THE ART & SCIENCE OF

NETWORKING

The Idea: It’s not only who you know….

Bobby Mathew

bobbymathew@ceotalentsearch.com

bobbyabrahammathew@gmail.com

Networking

� What ?

� Why?

� How?

� Tools?

The Networking Game is the art of discovering patterns in the world and making

useful connections for ourselves and for others. It is about weaving new options

into our social safety nets.

The Networking Game

Network: lines of communication connecting a set of points.

Network: a pattern of human interaction characterized by a process of information exchange usually leading to other human interactions and/or material, service, information, monetary or spiritual exchanges.

~ Richard Haight

Weaver: someone who sees patterns and makes connections; they weave the networks.

There’s Networking and then there’s

Networking

� You know more than I do about the fine points of

social networking.

� But how much do you know about purposeful or

productive networking?

� There is an art to the latter – and there’s some

science, too.

THE BIG IDEA (Network)

� Q: It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.

TRUE______ FALSE______

� Q: It’s not who you know, it’s who knows you.

TRUE______ FALSE______

THE BIG IDEA

� A: Both are TRUE, but not really.

� Q: It’s not who knows you, it’s who knows

WHAT YOU KNOW.

TRUE______ TRUE______

Purposeful Networking

� We tend to think it is:

� Cold-calling

� Mingling with strangers

� Borrowing Mom’s & Dad’s contact list

� FaceBook or any other

� Only for extroverts

� But it really is:

� Warm leads

� Relationship building

� Creating your own connections

� Face time

� A learnable skill

Purposeful Networking

� To do it well, you will need to:� Be clear about your goals.

� Create a strategy

� Be able to articulate your personal vision and value and needs.

� Know whom you want to know and be known by.

� Commit to building relationships over time.

� Be “strategically opportunistic”.

� Offer as much as you ask.

First, the SCIENCE

� There is a calculus / there are formulas.

� You must have goals for networking that support your

vision (or your vision-in-process).

� Research, research, research -- Determine what / who is

adjacent and how they might help.

� Build your lists – maps – targets.

� Work your lists and track your activities and responses.

� It is, to some extent, a numbers game.

Now, the ART

� There must be a vision and a message – this is marketing!

� Bring your creativity and excitement to every encounter. Become a compelling brand. Create buzz.

� Get slightly famous.

� Practice making new connections and in roads

� Be empathetic – consider your audience.

� Think big and think long-term.

� Nurture connections to turn them into trusted and reliable relationships.

Few Networking Sites

� LinkedIn [www.linkedin.com/] business network

� XING [www.xing.com/] global business network

� Scispace.net [scispace.net/] science network

� Ryze [www.ryze.com/] business network

� Plaxo [www.plaxo.com/] business network

� ZoomInfo [www.zoominfo.com/] business search engine, partnering with XING and Reunion.com

� Hoover’s [www.hoovers.com/free/] business search engine

� Implu [www.implu.com/] business search engine

Rules of the game

� Be it Useful for both sides

� See opportunity in every thing and everyone you see or talk

� No Boring Talks

� Listen

� Some leading questions - Query in a way they would like to

answer

� Never cut the relations - keep it alive – by means of festive any

kind

� Build Relations – Build and Build

� Don’t Make assumptions

Recruitment

� Recruitment Vs Networking

THANK YOU

bobbymathew@ceotalentsearch.com

bobbyabrahammathew@gmail.com