or are you acting and connecting in a way that makes them run for the hills. That’s what I mean when I talk about the “people skills” side of things. I think that’s pretty much universal and independent of whether you’re networking online using any number of tools from twitter, facebook, your own blog (i.e. via connecting through the comments on your blog or site) or if you’re offline at a BNI meeting, chamber of commerce meeting or even lending a helping hand at a gas station as I mentioned in the story above. The technology changes, but the people side of things are always important. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE and am thankful for the technology. But think about it this way — I suspect when folks started using the telephone they were every bit as excited as people now are about the unlimited potential which tools like Twitter & Facebook, among many others hold for building deep quality connections.

Q. Can you share a couple of specific tips or recommendations to improve business networking skills?

Josh Hinds: Absolutely!

First, I think it really helps to get to a point where networking becomes natural and effortless. Once you realize that as long as you network in a way that your focus is on the other person, looking for ways to help & serve them in some way then anytime (literally) is a good time to be networking. Remember, networking is connecting.

Always be looking for ways to add value or be valuable to the people you have met and wish to build strong quality networking relationships with. In order to do this we’ve got to build rapport with these folks. Again, doing so is often as simple as looking for ways to be of service in some way, or as I like to say, find ways to do cool and nice things for others.

Here’s another example to illustrate how these opportunities are all around us if we’ll take the time to be aware of them and on the lookout.

One day while I was on twitter I noticed a tweet (twitter message) run across my twitter stream (twitter messages from folks run top down, top messages being newest. Hence its referred to as a stream by some folks ). The message was from a fellow who was also a professional speaker. He was sharing a web page he’d created. I clicked the link and had a look. The site was nice, but I did notice it took a while for the page to load. Turns out that unbeknownst to him he hadn’t shrunk down the file size of the picture of himself, so while it rendered fine on the web page, its file size was simply HUGE, which was causing the web page to load slowly. Rather than make a big deal of it, I simply saved the image of him to my computer. Shrunk the file size down and attached it as an email back to him saying I enjoyed his site, and explained that I’d made the file size smaller for him and he was welcome to use it on his page if he liked.

Notice I didn’t try to charge him, I didn’t say, hey I did this for you, and by the way I do this for a living (cause I don’t…lol) use my services, or hey I’m doing this for you because I want something from you. No, I didn’t do any of that. I simply did something nice & cool for him. And the funniest thing happened. I got a great email back from him, and later he mentioned through twitter what a nice thing I had done for him. Again, I didn’t do it initially for any other reason than I thought it would be nice to do. These are the sort of opportunities to serve (and in doing so build your network immensely) which present themselves all the time, we just have to be open to seeing them.

Q. In your opinion, what is the biggest misconception surrounding effective business networking and, how can entrepreneurs get past it?

Josh Hinds: I think a lot of people think it is something that they have to do in a certain way, at a certain place. They don’t realize that effective networking can be as simple as understanding that any place, the place they are at the moment is often as good a place as any to open up and connect with another person. Now certainly, depending on the type of connections you want to build there are ways that one should go about networking in order to stand a better chance of connecting with a given person or persons from a particular industry. For example, the chance of meeting or running into the head of XYZ company is going to be infinitely higher if you go to their shareholders meeting than say if you stand around in the milk section of their local grocery store hoping to catch them. You see my point? Even still networking isn’t something that need take away from other things. It’s not something that you have to spend less marketing dollars in order to begin networking. It’s not an either or situation (it doesn’t have to be anyway).

I’d sum it up like this. You’ve heard the old saying, “everyone is in sales, even if they don’t realize they are” (which I believe is true by the way)? Well I believe the same could be said about networking — since business networking effectively is really just about building quality professional working relationships with others.

Q. Can you share a personal “networking” success story with us?

Josh Hinds: Now there’s a question, it’s kind of like trying to eat just one potato chip.

When I first started my web site that went on to be GetMotivation.com — initially I just wanted to use it as a way to introduce people who visited my web sites to speakers & authors in the personal development industry that I enjoyed either listening to or reading their books. In short, I started with little more than a links page. I didn’t have any grand idea or dream really to create a business around this idea. Nor could I have fathomed in my wildest dreams that from that simple web page a community would form which has led millions of people from all over the world to visit the web site, nor that I would start writing and speaking on topics related to professional development myself. No, when I started that simple web page it was simply something I had a passion for and so I did it. Well, I’m really big on the idea that if you follow and do what’s necessary, that is lead with action life has an incredible way of filling in the details for us.

You see, one of the key things that I did when I got started with my web site was to actually use it as an opportunity to reach out, introduce myself and make real connections with the people I would be featuring. The speakers & authors whose work I enjoyed. It was a simple email in most cases — just letting them know who I was, that I enjoyed their work, and that I planned to help send my audience to learn more about them. Initially, especially before I had any “audience” to speak of I’m sure many of the folks I wrote to didn’t think much of it. But some did and would write back.

I didn’t realize it at the time but that was one of the key steps in getting me to the point where I am now. Where I’ve made a comfortable place in the personal & professional development industry and have been able to help lots of others get their messages out to the masses. Initially I could have very easily chosen to bypass the wonderful opportunity that existed to connect with others in the industry I so dearly loved. That would have been the easier route, but had I made that choice I’m convinced I’d have never gotten to the point where I am now professionally. At best it would look far different, and I’m certain the memories wouldn’t be near as enjoyable to recount.

If I could offer one closing thought it would be to keep in mind that every day offers up countless opportunities to be an effective networker — when you get the point that it’s really just all about creating quality connections, constantly developing them and pouring on the value. If you’ll do unto others as you’d have them do unto you, you’ll find that networking becomes a thing of ease.

About Josh Hinds Speaker, Author, and Coach is the founder of GetMotivation.com which has been visited by millions of people world-wide – as well as a growing network of personal and professional development related web sites which include: BusinessNetworkingAdvice.com, BusinessLeadershipAdvice.com, SalesTrainingAdvice.com and GoalsSuccess.com. He is also the author of Why Perfect Timing is a Myth: Tips for Staying Inspired and Motivated. Day in and Day out! In addition he publishes the Let’s Talk Motivation! newsletter which provides a source of ongoing motivation to his readers.

Josh practices the simple belief that opportunities open themselves up when you lead with a sincere willingness to help others. www.getmotivation.com

Networking Masters International Welcomes Josh Hinds, Get Motivated to Network Expert to the Resident Experts Team

We are thrilled to welcome Josh Hinds, Get Motivated to Network Expert to our team of Resident Experts here at Networking Masters International.

Josh Hinds, speaker, author, and coach is the founder of GetMotivation.com which has been visited by millions of people world-wide – as well as a growing network of personal and professional development related web sites which include:
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• BusinessNetworkingAdvice.com
• BusinessLeadershipAdvice.com
• SalesTrainingAdvice.com
• GoalsSuccess.com

Josh is the author of “Why Perfect Timing is a Myth: Tips for Staying Inspired and Motivated Day in and Day out!” and, Publisher of the Let’s Talk Motivation Newsletter which provides a source of ongoing motivation to his readers.

Josh practices the simple belief that opportunities open themselves up when you lead with a sincere willingness to help others.

We invite you to learn more about Josh through his websites and future posts to The Networking Masters blog.